Discernment of possible mechanisms of hepatotoxicity via biological processes over-represented by co-expressed genes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Hepatotoxicity is a form of liver injury caused by exposure to stressors. Genomic-based approaches have been used to detect changes in transcription in response to hepatotoxicants. However, there are no straightforward ways of using co-expressed genes anchored to a phenotype or constrained by the experimental design for discerning mechanisms of a biological response.

Results

Through the analysis of a gene expression dataset containing 318 liver samples from rats exposed to hepatotoxicants and leveraging alanine aminotransferase (ALT), a serum enzyme indicative of liver injury as the phenotypic marker, we identified biological processes and molecular pathways that may be associated with mechanisms of hepatotoxicity. Our analysis used an approach called Coherent Co-

SUBMITTER: Chou JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2706894 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature