Effects of strain and age on hepatic gene expression profiles in murine models of HFE-associated hereditary hemochromatosis.

ABSTRACT: Hereditary hemochromatosis is an iron overload disorder most commonly caused by a defect in the HFE gene. While the genetic defect is highly prevalent, the majority of individuals do not develop clinically significant iron overload, suggesting the importance of genetic modifiers. Murine hfe knockout models have demonstrated that strain background has a strong effect on the severity of iron loading. We noted that hepatic iron loading in hfe-/- mice occurs primarily over the first postnatal weeks (loading phase) followed by a timeframe of relatively static iron concentrations (plateau phase). We thus evaluated the effects of background strain and of age on hepatic gene expression in Hfe knockout mice (hfe-/-). Hepatic gene expression profiles were examined using cDNA microarrays in 4- and 8-

SUBMITTER: Lee SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4245401 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature