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Transcriptional Profiling of rat hypothalamic response to TCDD

ABSTRACT: In many mammals, halogenated aromatic hydrocarbon (HAH) exposure causes wasting syndrome, defined as lethal weight loss as a result of severe and persistent hypophagia. The most potent HAH in causing wasting is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-ρ-dioxin (TCDD), which exerts its toxic effects through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) – a transcription factor. Because TCDD toxicity is thought to predominantly arise from dysregulation of AHR-transcribed genes, we hypothesized that wasting syndrome is due to TCDD-induced dysregulation of genes involved in regulation of food-intake. We therefore focused on the hypothalamus, as it is the regulatory center of food-intake and energy balance in the central nervous system. We profiled mRNA abundance in hypothalamic tissue from two rat strains with widely differing sensitivities to wasting syndrome: TCDD-sensitive Long-Evans rats and TCDD-resistant Han/Wistar rats, 23 hours after exposure to TCDD (100 μg/kg) or corn oil vehicle. We found that TCDD exposure caused minimal transcriptional dysregulation effects in the hypothalamus, with only 6 genes changed in Long-Evans rats and 15 genes in Han/Wistar rats. Two of the most dysregulated genes were Cyp1a1 and Nqo1, which are induced by TCDD across a wide range of tissues and are considered sensitive markers of TCDD exposure. The minimal response of the hypothalamic transcriptome to a lethal dose of TCDD at an early time-point suggests that the hypothalamus is not the predominant site of initial events leading to hypophagia and associated wasting. TCDD may affect feeding behaviour via events upstream or downstream of the hypothalamus, and further work is required to evaluate this at the level of individual hypothalamic nuclei and subregions.

ORGANISM(S): Rattus norvegicus

PROVIDER: GSE61039 | GEO | 2014/12/23

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA260126

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:The dioxin congener 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) causes a wide range of toxic effects in rodent species, all of which are mediated by a ligand-dependent transcription-factor, the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). The Han/Wistar (Kuopio) (H/W) strain shows exceptional resistance to many TCDD-induced toxicities; the LD50 of >9600 µg/kg for H/W rats is higher than for any other wild-type mammal known. We have previously shown that this resistance primarily results from H/W rats expressing a variant AHR isoform that has a substantial portion of the AHR transactivation domain deleted. Despite this large deletion, H/W rats are not entirely refractory to the effects of TCDD; the variant AHR in these animals remains fully competent to up-regulate well-known dioxin-inducible genes. TCDD-sensitive (Long-Evans, L-E) and resistant (H/W) rats were treated with either corn-oil (with or without feed-restriction) or 100 µg/kg TCDD for either four or ten days. Hepatic transcriptional profiling was done using microarrays, and was validated by RT-PCR analysis of 41 genes. . A core set of genes was altered in both strains at all time points tested, including CYP1A1, CYP1A2, CYP1B1, Nqo1, Aldh3a1, Tiparp, Exoc3, and Inmt. Outside this core, the strains differed significantly in the breadth of response: three-fold more genes were altered in L-E than H/W rats. At ten days almost all expressed genes were dysregulated in L-E rats, likely reflecting emerging toxic responses. Far fewer genes were affected by feed-restriction, suggesting that only a minority of the TCDD-induced changes are secondary to the wasting syndrome. Rats from sensitive (Long-Evans, LE) and resistant (Han/Wistar, HW) strains were treated with 100 ug/kg TCDD or corn oil vehicle and sacrificed either 4 or 10 days after treatment. LE control rats were either fed normally or feed-restricted to control for the wasting effects of TCDD treatment. Each treatment group contains four or five animals (biological replicates), each of which was assayed on an individual microarray.

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Transcriptional Profiling of rat hypothalamic response to TCDD

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