Particulate matter-induced gene expression patterns in human-derived cells based on 11 public gene expression datasets

Abstract

Background: Exposure to particulate matter (PM) and house dust mite (HDM) can change the expression patterns of inflammation-, oxidative stress-, and cell death-related genes. We investigated the changes in gene expression patterns owing to PM exposure.

Objective: This study examined the changes in gene expression patterns following PM exposure.

Methods: We searched for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) following PM exposure using five cell line-based RNA-seq or microarray datasets and six human-derived datasets. The enrichment terms of the DEGs were assessed.

Results: DEG analysis yielded two gene sets. Thus, enrichment analysis was performed for each gene set, and the enrichment terms related to respiratory diseases were presented. The intersection of six human-derived datasets and two gene sets was obtained, and the expression patterns following PM exposure were observed.

Conclusions: Two gene sets were obtained for cells treated with PM and their expression patterns were presented following verification in human-derived cells. Our findings suggest that exposure to PM_2.5 and HDM may reveal changes in genes that are associated with diseases, such as allergies, highlighting the importance of mitigating PM_2.5 and HDM exposure for disease prevention.

Keywords: Cell line; Differentially expressed gene (DEG); Particulate matter (PM).