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. 2016 May;4(9):170.
doi: 10.21037/atm.2016.05.03.

Gene expression profile of THP-1 cells treated with heat-killed Candida albicans

Zhi-De Hu  1 , Ting-Ting Wei  1 , Qing-Qin Tang  1 , Ning Ma  1 , Li-Li Wang  1 , Bao-Dong Qin  1 , Jian-Rong Yin  1 , Lin Zhou  1 , Ren-Qian Zhong  1
Affiliations

Gene expression profile of THP-1 cells treated with heat-killed Candida albicans

Zhi-De Hu et al. Ann Transl Med. 2016 May.

Abstract

Background: Mechanisms under immune response against Candida albicans (C. albicans) remain largely unknown. To better understand the mechanisms of innate immune response against C. albicans, we analyzed the gene expression profile of THP-1 cells stimulated with heat-killed C. albicans.

Methods: THP-1 cells were stimulated with heat-killed C. albicans for 9 hours at a ratio of 1:1, and gene expression profile of the cells was analyzed using Whole Human Genome Oligo Microarray. Differentially expressed genes were defined as change folds more than 2 and with statistical significance. Gene ontology (GO) and pathway analysis were used to systematically identify biological connections of differentially expressed genes, as well as the pathways associated with the immune response against C. albicans.

Results: A total of 355 genes were up-regulated and 715 genes were down-regulated significantly. The up-regulated genes were particularly involved in biological process of RNA processing and pathway of the spliceosome. In case of down-regulated genes, the particularly involved immune-related pathways were G-protein coupled receptor signaling pathway, calcium signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway and Ras pathway.

Conclusions: We depict the gene expression profile of heat-killed C. albicans stimulated THP-1 cells, and identify the major pathways involved in immune response against C. albicans. These pathways are potential candidate targets for developing anti-C. albicans agent.

Keywords: Candida albicans (C. albicans); Gene expression profile; THP-1 cells; microarray.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
RNA quantity and quality.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scatter plot (A) and heatmap (B) depicting the differentially expressed genes.
Figure 3
Figure 3
GO and pathway analysis of differentially expressed genes. GO (A) and pathway (B) analysis for up-regulated genes. GO (C) and pathway (D) analysis for down-regulated genes. GO, gene ontology.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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