Effects of internal low dose irradiation from I-131 on gene expression in normal tissues in Balb/c mice

Abstract

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to investigate the global gene expression response of normal tissues following internal low absorbed dose irradiation of 131I. Methods Balb/c mice were intravenously injected with 13 to 260 kBq of 131I and euthanized 24 h after injection. Kidneys, liver, lungs, and spleen were surgically removed. The absorbed dose to the tissues was 0.1 to 9.7 mGy. Total RNA was extracted, and Illumina MouseRef-8 Whole-Genome Expression BeadChips (Illumina, Inc., San Diego, California, USA) were used to compare the gene expression of the irradiated tissues to that of non-irradiated controls. The Benjamini-Hochberg method was used to determine differentially expressed transcripts and control for false discovery rate. Only transcripts with a modulation of 1.5-fold or higher, either positively or negatively regulated, were included in the analysis. Results The number of transcripts affected ranged from 260 in the kidney cortex to 857 in the lungs. The majority of the affected transcripts were specific for the different absorbed doses delivered, and few transcripts were shared between the different tissues investigated. The response of the transcripts affected at all dose levels was generally found to be independent of dose, and only a few transcripts showed increasing or decreasing regulation with increasing absorbed dose. Few biological processes were affected at all absorbed dose levels studied or in all tissues studied. The types of biological processes affected were clearly tissue-dependent. Immune response was the only biological process affected in all tissues, and processes affected in more than three tissues were primarily associated with the response to stimuli and metabolism. Conclusion Despite the low absorbed doses delivered to the tissues investigated, a surprisingly strong response was observed. Affected biological processes were primarily associated with the normal function of the tissues, and only small deviations from the normal metabolic activity in the tissues were induced.