A strategy to identify differentially expressed genes during rat liver regeneration using cDNA array

Objective To screen the differentially expressed genes in liver regeneration with cDNA array and to investigate the pathogenesis of acute hepatic failure.Methods Acute liver failure of Sprague-Dawley(SD)rat was induced by 95% hepatectomy.The differentially expressed genes in regenerating rat liver were screened by using a cDNA array representing 1 176 cDNA clusters.Some genes were randomly selected from a pool of differentially expressed genes and subjected to further confirm the result of microarray hybridization by RT-PCR.Results One hundred and thirty-eight genes up-regulated including those of growth factors,PCNA,ribosomal proteins,IL-6 and cdks,which were associated with cell cycle regulation,stress,metabolism and proliferation.Fifty genes down-regulated including metabolic enzyme genes,ER genes,surface antigen genes and so on.Conclusion cDNA array is a powerful tool to explore the gene expression of acute liver failure and provides potential targets for the diagnosis and treatment.