Early-life ozone exposure modulates region-specific gene expression in the developing rat lung

This study aimed to elucidate changes in gene expression following episodic ozone exposure to identify potential mechanisms of ozone-mediated impairments in lung development. Rat pups were exposed to either filtered air or ozone (0.5 ppm, 6hr./day, 5 days/week) from postnatal day (PND) 7-28 (16 dams total with 8 pups each, 4M & 4F) and sacrificed at either PND 30-31 or PND 80-84. Lung microdissection isolated major regions for RNA-Seq analysis. Ozone modified inherent differences in gene expression between lung regions in both male and female rat pups, whereas statistically significant changes in gene expression directly attributed to ozone were only identified in females. The greatest number of differentially expressed genes was observed between the distal airways and the parenchyma of ozone-exposed juvenile female rats, with 355 genes being differentially expressed. Genes modulating epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, cell growth, and adhesion were differentially expressed in the parenchyma of ozone exposed juvenile females, suggesting that episodic ozone exposure may affect branching morphogenesis and lung cell growth. Importantly, our study provides novel targets for future experiments investigating the impact of ozone on lung development.PMID:37871705 | DOI:10.1016/j.toxlet.2023.10.010
Source: Toxicology Letters - Category: Toxicology Authors: Source Type: research