RNA-Seq analysis to assess gene expression levels in MDA-MB-231 cells on treatment with (5-oxo-2-dibenzothienylmethyl)triphenylphosphonium (1-SO) and (2-dibenylthienylmethyl)triphenylphosphonium (1-S) under different UV-A irradiation conditions

We report the gene expression levels in MDA-MB-231 cells on treatment with (5-oxo-2-dibenzothienylmethyl)triphenylphosphonium (1-SO) and (2-dibenylthienylmethyl)triphenylphosphonium (1-S) irradiated with UV-A light. These gene expression levels were then compared to control conditions where the cells were treated with the compounds but were not irradiated with UV-A light. The samples were additionally compared to the cells treated with 1% DMSO in DMEM media (with and without UV-A irradiation). Results: From the first set of experiments, 30 minutes of UV-A irradiation upregulated 3 and downregulated 5 genes compared to cells with no UV-exposure. The experiments also indicated that 1-SO in UV-A irradiation significantly affected gene expression whereas 1-SO without UV-A did not have a notable effect on expression levels. However, 1-S affected gene expression levels significantly with or without UV-A irradiation. Overall design: "Two six well plates were plated with MDA-MB-231 cells (600,000 cells/1.8mL/well). Both plates were incubated with compounds (1-SO and 1-S) at final 10µM concentration for 24 hours (VC – 1% DMSO). One plate was irradiated with UV-A light by placing it in a Luzchem photoreactor with 8 LZC-UVA bulbs (fwhm, 325-375 nm) and another plate was kept in the dark by wrapping it in aluminium foil. After UV-exposure, RNA was extracted from these samples using Gen Elute™? Total RNA Purification Kit (Sigma Aldrich, Catalog #RNB100) and the protocol associated with the product kit. The samples were then shipped to Novogene Corporation Inc on dry ice. RNA sequencing and associated bioinformatics analysis (differential gene expression analysis) were performed by Novogene Corporation. Heatmaps were generated using pheatmap package installed in R." - Isor A. et al., 2020 in prep