Gene expression profiles in rat lung following intratracheal instillation with C60 fullerene particles

Gene expression profiling of the rat lung following intratracheal instillation with C60 fullerene particles was employed to gain insights into these molecular events. Groups of nine-week-old male Wistar rats (n= 4-6 per group/ time point) were intratracheally instilled with C60 fullerene suspended in 0.4 ml distilled water including 0.8% Tween-80 as a single injection (0.1 mg, 0.2 mg (LD: low dose) and 1.0 mg (HD: high dose) C60 fullerene/ rat). Control groups received 0.8% Tween-80 (vehicle control). After intratracheal instillation treatment, rats were housed within polycarbonate cages at a controlled temperature of 22 °C with a chow diet ad libitum, and dissected at 3 days, 1 week, 1 month, 3 month, and 6 month post-instillation. Right lungs of anesthetized rats were perfused with physiological saline, excised, and used for DNA microarray analysis.