Effects of dexamethasone on gene expression in rat pancreatic AR42J cell line

The rat pancreatic cell line AR42J is relatively undifferentiated under normal culture conditions. When the glucocorticoid dexamethasone is added to the medium the cells display a dramatic decrease in proliferative rate and are induced to a more exocrine phenotype that includes increased expression of exocrine pancreas products (digestive enzymes) and more developed regulated secretion. We used microarray to determine changes in gene expression comparing control (without dexamethasone) vs induced (plus dexamethasone).大鼠胰腺细胞系AR42J在常规培养条件下呈相对未分化状态。当在培养基中加入糖皮质激素地塞米松（dexamethasone）时，该细胞的增殖速率会显著降低，并被诱导为更成熟的外分泌表型：其胰腺外分泌产物（消化酶）的表达水平显著升高，且调控性分泌系统更为发达。本研究采用基因芯片（microarray）技术，对比对照组（未添加地塞米松）与诱导组（添加地塞米松）的基因表达变化情况。