Conserved Transcriptional Response of Rodent Liver to TCDD: Rat

Our results suggest that a small core of genes is responsible for mediating the similar features of dioxin hepatotoxicity in rats and mice but non-overlapping pathways are simultaneously at play to result in distinctive histopathological outcomes. The extreme divergence between mouse and rat transcriptomic responses appears to reflect divergent transcriptional-regulatory networks. Taken together, these data suggest that both rat and mouse models should be used to screen the acute hepatotoxic effects of drugs and toxic compounds.本研究结果表明，少量核心基因介导了大鼠与小鼠体内二噁英肝毒性的相似表型，但同时存在非重叠的信号通路参与，最终导致二者出现具有特异性的组织病理学结局。大鼠与小鼠的转录组应答反应之间的显著差异，似乎反映了二者趋异的转录调控网络。综上，本研究数据提示，应同时采用大鼠与小鼠模型，对药物及有毒化合物的急性肝毒性效应进行筛选。