RNA seq Data: Gene Regulation and Signaling Pathways in Immune Response to Respiratory Sensitizers: A Database Analysis

Humans are regularly exposed to environmental substances through inhaled air. Some chemicals or particles are respiratory sensitizers that can cause adverse respiratory health effects by triggering amplified immune responses. Understanding the process of respiratory sensitization and identifying potential sensitizers has been challenging due to the complexity of the underlying mechanisms. This study leverages the transcriptomics from a previous in vitro 3D human lung model to investigate the pathways of chemical respiratory sensitization. Differentially expressed genes between known and non-sensitizers are cross-referenced against databases on biological processes and disease pathways. The GO results revealed 43 upregulated genes, and the KEGG revealed 52. However, only 18 upregulated genes were common between GO and KEGG. The GO results revealed 26 downregulated genes, and the KEGG revealed 40. However, only 9 of those downregulated genes were common. These findings support the need to use multiple databases in perturbed gene analyses. The results from this study and data available in the scientific literature contribute towards building a biomarker profile for identifying respiratory sensitizers.