Gene expression data from the sham and irradiated lungs of three murine strains with well-characterized phenotypic variation in pulmonary radiation response.. Mus musculus

Intrinsic variations in the development of lung injury among patients undergoing radiotherapy for tumors in the thoracic region suggest there are one or more genes that influence the development and severity of radiation pneumonitis and/or fibrosis. We hypothesized well-characterized murine strain differences in pulmonary response to radiation may offer a novel method to extract the specific genes and/or pathways participating in the development of pneumonitis and/or fibrosis. Overall design: Gene expression profiling with microarrays was performed on lung tissue harvested 24 h after sham (0 Gy) or single dose (12.5 or 15 Gy) whole thorax lung irradiation from mice with well characterized phenotypes of radiation pneumonitis and/or fibrosis.