Microarray analysis of rat pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells before or after exposure to S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO)

Nitric oxide (NO) regulated pulmonary vascular function and structure, in part, via its effect on gene expression. We used microarrays to determine the up- and downregulated genes in rat pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells exposed to the NO donor S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) for 1, 2, and 4 hours. Two independent preparations of RPaSMCs were untreated or exposed to GSNO (100 μmol/L) for 1, 2, and 4 hours (h). RNA, cDNA, and labeled cRNA were generated. Fragmented cRNA was hybridized to Affymetrix rat U-34A GeneChips containing 8798 gene entries with the GeneChip Fluidics Station 450 and scanned with the GeneChip® Scanner 3000. Affymetrix GeneChip 5.0 software was used for data analysis according to Affymetrix protocols.