Oxidative stress-induced gene expression changes in prostate epithelial cells in vitro reveal a robust signature of normal prostatic senescence and aging

Oxidative stress has long been postulated to play an essential role in aging mechanisms, and numerous forms of molecular damage associated with oxidative stress have been well documented. However, the extent to which changes in gene expression in direct response to oxidative stress are related to actual cellular aging, senescence, and age-related functional decline remains unclear. We used microarrays to detail H2O2-induced oxidative stress and resulting gene expression alterations in prostate epithelial cells in vitro. While a broad range of significant changes observed in the expression of non-coding transcripts implicated in senescence-related responses, we also note an overrepresentation of gene-splicing events among differentially expressed protein-coding genes induced by H2O2 The study compares control samples of normal human prostate epithelial cells (HPEC) (4 replicates) with HPEC cell samples treated with 12 μmol/L of H2O2 for 2 hours to induce SIPS (4 replicates). The gene expression profile was determined on day 12 after senescence induction.