Gene expression profile in E2F1 and E2F2 deficient mice treated with the procarcinogen agent diethylnitrosamine and fed a high fat diet

To investigate mechanism involved in the development of NAFLD-driven hepatocarcinoma (HCC), we used genome microarray expression profiling. The aim was to identify genes which upregulation could be controlled by E2F1 and/or E2F2 in NAFLD -driven HCC. For that, HCC was induced in wild type (WT), E2f1 knockout mice (E2f1-/-) and E2f2 knockout mice (E2f2-/-) by administration of the procarcinogenic agent diethylnitrosamine (DEN) combined with a feeding of high fat diet (HFD) for 32 weeks.The microarray results were then validated by RT-qPCR. For that, the expression of the selected genes (some overexpressed, some downregulated and others with no change) was measured in the same RNA samples by real time PCR. The results were clustered in pathways with the Reactome Database. The differential gene expression associated to HCC development was measured in livers of WT, E2f1-/- mice, and E2f2-/- mice treated with DEN and fed a HFD. An n of 4 mice was used in each group