Transcriptional changes in A549 cells after four weeks of exposure to 30 µg/ml diesel exhaust particles measured by RNA-seq.

Diesel exhaust particles (DEP), which contain hazardous compounds, are emitted during the combustion of diesel. As approximately one-third of the vehicles worldwide use diesel, there are growing concerns on the risks posed by DEP to human health. Long-term exposure to DEP is associated with airway hyperresponsiveness, pulmonary fibrosis, and inflammation; however, the molecular mechanisms behind the effects of DEP on the respiratory tract are poorly understood. Such mechanisms can be addressed by examining transcriptional and DNA methylation changes. In this study, we investigated the effect of 4 weeks exposure to 30 µg/ml DEP on gene expression levels in A549 cells. Overall design: A549 cells were treated with 30 µg/ml DEP for four weeks, using four biological replicates. The gene expression leles for control and treated groups were obtained using genome-wide RNA sequensing. The effect of DEP on transcriptome was assesed based on the results of differentially expression analyses compared to the control