Benzo(a)pyrene induces similar gene expression changes in testis of DNA repair proficient and deficient male mice

DNA damage induced by benzo(a)pyrene may lead to the formation of mutations and as a consequence to the development of diseases. However, it is uncertain whether benzo(a)pyrene causes heritable mutations in male germ cells, which would increase health risks in offspring. In a previous study, benzo(a)pyrene induced DNA damage was observed at all stages of spermatogenesis and in testis. In addition, we observed that spermatogonial stem cells and testis rely, at least in part, on nucleotide excision repair for the removal of this damage, because removal was less efficient in Xpc-/- than in wild type mice. Efficient removal will protect the germ cells against the formation of heritable mutations. By using microarray technology, we investigated in this study the consequences of this difference in DNA adduct removal at the level of gene expression in testis 4 days after a single exposure to benzo(a)pyrene. We analyzed 20 testis samples of mice divided into 4 groups (5 mice per group): C57BL/6 control mice, C57BL/6 mice exposed to B[a}P, Xpc-/- control mice, Xpc-/- mice exposed to B[a]P. We used a pool of 3 C57BL/6 control mice as a reference.