Effect of endoplasmic reticulum stress on gene expression in lymphoblastoid cell lines.

The ER stress inducing agent Thapsigargin (TG) and/or the cytoprotective agent Salubrinal were applied to lymphoblastoid cell lines. TG induced lytic replication as well as a distinct pattern of gene expression changes. This study was designed to identify host genes mediating lytic replication secondary to ER stress. DMSO or TG applied for 6 hrs then washed out, immediately followed by either (i) DMSO, or (ii) SAL resulting in 4 conditions (DMSO, TG, SAL, or TG+SAL). Total RNA harvested at 3, 24 or 72hrs for Affymetrix analysis.