Whole Transcript Expression Array Analysis of Human Colon Fibroblasts Culture Treated with Helichrysum italicum Infusion

Helichrysum italicum (HI) is a Mediterranean plant with well-reported use in traditional medicine for a wide range of applications, related mostly to respiratory, digestive and dermatologic conditions. The health-beneficial potential of H. italicum has been supported by numerous in vitro and in vivo experiments, however, little is known about the global mechanism behind its pleiotropic activity. The aim of this study was to enhance the understanding of the potential biological processes induced in primary colon fibroblasts by HI infusion exposure for 6 h and 24 h, using a microarray-based transcriptome analysis. Altogether we identified 217 differentially expressed genes compared to non-treated cells, and only 8 were common to both treatments. Gene ontology analysis revealed that 24 h treatment with HI infusion altered the expression of genes involved in cytoskeleton rearrangement and cell growth, whereas pathway analysis further showed the importance of interleukin signaling and transcriptional regulation by TP53. For the 6 h treatment only the process of hemostasis appeared in the results of both analyses. With the careful evaluation of the role of individual genes represented in the enriched pathways and processes, we propose the main mode of HI action, which is wound healing. In addition to its indirect prevention of diseases resulting from impaired barrier integrity, HI also effects inflammation and metabolic processes directly. Primary colon fibroblasts (CCD122CoN) were chosen as a cell model for testing the intestinal activity of HI infusion, since colonic subepithelial fibroblasts are known to contribute to the maintenance of epithelial cell homeostasis, wound healing, and immune responses. 24 h after seeding, CCD122CoN cells were treated with 0.1 v/v% HI infusion for 6 h and 24 h or sterile water in triplicates. Equal amounts of RNAs from each sample were hybridized to Human Clariom™ S GeneChip.