Expression data from human primary fibroblasts (IMR90) stably expressing H-RasV12 and treated with Metformin or vehicle

Metformin reduces the incidence of cancer in diabetics or in animal models. At the cellular level, the effects of metformin include the inhibition of complex I of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, a reduction in ATP levels and the activation of the energy sensor AMP kinase. Metformin also prevents the production of reactive oxygen species in primary human cells expressing oncogenic ras and the DNA damage associated to the process. We used microarrays to characterize the gene expression changes induced by metformin in primary human fibroblasts expressing oncogenic ras. Primary human fibroblasts were infected with a retroviral vector that expresses oncogenic ras. The cell population was then divided in two groups and one of them was treated with 5 mM metformin for 6 days. Then RNA was extracted from three independent replicas of this experiment and compared with cells treated with vehicle. Total RNA was send to Genome Quebec service for hybridization with Affymetrix microarrays.