Microarray analysis of the effects of ASP/MSH in melan-a melanocytes

We determined the gene expression profiles of murine melan-a melanocytes treated with ASP or alpha-MSH over a 4 days time course using genome-wide oligonucleotide microarrays. As expected, the gene expression patterns emphasized the opposing effects of the 2 ligands, and there were significant reductions in expression of numerous melanogenic proteins elicited by ASP, which correlates with its inhibition of pigmentation. However, ASP also unexpectidly modulated the expression of genes involved in various other cellular pathways, including glutathione synthesis and redox metabolism. Many genes up-regulated by ASP are involved in morphogenesis, cell adhesion and ECM-receptor interactions. Treatment with ASP or alpha-MSH was performed for 3 hr, 1 day, 2 days, 3 days and 4 days, in triplicate. Each biological replicate was submitted to a direct hybridization (treated/untreated samples) after coupling with Cy5 or Cy3 and to a reverse dye-swap, leading to 2 replicated hybridization for each biological sample. A total of 6 hybridized arrays was used for each of the 5 time points, for each drug.