Expression data from mouse livers lacking NF-kappaB RelA (p65) during pneumonia

A common response to physiological duress is the hepatic acute phase response, a process during which the expression of many genes is altered in the liver. Amongst these transcripts are those encoding acute phase proteins, defined as circulating proteins with significantly changed concentrations during an acute phase response. The goal of this study was to determine the influence of NF-kappaB RelA (p65) on hepatic gene changes including but not limited to acute phase proteins during bacterial pneumonia. Using the Cre-LoxP system, mice were generated with functional deletion of NF-kappaB RelA (p65) in hepatocytes. In mutant mice, Cre-recombinase was expressed under transcriptional control of an albumin promoter in the presence of homozygous floxed alleles for RelA. Wild-type control mice lacked the Cre-recombinase transgene. Microarray analysis was performed on liver RNA collected from both genotypes of mice in the absence and presence of pneumococcal pneumonia. RNA from 2 separate groups of mice (3 mice per group) was analyzed: 1) Control mice infected intratracheally for 24h with 10^6 CFU of Streptococcus pneumoniae (serotype 3); and 2) Mutant mice infected intratracheally for 24h with 10^6 CFU of Streptococcus pneumoniae (serotype 3).