Microarray-based Gene Expression Profiles Of Acute Allograft Rejection In The Rat Kidney Transplantation Model

Objective To investigate the gene expression profiles in acute allograft rejection of renal transplantation and settle foundation for bringing out the mechanisms and finding the markers for early diagnosis of acute rejection. Methods Orthotopic kidney transplantation was performed using F344 or Lewis donors and Lewis recipients. No immunosuppression was used, graft kidneys were harvested on days 3, 7, and 14. A commercial microarray was used to measure gene expression levels in allograft on day 7, Finally, QRT-PCR was performed to detect the relative expression levels of some key genes during 2 weeks posttransplantation.Results The expression levels of 48 genes were up-regulated in the allograft in comparison with the isograft control, Interferon γ induced GTPase is the most significant up-regulated gene in allograft. IFN- γ expressed in allograft is also specifically up-regulate from day 3 posttranspantation compared with isografts.Conclusions Many pathways involved in organ transplant rejection that is a dynamic, nonequilibrium and continuous process. However ,IGTF and INF- γ are specifically up-regulated in rats kidney, suggesting that INF- γ may play an important role in the early phase of acute rejection .It also seems that there is little probability to make early diagnosis with a single biomarker, but it could yet be done with a cluster of gene markers.