Molecular Biological Analysis of Cells and Tissues from Animals Exposed to Chemicals and Ultraviolet Rays

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The project aimed to melecularly clarify the reactions of the cells and tissues when exposed to chemicals and ultraviolet rays. We took up chloroform as a bio-hazardous chemical first and determined the transcripts in various tissues of mice exposed to chloroform. We obtained mRNA fingerprints, by using differential display method, from the organs in ICR mice intraperitoneally injected with chloroform in corn oil vehicle or corn oil vehicle alone.Compared the fingerprints, two mRNA fragments were proved to be induced by chloroform-exposure in kidney. These mRNA fragments were sequenced and identified as the parts of ADAMTS-1 (a disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin motifs-1) and endogenous MuLV (murine leukemia virus) mRNAs. Then we measured the amounts of ADAMTS-1 and MuLV mRNAs in kidney, liver and brain of mice exposed to chloroform by using quantitative RT-PCR.Interestingly, ADAMTS-1 and MuLV mRNAs increased only in kidney, but not in liver and brain. These results indicated that tissues reacted to chloroform in a tissue-specific manner. As ADAMTS-1 gene is activated by cytokines, the increase in ADAMTS-1 mRNA in kidney may be a secondary phenomenon through the cytokine systems activated by chloroform. Activation of MuLV,which may be present in the genome as provirus, in kidney gives us new clues to chloroform related-cancers. The research of other chemicals and ultraviolet rays are on the way. In conclusion, we identified kidney-specific activation of the ADAMTS-1 and MuLV genes of mice exposed to chloroform.