Bioinformatic transcriptomic analysis of ApoE deficient mice suggests Alterations in atherosclerosis related molecular mechanisms

Atherosclerosis is a multifactorial disease involving a lot of genes and proteins recruited throughout its manifestation. The present study represents an integrative effort, coupling the results of a bioinformatic analysis based on microarray data of atherosclerotic aortic lesions of apoE knockout mice, a model widely used in atherosclerosis research, together with gene expression measurements of human atherosclerotic lesions. A dynamic analysis was performed among young and aged animals, at three different ages. GO-based pathway analysis indicated altered processes related to immune response and to inflammation as well as lipid transport and metabolism. Cluster analysis partitioned the significantly differentiated genes in five clusters of similar expression profile. Promoter analysis applied in a representative cluster amid those derived, revealed shared putative cis-elements potentially contributing to a common regulatory mechanism. Finally, comparison with the expression profiles of retinoic acid pathway genes in human atherosclerotic lesions, traced some common patterns of expression between the two organisms.