Alteration of gene expression profile in rat thalamus induced by ketamine

    MA Jiaª²Hai, XU Liª²Xian, WANG Huiª²Xia, ZHANG Hui, ZHOU Liª²Hua

    Department of Anesthesiology, Stomatological College, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¬ðan 710033, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To have more insight into the alteration of gene expression profile in rat thalamus anesthetized with ketamine using gene chip. METHODS: Four SD rats were randomly divided into 2 groups: control group administered intraperitoneally with 0.9% saline, and ketamine group with 100 mg/kg ketamine. One hour later, thalamus was dissected and the total RNA was isolated. cDNA was amplified through reverse transcription reaction. Biotinª²labeled cRNA was synthesized using cDNA as template. After purification and fragmentation, the cDNA was hybridized with rat neurobiology U34 gene chips. Chips were scanned and genes were analyzed using Microarray Suite Version 5.0 software. Differentially expressed genes were classified according to their biological function. RESULTS: Among the total 1323 probes detected, 237 genes showed differential expression in ketamine group. The expression level of 132 genes increased and 105 genes decreased, and 59 genes among them had the expression level alteration over 2 times. The differentially expressed genes were mainly classified into ion channels, signal transduction, transcription factors and cytokines. CONCLUSION: Ketamine can induce the significant alteration of gene expression profile of thalamus in rats. ......