Characterization of ischemia/reperfusion-induced gene expression in experimental pancreas transplantation

The aim of this study was to identify genes that are differentially expressed in the early period after pancreatic cold ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury.

Grafts of isogeneic rat pancreaticoduodenal transplantation were subjected to different preservation solutions and cold ischemia times (CITs): University of Wisconsin (UW), 6-hour CIT; UW, 18-hour CIT; and physiologic saline solution, 6-hour CIT. Animals that did not receive transplants served as controls. At 2-hour reperfusion, grafts were removed and pancreatic RNA was isolated, pooled, and hybridized to Affymetrix RG-U34A arrays. Quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to confirm the results of microarray technology.

A total of 49 genes were consistently upregulated (more than threefold) in all three groups of transplant recipient animals. Prominent genes include transcription factors; cytoskeletal factors; heat-shock proteins (e.g. Hsp27, Hsp90); molecules involved in inflammation (e.g. PAPIII), immunology, signal transduction, and translation; and genes that have not been associated with I/R injury so far (e.g. Best5). Messenger RNA levels of some genes were exclusively downregulated in response to the different conditions applied to the pancreatic grafts: Cybb, Reg3a, Per2, BMAL1, MAP, and Isl2.

These results provide new insight in I/R-induced gene expression after experimental pancreas transplantation. The reported upregulation of heat shock proteins, Best5, and PAPIII may play a pathologic role in pancreatic cold I/R injury and could therefore provide a promising perspective for further investigations.