canine uterine bacterial infection induces upregulation of proteolysis-related genes and downregulation of homeobox and zinc finger factors犬子宫细菌感染诱发upregulation proteolysis-related基因的差别,对这些基因的同源框和锌指因素.pdfVIP

Canine Uterine Bacterial Infection Induces Upregulation of Proteolysis-Related Genes and Downregulation of Homeobox and Zinc Finger Factors 1 ¨ 2 2 Ragnvi Hagman *, Elin Ronnberg , Gunnar Pejler * 1 Division of Small Animals, Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden, 2 Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden Abstract Background: Bacterial infection with the severe complication of sepsis is a frequent and serious condition, being a major cause of death worldwide. To cope with the plethora of occurring bacterial infections there is therefore an urgent need to identify molecular mechanisms operating during the host response, in order both to identify potential targets for therapeutic intervention and to identify biomarkers for disease. Here we addressed this issue by studying global gene expression in uteri from female dogs suffering from spontaneously occurring uterine bacterial infection. Principal Findings: The analysis showed that almost 800 genes were significantly (p ,0.05) upregulated (.2-fold) in the uteri of diseased animals. Among these were numerous chemokine and cytokine genes, as well as genes associated with inflammatory cell extravasation, anti-bacterial action, the complement system and innate immune responses, as well as proteoglycan-associated genes. There was also a striking representation of genes associated with proteolysis. Robust upregulation of immunoglobulin components and genes involved in antigen presentation was also evident, indicating elaboration of a strong adaptive immune response. The bacterial infection was also assoc