Figure 6
Ambient ultrafine PM chemicals enhance in vivo expression of genes related to vascular inflammation. (a) Experimental protocol. Two-month-old male apoE null mice fed a high-fat diet were exposed for a total of 120 h (5 h/day, 3 days/week for 8 weeks) to concentrated ultrafine particles (UFP), concentrated PM2.5 (FP), filtered air (FA) or not exposed (NE). (b) Hepatic gene expression levels. Gene expression was determined by qPCR of mRNA prepared from liver homogenates. UFP-exposed mice exhibited marked upregulation of HO-1 (left), XBP1 (center) and ATF4 (right). Values were normalized by β-actin mRNA levels and expressed as fold control (FOC). Five samples per group were assayed in duplicates. Statistical analysis was performed by one-way ANOVA, Fisher PLSD.