Abstract
BackgroundPrenatal exposure to air pollutants is associated with increased risk for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. However, few studies have identified transcriptional changes related to air pollutant exposure.MethodsRNA sequencing was used to examine transcriptomic changes in blood and cerebral cortex of three male and three female mouse neonates prenatally exposed to traffic-related nano-sized particulate matter (nPM) compared to three male and three female mouse neonates prenatally exposed to control filter air.ResultsWe identified 19 nPM-associated differentially expressed genes (nPM-DEGs) in blood and 124 nPM-DEGs in cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex transcriptional responses to nPM suggested neuroinflammation involvement, including CREB1, BDNF, and IFNγ genes. Both blood and brain tissues showed nPM transcriptional changes related to DNA damage, oxidative stress, and immune responses. Three blood nPM-DEGs showed a canonical correlation of 0.98 with 14 nPM-DEGS in the cerebral cortex, suggesting a convergence of gene expression changes in blood and cerebral cortex. Exploratory sex-stratified analyses suggested a higher number of nPM-DEGs in female cerebral cortex than male cerebral cortex. The sex-stratified analyses identified 2 nPM-DEGs (Rgl2 and Gm37534) shared between blood and cerebral cortex in a sex-dependent manner.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that prenatal nPM exposure induces transcriptional changes in the cerebral cortex, some of which are also observed in blood. Further research is needed to replicate nPM-induced transcriptional changes with additional biologically relevant time points for brain development.
Highlights
Prenatal exposure to air pollutants is associated with increased risk for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders
Transcriptome changes in blood and cerebral cortex of neonates prenatally exposed to air pollutants The total number of detected transcripts in cerebral cortex and blood of the neonates was around 21670 and 10601, respectively
The effects of nano-sized particulate matter (nPM) on blood and cerebral cortex transcriptome were examined by two linear models (Table 1)
Summary
Prenatal exposure to air pollutants is associated with increased risk for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. The gestational period is one of the most vulnerable life-stages for air pollution exposure, with potential long-term impacts on human health [2]. A growing body of research further indicates that prenatal air pollution exposure, and particulate matter (PM) may affect brain processes throughout life. Prenatal exposure to PM has been associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) [11,12,13,14,15], childhood hyperactivity [16, 17], and cognitive impairments [18,19,20]. ASD is diagnosed 4 times more often in males than in females, and air pollution exposure is a major contributor to ASD risk [11,12,13,14,15]
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