Protein expression profiling in the liver of rats exposed to phenanthrene

Abstract

Phenanthrene (PH) is a group of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from various ambient sources. In this study, a proteomic approach was used to characterize protein expression profiling in rat livers exposed to phenanthrene. A 1.5-fold or greater change in the expression levels of ten proteins was observed after PH exposure. In response to a PH dose equivalent to 10% of the LD50, six proteins were upregulated and four were downregulated. At a PH dose equivalent to 50% of the LD50, upregulation of five proteins and downregulation of five proteins were found. Of these, validation of the differential expression of phenylalanine hydroxylase and glutathione S-transferase was performed by western blot, and the western blot results confirmed the proteomics-based expression levels.