Genetic changes in fetal cerebral cortex after maternal exposure to sevoflurane

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the acute changes in transcriptome of radial glial progenitor cells after maternal exposure to sevoflurane.Methods: Two groups of sample data were collected from the data set in the GEO database. Pregnant mice in sevoflurane group were exposed to 2.5 % sevoflurane for 6 h on day 14.5 of the pregnancy, while the mice in control group were exposed to 100 % oxygen for 6 h. At the end of the exposure period, the cerebral cortex of the two groups of fetuses was isolated and analyzed by RNA sequencing. Differentially expressed genes (DEG) were analyzed using limma package of R language. The Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway enrichment were based on DEG through a cluster profile package of R. Moreover, protein-protein interactions (PPI) network construction and central gene prediction were carried out using a string database and R package.Results: Bioinformatics analysis revealed 289 up-regulated genes and 311 down-regulated DEGs, respectively. Gene Ontology and KEGG enrichment analysis revealed terms related to neural development and transcriptional function. Based on the central genes of the PPI network, it was found that certain genes may play significant roles in the regulation of neural development. These genes are hnRNPM, AURKA, NCBP, SRSF6, ASF1B, HNRNPA2B1, DDX21, H3F3B, KPNA2 and ABCE1 (p < 0.05).Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that hub genes and a variety of signal pathways may play key roles in the development of radial glial progenitor cells.