Alpha-Tocopherol modulates transcriptional activities that affect essential biological processes in Bovine Cells

Authors: Li, Congjun - Cj; Li, Robert; Elsasser, Theodore

Submitted to: Gene Regulation and Systems Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/15/2010
Publication Date: 10/22/2010
Citation: Li, C., Li, R.W., Elsasser, T.H. 2010. Alpha-Tocopherol modulates transcriptional activities that affect essential biological processes in Bovine Cells. Gene Regulation and Systems Biology. 4:109-124.

Interpretive Summary: Alpha-tocopherol is the major isoform of vitamin E. after nearly 100 years of research and countless publications, the physiological functions of vitamin E remain mysterious to a certain degree. Nevertheless, vitamin E is one of the most commonly used single nutrient supplements. Recent data has suggested that '-tocopherol is not only an antioxidant but also a regulator of gene expression through its binding to nuclear receptors. In this study, we found that '-tocopherol induced cell cycle arrest at the G1/S boundary by flow cytometry analysis of '-tocopherol treatment of cells. To look into the possible mechanisms for the cell cycle arrest induced by '-tocopherol, global gene expression profiles of the bovine kidney epithelial cells regulated by '-tocopherol were investigated with high-density oligonucleotide microarrays. The gene expression profiles generated by the microarray technique were further analyzed by pathway analysis technologies to map gene expression data into relevant pathways based on their functional annotation and known molecular interactions. This study, being the first global expression profiling and pathway analysis of '-tocopherol-induced gene perturbation and the functional genomic study of '-tocopherol in bovine cells, has generated comprehensive information on the physiological functions of '-tocopherol. Using global expression profiling and pathway analysis, we identified specific genomic activities induced by '-tocopherol and found insights into the molecular mechanisms that mediate these activities. Overall, our data confirmed that '-tocopherol is a potent regulator of gene expression and '-tocopherol possesses novel transcriptional activities that affect essential biological processes.

Technical Abstract: Alpha-tocopherol is the major isoform of vitamin E. after nearly 100 years of research and countless publications, the physiological functions of vitamin E remain mysterious to a certain degree. Nevertheless, vitamin E is one of the most commonly used single nutrient supplements. Recent data has suggested that '-tocopherol is not only an antioxidant but also a regulator of gene expression through its binding to nuclear receptors. In this study, we found that '-tocopherol induced cell cycle arrest at the G1/S boundary by flow cytometry analysis of '-tocopherol treatment of cells. To look into the possible mechanisms for the cell cycle arrest induced by '-tocopherol, global gene expression profiles of the bovine kidney epithelial cells regulated by '-tocopherol were investigated with high-density oligonucleotide microarrays. The gene expression profiles generated by the microarray technique were further analyzed by pathway analysis technologies to map gene expression data into relevant pathways based on their functional annotation and known molecular interactions. This study, being the first global expression profiling and pathway analysis of '-tocopherol-induced gene perturbation and the functional genomic study of '-tocopherol in bovine cells, has generated comprehensive information on the physiological functions of '-tocopherol. Using global expression profiling and pathway analysis, we identified specific genomic activities induced by '-tocopherol and found insights into the molecular mechanisms that mediate these activities. Overall, our data confirmed that '-tocopherol is a potent regulator of gene expression and '-tocopherol possesses novel transcriptional activities that affect essential biological processes.