Abstract:

Objective To investigate the discrepancy of aldosterone synthesis process and potential regulation abnormality between aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) and normal adrenal (NA) with microarray. Methods cRNA probes labelled with biotin were prepared from mRNA of APAs (APA group, n=10) or NAs (control group, n=7)．The probes were hybridized with oligonucleotide microarray of target gene expression profile. Expression levels were read from the fluorescent intensity scanned. The difference of gene expression profile was analyzed by computer software. Differentially expressed genes were verified by real-time RT-PCR. Results Compared with control group, 97 genes were up-regulated and 168 genes were down-regulated in APA group. In the genes related to steroid hormone synthesis, only CYP11B2 was significantly up-regulated. In the physiologic regulators of aldosterone synthesis, CYB5A, CYP17A1, DUSP1 and HMGCR were down-regulated, while RENBP and NR1H2 were up-regulated. As a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of cortisol, the expression of CYP17A1 gene was inhibited. Conclusion Among the aldosterone synthesis related enzyme and corresponding regulatory genes in APA, CYP11B2 may be a key synthetase, and the suppressed physiologic regulators of aldosterone synthesis may indicate the existence of neoplastic modulation.

Key words: microarray, aldosterone-producing adenoma, aldosterone synthetase, regulatory factor