Differential expression profiles of microRNA in mice internally exposed to tritiated water

The adverse effects of tritiated water (HTO) were examined on the differential expression profiles of microRNA in mice. Five groups of mice were injected intraperitoneally with intermediate concentration (5.55 × 105 Bq g−1) of HTO and sacrificed 2, 4, 6, 10, or 28 days after HTO administration. There were also two additional groups of mice injected with either a low (1.85 × 105 Bq g−1) or high (16.65 × 105 Bq g−1) concentration of HTO. The relative expression of mature microRNA genes was determined by microRNA microarray and real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Gene ontology (GO) analysis was applied to determine the main function of the differentially expressed genes according to the GO. Results showed that intermediate concentration exposure of HTO resulted in six up-regulated and six down-regulated microRNA at day 2, whereas high concentration exposure revealed 11 up-regulated and 14 down-regulated microRNA at day 10, among which miR-34a, miR-26a, and miR-124 may be involved in re...