Web Release Date: March 23,
Identification of Marker Genes for Intestinal Immunomodulating Effect of a Fructooligosaccharide by DNA Microarray Analysis
and
Food and Health R&D Laboratories, Meiji Seika Kaisha, Ltd., 5-3-1 Chiyoda, Sakado-shi, Saitama 350-0289, Japan; Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan; and Department of Food Science and Technology, College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, 1866 Kameino, Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa 252-8510, Japan
Received for review October 2, 2006. Revised manuscript received December 25, 2006. Accepted January 4, 2007.
Abstract:
Prebiotic fructooligosaccharides are noted for their intestinal immunodulating effects, and the
identification of markers for the effects is a matter of great concern. This study aimed to identify
marker genes for physiological effects of a particular fructooligosaccharide (FOS) on a host animal
and also to define the target of its function in the small intestine. DNA microarray technology was
used to screen candidate marker genes, and comprehensive changes in gene expressions in the
ileum of mice fed with FOS were investigated. One of the major physiological effects of FOS was
intestinal immunomodulation. Marker genes were then identified for major histocompatibility complex
classes I and II, interferon, and phosphatidylinositol metabolites. Also, the ileum was segmented into
Peyer's patch (PP) and the other ileal organ (
PP), and these were analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR method, with the result that the site for recognizing the FOS function was the PP rather than
the PP. This is the first paper showing the markers for the physiological effects of FOS in the small
intestine at gene expression level. Applying these marker genes would make it possible to clarify the
mechanisms of how the administration of dietary FOS and associated changes in the intestinal
environment are recognized by host organisms as well as how its immunomodulating effects are
expressed in the body.
Keywords: Fructooligosaccharide; DNA microarray; immunomodulation; marker gene
Download the full text: PDF | HTML
