Evaluation of gene expression profile of keratinocytes in response to JP-8 jet fuel

The skin is the principal barrier against any environmental insult. Therefore, there is a high risk for a large number of military and civilian personnel exposed to jet fuel JP-8 to suffer percutaneous absorption of this fuel. This paper reports the use of cDNA microarray to identify the gene expression profile in normal human epidermal keratinocytes exposed to JP-8 for 24-h and 7-day periods. The effects of JP-8 exposure on keratinocytes at these two different periods induced a set of genes with altered expression in response to this type of insult. Microarray data were visualized using a novel algorithm based on simple statistical analyses to reduce data dimensionality and identify subsets of discriminant genes. Predictive neural networks were built using a multiplayer perceptron to carry out a proper classification task in microarray data in the untreated versus JP-8-treated samples. The pattern of expressions in response to JP-8 provides evidences that detoxificant-related and cell growth regulator genes with the most variability in the level of expression may be useful genetic markers in adverse health effects of personnel exposed to JP-8. The approaches in our analysis provide a simple, safe, novel, and effective method that is reliable in identifying and analyzing gene expression in samples treated with JP-8 or over potential toxic agents. Gene expression data from these studies can be used to build accurate predictive models that separate different molecular profiles. The data establish the use and effectiveness of these approaches for future prospective studies.