Comparison between single-cell cultures and tissue cultures as model systems for evaluating the modulation of gene expression by food bioactives

Abstract

In this study, we sought the use of cultured human abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) tissue to investigate the transcriptional effects of some bioactives, whose role in the prevention of atherosclerotic plaque development through the regulation of gene expression has been hypothesized. After supplementation with n − 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids or epigallocatechin-3-gallate, the expression of five genes involved in cholesterol metabolism was assessed in cultures of AAA tissue obtained during elective open surgery, and compared to the results obtained in a single-cell culture model (HepG2 cells). All bioactives modulated gene expression in HepG2 cells, while no effects were observed in the tissue culture due to the shortcomings of the tissue model, which showed high within-patient variations and high between-patient variations in gene expression. Results herein reported underline that the choice of the model system is a critical point in the evaluation of the transcriptional effects of bioactives.

Keywords::

• abdominal aortic aneurysm
• bioactives
• cholesterol
• docosahexaenoic acid
• eicosapentaenoic acid
• epigallocatechingallate

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Loma Holmes and Mandy Burrows (NNUH) for assistance in obtaining tissue samples, to Wendy Hollands for assistance with ethics paperwork and to the NNUH Foundation Trust Human Tissue Bank for donating patients' tissue samples for this research.

Declaration of interest : The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. This research was funded by a Bologna University Marco Polo grant to EB, by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council UK (JRB and PAK) and by the Italian MIUR (RFO; VT and AB).