Effect of serum amyloid A1 treatment on global gene expression in THP-1-derived macrophages

To investigate the effect of serum amyloid A1 (SAA1) on global gene expression in macrophages derived from THP-1 monocytes. Global genetic expression in THP-1-derived macrophages was determined using Illumina HT-12 microarray chips and the results were validated by real-time PCR. Cytokine levels in cellular supernatant were quantified by ELISA. In total, 55 genes were upregulated with fold difference greater than two when THP-1-derived macrophages were incubated with SAA1 for 8 h. SAA1 is a strong cytokine inducer with significant upregulation of chemokines CCL1, CCL3, and CCL4 and this was confirmed by both real-time PCR and ELISA quantification. SAA1 also promotes the upregulation of genes involved in phagocytosis, anti-apoptosis, and tissue remodeling. SAA1 appears to play an important role during the immune response and in chronic inflammatory diseases through the stimulation of genes involved in cytokine production, phagocytosis, and anti-apoptosis.