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Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Associate Professor Rory Edward Morty, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, W.G. Kerckhoff Institute, Germany
- Second opponent: Professor Christian P. Speer, University Children’s Hospital Würzburg, Germany
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor II Marit Lieng, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor Karin C. Lødrup Carlsen, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Professor Emeritus Ola Didrik Saugstad, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo
Summary
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia may result after premature birth and the life saving treatment given to premature babies. Prematurely born babies who develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia may have reduced lung function into adulthood and other respiratory problems. The mechanisms of disrupted lung development that causes the condition is not fully understood and no treatment or prevention exists.
The aim of the study was to explore the mRNA transcriptome and global epigenetic DNA methylation status in lung tissue from young mice with experimental BPD.
Using a mouse model of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, newborn mice were given hyperoxia. Whole genome mRNA expression and epigenetic changes in DNA methylation in lung tissue homogenate were analyzed with microarray technology.
The gene regulation in lung tissue was affected by oxygen treatment, specifically the regulation of genes related to vascular tone and also genes related to the immune system.
A global difference in DNA methylation after oxygen treatment was observed. DNA methylation is associated with gene silencing.
Oxygen treatment in the newborn period left lasting changes in the gene regulation in lung tissue, also at an epigenetic level.
Additional information
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