Coenzyme Q10 affects expression of genes involved in cell signalling, metabolism and transport in human CaCo-2 cells

Coenzyme Q(10) is an essential cofactor in the electron transport chain and serves as an important antioxidant in both mitochondria and lipid membranes. CoQ(10) is also an obligatory cofactor for the function Of uncoupling proteins. Furthermore, dietary supplementation affecting CoQ(10) levels has been shown in a number of organisms to cause multiple phenotypic effects. However, the molecular mechanisms to explain pleiotrophic effects of CoQ(10) are not clear yet and it is likely that CoQ(10) targets the expression of multiple genes. We therefore utilized gene expression profiling based on human oligonucleotide sequences to examine the expression in the human intestinal cell line CaCo-2 in relation to CoQ(10) treatment. CoQ(10) caused an increased expression of 694 genes at threshold-factor of 2.0 or more. Only one gene was down-regulated 1.5-2-fold. Real-time RT-PCR confirmed the differential expression for seven selected target genes. The identified genes encode proteins involved in cell signalling (n = 79), intermediary metabolism (n = 58), transport (n = 47), transcription control (n = 32), disease mutation (n = 24), phosphorylation (n = 19), embryonal development (n = 13) and binding (n = 9). In conclusion, these findin.as indicate a prominent role of CoQ(10) as a potent gene regulator. The presently identified comprehensive list of genes regulated by CoQ(10) may be used for further studies to identify the molecular mechanism of CoQ(10) on gene expression. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.