Targeted identification of iron regulated genes in patients with hemochromatosis and hepatitis C using a whole genome cDNA microarray

Aims: Chronic iron accumulation is an important risk factor for disease progression in chronic hepatitis C (HCV), however, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. We here introduce a novel approach to search for iron-regulated genes in liver disease by a) whole genome screening in iron-depleted and – overloaded cultured cells and b) validating selected genes as markers of altered iron metabolism in patients with hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) and HCV. Methods: Glass slides used for this study carried 32,231 cDNA clones selected from the Human UniGene 1 clone set (German Resource Centre for Genome Resea…