08 2.88 Slc28a2 8.24 2.71 F3 2.87 2.67 Ccl2 9.99 2.65 C1qb 2.04 2.64 Pon1 3.05 2.29 Il1b 8.65 2.26 Nudt4 3.48 2.15 Cd14 8.10 1.85 Ptafr 1.59 1.84 Arg1 1.60 1.83 Ptgs2 2.01 1.83 Pstpip1 3.29 1.79 Pde4b 1.88 1.76 Xdh 5.55 1.74 Socs2 1.73 1.67 Bst1 2.34 1.55 Gda 2.26 1.55 Ctsk 3.68 1.54 Emb 1.71 1.53 Ptpn1 2.46 1.50 Values shown are fold changes. D vs. N: expression affected by dexathamethasone (D) treatment compared to the normal control (N); Pc vs. D: expression affected by Pneumocystis (Pc) infection compared to the Dex (D) control. Table

5 Rat AM genes down-regulated by dexamethasone but up-regulated find more by Pneumocystis infection Gene D vs. N Pc vs. D Spp1 -1.72 11.78 Irf1 -1.52 4.45 Cxcr4 -1.78 3.60 Crp -1.86 3.23 Il1rn -1.83 selleck compound 2.84 Irf8 -1.61 2.13 RT1-Aw2 -1.97 2.00 Ier3 -1.86 1.63 Ccnl1 -2.20 1.57 Values shown are fold changes. D vs. N: expression affected by dexathamethasone (D) treatment compared to the normal control (N); Pc vs. D: expression affected by Pneumocystis (Pc) infection compared to the Dex (D) control. Table 6 Rat AM genes down-regulated by dexamethasone and further down-regulated by Pneumocystis infection Gene D vs. N Pc vs. D Alox5

-3.07 -3.07 Xrcc5 -1.92 -2.35 Hmgcs1 -1.78 -2.18 Gstm1 -1.72 -2.17 Hspa1a -17.44 -2.08 Ela1 -1.62 -2.02 Ivns1abp -1.88 -1.95 Igf1 -1.55 -1.81 Fbp1 -2.01 -1.77 Star -1.85 -1.75 Dusp5 -2.40 -1.68 Dnaja1 -3.20 -1.67 Rgc32 -2.87 -1.67 Pparg -1.56 -1.65 Dnajb1 -4.88 -1.59 Cd9 -1.54 -1.58 Tryptophan synthase Ak3 -1.57 -1.57 St3gal2 -1.54 -1.56 Fcgrt -2.15

-1.55 Mtpn -1.62 -1.55 Cdc42ep3 -2.48 -1.52 Values shown are fold changes. D vs. N: expression affected by dexathamethasone (D) treatment compared to the normal control (N); Pc vs. D: expression affected by Pneumocystis (Pc) infection compared to the Dex (D) control. Confirmation of microarray results by RT-PCR To ensure that the expression levels of genes determined by the microarrays were correct, real-time RT-PCR was performed on several selected target genes. Results learn more confirmed that Cat was down-regulated and Cxcl10, Lcn2, Nos2, Sdc1, and Spp1 were up-regulated (Table 7). Genes whose expression levels were not significantly changed during PCP include Odc1, Smo, and RPS8. Table 7 Confirmation of fold changes by real-time RT-PCR Gene Microarraya Real-time RT-PCRb Cat -1.64 -3.50 Cxcl10 12.33 11.03 Lcn2 5.36 15.47 Nos2 6.35 14.58 Sdc1 2.42 16.50 Spp1 11.78 16.32 aFold changes determined by microarray. bFold changes determined by real-time RT-PCR Discussion In this study, DNA microarrays were used to study effects of P. carinii infection on global gene expression in AMs from rats. Since rats were immunosuppressed with dexamethasone in order to establish Pneumocystis infection, gene expression affected by dexamethasone treatment was also investigated. A total of 1682 genes in AMs were found to be affected by dexamethasone, and 1705 genes were found to be affected by Pneumocystis infection with an FDR of ≤ 0.1. With a more stringent filtering criteria of FDR ≤ 0.