Transcriptional Pathways Altered in Response to Vibration in a Model of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome

Objective: The aim of this study was to use an established model of vibration-induced injury to assess frequency-dependent changes in transcript expression in skin, artery, and nerve tissues. Methods: Transcript expression in tissues from control and vibration-exposed rats (4 h/day for 10 days at 62.5, 125, or 250 Hz; 49 m/s(2), rms) was measured. Transcripts affected by vibration were used in bioinformatics analyses to identify molecular-and disease-related pathways associated with exposure to vibration. Results: Analyses revealed that cancer-related pathways showed frequency-dependent changes in activation or inhibition. Most notably, the breast-related cancer-1 pathway was affected. Other pathways associated with breast cancer type 1 susceptibility protein related signaling, or associated with cancer and cell cycle/cell survivability were also affected. Conclusion: Occupational exposure to vibration may result in DNA damage and alterations in cell signaling pathways that have significant effects on cellular division.