Both the ALC-NTC and the ALC-NTO embryos demonstrated lower expression of genes in sets related to cell growth, growth factors, heart (angiogenesis), and eye (in NTC vs. Control) (Table 4; Table 7). The ALC-NTC and ALC-NTO embryos also differed in other sets of functionally related genes. The histone gene set was selectively reduced in ALC-NTO compared to controls. The epidermal growth factor signaling pathway genes were lower in ALC-NTO than ALC-NTC (Table 4). At the single gene analysis level, Experiment 2 showed a greater number of neurotrophic/growth factor genes were down-regulated in ALC-NTO than in ALC-NTC groups, particularly in the TGFβ, NTF3, S100, and EGF families. These differences in gene expression between the ALC-NTO and ALC-NTC embryos appear to be correlated with the more severe teratogenic trajectory of the ALC-NTO group, but causal relationships have yet to be established.
