Signalling pathways regulate all major cellular events in health and disease, including asthma development and progression. Complexity of human intracellular signalization can be explored using novel systemic approaches that exploit whole-transcriptome analysis. Cap-analysis-of-gene-expression (CAGE) is a method of choice for generating transcriptome libraries, as it interrogates only terminally capped mRNAs that have the highest probability to be translated into protein. In this study we for the first time systematically profiled differentially activated Intracellular Signalling Pathways (ISPs) in cultured primary human airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells from asthmatic (n=8) and non-asthmatic (n=6) subjects in a high-throughput assay, highlighting asthma-specific co-regulatory patterns. CAGE-libraries from primary human ASM cells were subject to massive parallel next generation sequencing, and a comprehensive analysis of ISP activation was performed using a recently developed technique OncoFinder. Analysis of 270 ISPs led to discovery of multiple pathways clearly distinguishing asthmatic from normal cells. In particular, we found 146 (p<0.05) and 103 (p<0.01) signalling pathways differentially active in asthmatic vs non-asthmatic samples. We identified seven clusters of coherently acting pathways functionally related to the disease. Pathways down-regulated in asthma mostly represented cell death-promoting pathways, whereas the up-regulated ones were mainly involved in cell growth and proliferation, inflammatory response and some specific reactions, including smooth muscle contraction and hypoxia - related signalization. Most of interactions uncovered in this study were not previously associated with asthma, suggesting that these results may be pivotal to development of novel therapeutic strategies that specifically address the ISP signature linked with asthma pathophysiology. Overall design: Capped mRNA profiles of primary bronchial smooth muscle cells from 8 asthmatic and 6 healthy donors were generated by deep sequencing using Illumina HiSeq1500.
Large-scale profiling of signalling pathways reveals an asthma specific signature in bronchial smooth muscle cells.
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View SamplesThe goal of these studies was to determine the effects of fasting on skeletal muscle mRNA levels in healthy human subjects.
mRNA expression signatures of human skeletal muscle atrophy identify a natural compound that increases muscle mass.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Treatment, Subject
View SamplesGenetic deletion of Nfatc1 in mice results in profound osteoclast-poor osteopetrosis, a high bone mass state caused by a lack of osteoclast activity. We hypothesized that the family of NFATc1 regulated transcripts in the osteoclast would be enriched for genes associated with osteoclast function. We used microarrays profile gene expression in wild-type and NFATc1-deficient osteoclasts generated in vitro to identify NFATc1-dependent transcripts in osteoclasts.
NFATc1 in mice represses osteoprotegerin during osteoclastogenesis and dissociates systemic osteopenia from inflammation in cherubism.
Specimen part
View SamplesRecent data from our group, demonstrate that infusion of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG35-55) peptide, leads to induction of MOG35-55-specific Tregs and subsequent suppression of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE), the mouse model of multiple sclerosis. Amelioration of EAE was accompanied by reduced MOG-specific Th1 and Th17 responses in the draining lymph nodes (dLNs). Phenotypic analysis of the dLNs of MOG-infused mice revealed a significant Treg-mediated reduction in the recruitment of 7AAD-CD3-CD19-CD11c+CD11bhighGr-1+ iDCs compared to non-infused control immunized mice. Focusing on the delineation of novel molecules/genes that are involved in the MOG-specific Treg-mediated suppression of autoimmune responses, we have isolated highly purified iDCs from MOG infused and non-infused control immunized mice.
De novo-induced self-antigen-specific Foxp3+ regulatory T cells impair the accumulation of inflammatory dendritic cells in draining lymph nodes.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesWe performed a whole-transcriptome analysis of the peripheral blood of untreated patients with stage 1 PD (HoehnYahr scale).
Involvement of endocytosis and alternative splicing in the formation of the pathological process in the early stages of Parkinson's disease.
Specimen part, Disease
View SamplesThe in vitro directed differentiation of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) through stimulation of developmental signaling pathways can generate mature somatic cell types for basic laboratory studies or regenerative therapies.
Pluripotent stem cell differentiation reveals distinct developmental pathways regulating lung- versus thyroid-lineage specification.
Treatment
View SamplesAlcohol consumption is known to lead to gene expression changes in the brain. After performing gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) of genome-wide mRNA and microRNA expressions in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) from subjects with alcohol dependence (AD) and matched controls six mRNA and three miRNA modules significantly correlated with AD after Bonferroni correction (adj. p 0.05) were identified. Cell-type-specific transcriptome analysis revealed two of the mRNA modules to be enriched for neuronal specific marker genes and downregulated in AD, whereas the remaining four were enriched for astrocyte and microglial specific marker genes and were upregulated in AD. Using gene set enrichment analysis, the neuronal specific modules were enriched for genes involved in oxidative phosphorylation, mitochondrial dysfunction and MAPK signaling, while the glial-specific modules were enriched mostly for genes involved in processes related to immune functions, i.e. reactome cytokine signaling in immune system (all adj. p 0.05). In the mRNA and miRNA modules, 461 and 25 candidate hub genes were identified, respectively. In contrast to the expected miRNAs biological functions, the correlation analyses between mRNA and miRNA hub genes revealed a significantly higher number of positive than negative correlations (chi-square p 0.0001). At FDR 0.1, integration of the mRNA and miRNA hubs genes expression with genome-wide genotypic data identified 591 cis-eQTLs and 62 cis-eQTLs for the mRNA and miRNA hubs, respectively. Adjusting for the number of tests, the mRNA cis-eQTLs were significantly enriched for AD GWAS signals in the Collaborative Study on Genetics of Alcohol (COGA) sample (adj. p=0.024), providing a novel biological role for these association signals. In conclusion, our study identified coordinated mRNA and miRNA co-expression changes in the NAc of AD subjects, and our genetic (cis-eQTL) analysis provides novel insights into the etiological mechanisms of AD.
Integrating mRNA and miRNA Weighted Gene Co-Expression Networks with eQTLs in the Nucleus Accumbens of Subjects with Alcohol Dependence.
Specimen part, Disease
View SamplesContext: In many cancers, specific subpopulations of cells appear to be uniquely capable of initiating and maintaining tumors. The strongest support for this cancer stem cell model comes from transplantation assays in immune-deficient mice indicating that human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is organized as a cellular hierarchy driven by self-renewing leukemia stem cells (LSC). This model has significant implications for the development of novel therapies, but its clinical significance remains unclear.
Association of a leukemic stem cell gene expression signature with clinical outcomes in acute myeloid leukemia.
Disease, Disease stage, Subject
View SamplesThe two immune cell populations Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), monocytes (MONO) and neutrophils (PMNs) are difficult to differentiate because of shared surface marker expression. Here we utilize the integrin receptor CD11b combined with conventional Ly6G and Ly6C expression to more accurately separate cellular populations via FACS. Then we apply high-throughput RNA Sequencing to Ly6G+Ly6C+CD11bhigh MDSC, Ly6G+Ly6C+CD11blow PMN and Ly6G-Ly6C+ monocyte populations. A total of 6,466 genes were significantly differentially expressed in MDSCs vs. monocytes, whereas only 297 genes were significantly different between MDSCs and PMNs. A number of genes implicated in cell cycle regulation were identified, and in vivo EdU labeling revealed that over 75% of MDSCs proliferated locally at the site of S. aureus biofilm infection. Overall design: RNA-Seq of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), neutrophils (PMNs), and monocytes during S. aureus biofilm infection in mice
Heterogeneity of Ly6G<sup>+</sup> Ly6C<sup>+</sup> Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cell Infiltrates during Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm Infection.
Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View SamplesWe used microarrays to compare interferon-alpha (IFNa)- and interferon-gamma (IFNg)-stimulated genes under an equivalent biological input. The goal was to compare IFNa- and IFNg-stimulated genes, as well as to identify common and distinct sets of type I and II ISGs.
Systematic identification of type I and type II interferon-induced antiviral factors.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Treatment
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