Disparate Oxidant-related Gene Expression of Human Small Airway Epithelium Compared to Autologous Alveolar Macrophages in Response to the In Vivo Oxidant Stress of Cigarette Smoking
Disparate oxidant gene expression of airway epithelium compared to alveolar macrophages in smokers.
Sex, Age
View SamplesGene transfer into HSCs by gammaretroviral vectors (RV) is an effective treatment for inherited blood disorders, although potentially limited by the risk of insertional mutagenesis. We evaluated the genomic impact of RV integration in T-lymphocytes from adenosine deaminase (ADA)-Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) patients 10 to 30 months after infusion of autologous, genetically-corrected CD34+ cells. Expression profiling on ex vivo T-cell bulk population revealed no difference with respect to healthy controls. To assess the effect of vector integration on gene expression at the single cell level, primary T-cell clones were isolated from two patients. T-cell clones harboured either one or two vector copies per cell and displayed partial to full correction of ADA expression, purine metabolism and TCR-driven functions. Analysis of retroviral integration sites (RIS) indicated a high diversity in T-cell origin, consistent with the polyclonal TCR-Vbeta repertoire. Quantitative transcript analysis of 120 genes within a 200kb-window around RIS showed modest (2.8- to 5.2-fold) disregulation of 5.8% genes in 18.6% of the T-cell clones compared to controls. Nonetheless, affected clones maintained a stable phenotype and normal functions in vitro. These results confirm that RV-mediated gene transfer for ADA-SCID is safe, and provide crucial information for the development of future gene therapy protocols.
Integration of retroviral vectors induces minor changes in the transcriptional activity of T cells from ADA-SCID patients treated with gene therapy.
Specimen part
View SamplesA major limitation in the cancer treatment is the ability of cancer cells to become resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs, by multidrug establishment. Here, we evaluate the possibility to utilize MC70, either as ABC transporters inhibitor or as anticancer agent, in monotherapy or in combination with doxorubicin for cancer treatment. The study was carried out in MCF7/ADR and Caco-2, breast and colon cancer cells, respectively. Cell growth and apoptosis were measured by MTT assay and DNA laddering Elisa kit, respectively. Cell cycle perturbation and cellular targets modulation were analyzed by flowcytometry and western blotting, respectively. MC70 was analyzed for its interaction with ABC transporters, MDR-1, BCRP and MRP-1, and for its anticancer activity. In MCF7/ADR, MC70 slight inhibited cell proliferation and strongly enhanced doxorubicin effectiveness; conversely in Caco-2, it inhibited cell growth without affecting doxorubicin efficacy. In addition, it induced apoptosis, canceled in favor of necrosis when it was given in combination with high doses of the anthracycline. Moreover, MC70 inhibited cell migration probably through its residual activity as sigma-1 ligand. Among the hypothesized molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for all these effects, modulations of cell cycle, of pAkt and of the three MAPKs phosphorylation were evidenced while activity at transcription level was excluded. MC70 can be considered as a potential new anticancer agent with the capability to enhance doxorubicin effectiveness and an interesting role in the treatment of chemotherapy resistant tumors.
MC70 potentiates doxorubicin efficacy in colon and breast cancer in vitro treatment.
Cell line, Treatment
View SamplesHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the fifth most common form of cancer worldwide and carries a high mortality rate due to lack of effective treatment. Males are eight times more likely to develop HCC that females, an effect largely driven by sex hormones, albeit through still poorly understood mechanisms. We previously identified TRIM28, a scaffold protein capable of recruiting a number of chromatin modifiers, as a crucial mediator of sexual dimorphism in the liver, with Trim28hep-/- mice displaying sex-specific transcriptional deregulation of a wide range of bile and steroid metabolism genes and development of liver adenomas in males. We now demonstrate that obesity and ageing precipitate alterations of TRIM28-dependent transcriptional dynamics, leading to a metabolic infection state responsible for highly penetrant male-restricted hepatic carcinogenesis. Molecular analyses implicate aberrant androgen receptor stimulation, biliary acid disturbances and altered responses to gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of Trim28hep-/--associated HCC. Correspondingly, androgen deprivation markedly attenuates the frequency and severity of tumors, and raising animals under axenic conditions completely abrogates their abnormal phenotype, even upon high-fat diet challenge. This work underpins how discrete polyphenic traits in epigenetically unstable conditions can contribute to a cancer-prone state, and more broadly provides new evidence linking hormonal imbalances, metabolic disturbances, gut microbiota and cancer. Overall design: Transcriptome profiling of liver tissues from TgAlbCre or TgAlbCreKap1lox mice in HFD settings
Polyphenic trait promotes liver cancer in a model of epigenetic instability in mice.
Specimen part, Subject, Time
View SamplesMicroarray was used to identify differential gene expression pattern in Barrett's esophagus (BE), compared to the normal adjacent epithelia gastric cardia (GC) and normal squamous esophagus (NE)
Evidence for a functional role of epigenetically regulated midcluster HOXB genes in the development of Barrett esophagus.
Specimen part
View SamplesTo elucidate mechanisms of cancer progression, we generated inducible human neoplasia in 3-dimensionally intact epithelial tissue. Gene expression profiling of both epithelia and stroma at specific time points during tumor progression revealed sequential enrichment of genes mediating discrete biologic functions in each tissue compartment. A core cancer progression signature was distilled using the increased signaling specificity of downstream oncogene effectors and subjected to network modeling. Network topology predicted that tumor development depends upon specific ECM-interacting network hubs. Blockade of one such hub, the b1 integrin subunit, disrupted network gene expression and attenuated tumorigenesis in vivo. Thus, integrating network modeling and temporal gene expression analysis of inducible human neoplasia provides an approach to prioritize and characterize genes functioning in cancer progression.
Modeling inducible human tissue neoplasia identifies an extracellular matrix interaction network involved in cancer progression.
Specimen part
View SamplesHuntington neurodegenerative disease (HD) is associated with extensive down-regulation of neuronal genes. We show preferential down-regulation of super-enhancer-regulated neuronal function genes in the striatum of HD mice. Striatal super-enhancers display extensive H3K27 acetylation within gene bodies and drive transcription characterized by low levels of paused RNAPII. Down-regulation of gene expression is associated with diminished H3K27 acetylation and RNAPII recruitment. Striatal super-enhancers are enriched in binding motifs for Gata transcription factors, such as Gata2 regulating striatal identity genes. Thus, enhancer topography and transcription dynamics are major parameters determining the propensity of a gene to be deregulated in a neurodegenerative disease. Overall design: RNA profiles in Striatum of WT and R6/1 mice by deep sequencing using Illumina HiSeq 2000.
Altered enhancer transcription underlies Huntington's disease striatal transcriptional signature.
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View SamplesHuman and mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are derived from blastocyst stage embryos but have very different biological properties, and molecular analyses suggest that the pluripotent state of human ESCs isolated so far corresponds to that of mouse derived epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs). Here we rewire the identity of conventional human ESCs into a more immature state that extensively shares defining features with pluripotent mouse ESCs. This was achieved by exogenous induction of Oct4, Klf4 and Klf2 factors combined with LIF and inhibitors of glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK) pathway. Forskolin, a protein kinase A pathway agonist that induces Klf4 and Klf2 expression, can transiently substitute for the requirement for ectopib transgene expression. In contrast to conventional human ESCs, these epigenetically converted cells have growth properties, an X chromosome activation state (XaXa), a gene expression profile, and signaling pathway dependence that are highly similar to that of mouse ESCs. Finally, the same growth conditions allow the derivation of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells with similar properties as mouse iPS cells. The generation of nave human ESCs will allow the molecular dissection of a previously undefined pluripotent state in humans, and may open up new opportunities for patient-specific, disease-relevant research.
Human embryonic stem cells with biological and epigenetic characteristics similar to those of mouse ESCs.
Specimen part
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Direct lineage conversion of adult mouse liver cells and B lymphocytes to neural stem cells.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe overexpression of transcription factors Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc reprograms a somatic nucleus to one that is transcriptionally and epigenetically indistinguishable from an embryonic stem (ES) cell. However, it is still unclear if transcription factors can completely convert the nucleus of a differentiated cell into that of a distantly related cell type such that it maintains complete transcriptional and epigenetic reprogramming in the absence of exogenous factor expression. To test this idea, we screened a library of doxycycline-inducible vectors encoding neural stem cell (NSC)-expressed genes and found that stable, self-maintaining NSC-like cells could be induced under defined growth conditions after transduction of transcription factors. These induced NSCs (iNSCs) were characterized in the absence of exogenous factor induction and were shown to be transcriptionally, epigenetically, and functionally similar to endogenous embryonic cortical NSCs. Importantly, iNSCs could be generated from multiple adult cell types including liver cells and B-cells with genetic rearrangements. Our results show that self-maintaining proliferative neural cells can be induced from non-ectodermal cells by expressing specific combinations of transcription factors.
Direct lineage conversion of adult mouse liver cells and B lymphocytes to neural stem cells.
Specimen part
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