Neutrophils represent a fundamental mechanism of antimicrobial resistance and inflammation 1. Moreover, neutrophils have emerged as important players in the activation, orchestration and regulation of adaptive immune responses2,3. Neutrophils are a component of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and have been prevalently shown to promote progression 4-6. On the other hand, unleashed neutrophilic effectors have also been reported to mediate anti-cancer resistance7-11. Antibody-mediated depletion used to investigate the role of neutrophils in tumor progression suffers from limitations, including duration, specificity and perturbation of the system12. We therefore used a genetic approach to investigate the role of neutrophils in primary 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MCA)-induced sarcomagenesis. Neutrophils were found to play an essential role in resistance against primary carcinogenesis by driving an interferon-? dependent type 1 immune response. Neutrophil-dependent macrophage production of IL-12p70 led to type 1 polarization of CD4- CD8- unconventional aß T cells (UTCaß) in the TME. Single cell RNAseq analysis and in vivo evidence from two preclinical sarcoma models highlight the antitumor potential of a UTCaß subset. In the TCGA cohort of human undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcomas (UPS), unlike other sarcomas, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor receptor (CSF3R) expression and a neutrophil signature were associated with better outcome and with a type 1 immune response. The positive association between high neutrophil infiltration and improved clinical outcome was confirmed in an independent UPS cohort by immunohistochemistry. Thus, neutrophils, by driving a type 1 immune response and polarization of UTCaß, mediate resistance against murine and human sarcomas. Overall design: two experimental conditions, two biological replicates for each condition
Neutrophils Driving Unconventional T Cells Mediate Resistance against Murine Sarcomas and Selected Human Tumors.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesHereditary Persistence of Fetal Hemoglobin (HPFH) is characterized by persistent high levels of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) in adults. Several contributory factors, both genetic and environmental, have been identified, but others remain elusive. Ten of twenty-seven members from a Maltese family presented with HPFH. A genome-wide SNP scan followed by linkage analysis revealed a candidate region on chromosome 19p13.12-13. Sequencing identified a nonsense mutation in the KLF1 gene, p.K288X, ablating the DNA binding domain of this key erythroid transcriptional regulator. Only HPFH family members were heterozygote carriers of this mutation. Expression profiling on primary erythroid progenitors revealed down-regulation of KLF1 target genes in HPFH samples. Functional assays demonstrated that, in addition to its established role in adult globin expression, KLF1 is a critical activator of the BCL11A gene, encoding a suppressor of HbF expression. These observations provide a rationale for the effects of KLF1 haploinsufficiency on HbF levels. To identify differentially expressed genes, RNA was isolated from erythroid progenitors (HEPs) cultured from peripheral blood of four HPFH (KLF1 p.K288X/wt) and four non-HPFH family members (wt/wt) and used for genome-wide expression analysis.
Haploinsufficiency for the erythroid transcription factor KLF1 causes hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe mRNA processing body is a cellular structure that regulates the stability of cytoplasmic mRNA. MARF1/LMKB is an RNA-binding protein that is associated with maintenance of mRNA homeostasis and genomic stability. To investigate the function of LMKB in a human B lymphocyte cell line, BJAB cells were treated with either control lentivirus or a lentivirus containing LMKB siRNA.
LMKB/MARF1 localizes to mRNA processing bodies, interacts with Ge-1, and regulates IFI44L gene expression.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesAlveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (aRMS) is an aggressive sarcoma of skeletal muscle characterized by expression of the PAX3-FOXO1 fusion gene. Despite its discovery over almost 20 years ago, PAX3-FOXO1 remains an enigmatic tumor driver. Previously, we reported that PAX3-FOXO1 supports aRMS initiation by enabling bypass of cellular senescence. Here, we show that bypass occurs in part by PAX3-FOXO1-mediated upregulation of RASSF4, a Ras-association domain family (RASSF) member, which then suppresses the evolutionarily conserved mammalian Hippo/Mst1 pathway. RASSF4 loss-of-function activates Hippo/Mst1 and inhibits downstream YAP, causing aRMS cell cycle arrest and senescence. This is the first evidence for an oncogenic role for RASSF4, and a novel mechanism for Hippo signaling suppression in human cancer.
Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma-associated PAX3-FOXO1 promotes tumorigenesis via Hippo pathway suppression.
Cell line, Treatment
View SamplesWe hypothesize that gene expression in the lungs of these differentially-treated mice are divergent thus contributing to the disparity in their phenotypes. More specifically, (1) Effects of Leptin-treatment of ob/ob postnatal mice lungs are known to be volume-dependent from 2 to 10 wks of age, and are independent of the hypometabolism associated with leptin deficiency. ; (2) Leptin is critical to postnatal lung remodeling, particularly related to enlarged alveolar surface area. In order to test these hypotheses at the gene expression level, we utilized microarray analysis to examine transcriptional differences between lungs of leptin or saline-treated ob/ob postnatal mice.
Effects of leptin deficiency on postnatal lung development in mice.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesIt is now obvious that the majority of cellular transcripts do not code for proteins, and a significant subset of them are long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). Many lncRNAs show aberrant expression in cancer, and some of them have been linked to cellular transformation. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we characterize the function of the p53-regulated human lncRNA LINC-PINT in cancer. We found that LINC-PINT acts as tumor suppressor lncRNA. Its expression is downregulated in multiple types of cancer and correlates with good prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma. LINC-PINT inhibits the migration capacity and invasive phenotype of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, and it does so by repressing a proinvasion gene signature in a PRC2-dependent manner. By applying cross-species conservation analysis combined with functional experimental validations we found that the function of LINC-PINT is highly dependent on a short sequence conserved across mammals, sequence that mediates the interaction with PRC2. We propose that LINC-PINT may function as a molecular exchanger that provides PRC2 to active gene promoters for their silencing, mechanisms that could be shared by other PRC2-interacting lncRNAs.
The human lncRNA LINC-PINT inhibits tumor cell invasion through a highly conserved sequence element.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesTranscripomic analysis of leaf gene expression in S and N-deficient winter wheat during grain development. Tissue was harvested at anthesis and 7, 14 and 21 days post anthesis from experimental field plots.
Co-ordinated expression of amino acid metabolism in response to N and S deficiency during wheat grain filling.
Specimen part, Disease, Disease stage, Subject, Time
View SamplesTrisomy 21 (Ts21) or Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability. To investigate the consequences of Ts21 on human brain development, we have systematically analyzed the transcriptome of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DFC) and cerebellar cortex (CBC) using exon array mapping in DS and matched euploid control brains spanning from prenatal development to adulthood. We identify hundreds of differentially expressed (DEX) genes in the DS brains, many of which exhibit temporal changes in expression over the lifespan. To gain insight into how these DEX genes may cause specific DS phenotypes, we identified functional modules of co-expressed genes using several different bioinformatics approaches, including WGCNA and gene ontology analysis. A module comprised of genes associated with myelination, including those dynamically expressed over the course of oligodendrocyte development, was amongst those with the great levels of differential gene expression. Using Ts65Dn mouse line, the most common rodent model of DS, w e observed significant and novel defects in oligodendrocyte maturation and myelin ultrastructure; establishing a correlative proof-of-principle implicating myelin dysgenesis in DS. Thus, examination of the spatio-temporal transcriptome predicts specific cellular and functional events in the DS brain and is an outstanding resource for determining putative mechanisms involved in the neuropathology of DS.
Down Syndrome Developmental Brain Transcriptome Reveals Defective Oligodendrocyte Differentiation and Myelination.
Sex, Disease, Race
View SamplesMutations in GRIN2B are associated with intellectual disability in humans. We generated iPSC derived mature cortical neurons with mutations in GRIN2B and compared them to isogenic control cells. We found that both loss of function (LOF) and reduced dosage (RD) mutations in GRIN2B lead to reduced expression of NMDAR genes and increased expression of marker of immaturity, including KI67 and MET. Overall design: Examination of transcriptome in iPSC-derved mature neurons with and without the presence of mutations in GRIN2B
Disruption of GRIN2B Impairs Differentiation in Human Neurons.
Subject
View SamplesTo probe the tissue source (cancer cell VS stromal cell) of gene expression in the mixed tumor samples, we took advantage of a set of Urothelial Cancer patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models given that the transcriptome in these models is a mixture of human RNA (derived from cancer cells) and mouse RNA (derived from stromal cells). Overall design: The cohort includes 5 different patient-derived PDX models, 3 replicates for each model, and thus a total of 15 samples
EMT- and stroma-related gene expression and resistance to PD-1 blockade in urothelial cancer.
Subject
View Samples