Preeclampsia complicates more than 3% of all pregnancies in the United States and Europe. High-risk populations include women with diabetes, dyslipidemia, thrombotic disorders, hyperhomocysteinemia, hypertension, renal diseases, previous preeclampsia, twin pregnancies, and low socioeconomic status. In the latter case, the incidence may increase to 20% to 25%. Preeclampsia is a major cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Preeclampsia is defined by systolic blood pressure of more than 140 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure of more than 90 mm Hg after 20 weeks gestation in a previously normotensive patient, and new-onset proteinuria. Abnormal placentation associated with shallow trophoblast invasion (fetal cells from outer cell layer of the blastocyst) into endometrium (decidua) and improper spiral artery remodeling in the decidua are initial pathological steps.
Dysregulation of the circulating and tissue-based renin-angiotensin system in preeclampsia.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesTumor growth and metastasis is controlled by paracrine signaling between cells of the tumor microenvironment and malignant cells. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), are functionally important components of the tumor microenvironment. Although some steps involved in the cross-talk between these cells are known, there is still a lot that is not clear. Thus, the addition of, the consideration of microenvironment in the development of the disease, to the clinical and pathological procedures (currently admitted as the consistent value cancer treatments) could lay the foundations for the development of new treatment strategies to control the disease.
Functional heterogeneity of cancer-associated fibroblasts from human colon tumors shows specific prognostic gene expression signature.
Specimen part
View SamplesPurpose: Evaluate gene expression profiles after inducing differentiation in cultured interstitial cystitis (IC) and control urothelial cells. Materials and Methods: Bladder biopsies were taken from IC patients and controls (women having surgery for stress incontinence). Primary cultures were grown in Keratinocyte Growth Medium with supplements. To induce differentiation, in some plates the medium was changed to DMEM-F12 with supplements. RNA was analyzed with Affymetrix chips. Three nonulcer IC patients were compared with three controls. Results: After inducing differentiation, 302 genes with a described function were altered at least 3-fold with p <0.01 in both IC and control cells. Functions of the162 upregulated genes included cell adhesion (e.g. claudins, occludin, cingulin); urothelial differentiation, retinoic acid pathway and keratinocyte differentiation (e.g. skin cornified envelope components). The 140 downregulated genes included genes associated with basal urothelium (e.g. p63, integrins ?4, ?5 and ?6, basonuclin 1 and extracellular matrix components), vimentin, metallothioneins and members of the Wnt and Notch pathways. Comparing IC vs. control cells after differentiation, only seven genes with a described function were altered at least 3-fold with p <0.01. PI3, SERPINB4, CYP2C8, EFEMP2 and SEPP1 were decreased in IC; AKR1C2 and MKNK1 were increased in IC. Conclusions: Differentiation-associated changes occurred in both IC and control cells. Comparing IC vs. control revealed very few differences. This study may have included IC patients with minimal urothelial deficiency and/or selected the cells that were most robust in culture. Also, the abnormal urothelium in IC may be due to post-translational changes and/or the bladder environment.
Differentiation associated changes in gene expression profiles of interstitial cystitis and control urothelial cells.
Disease
View SamplesTo analyze expression differences between Trp53 pro-and deficient as well as Atm pro- and deficient murine CLL tumors developing in the E-TCL1 mouse model, we analyzed splenocytes isolated from heavily infiltrated spleens of sick mice.
Two mouse models reveal an actionable PARP1 dependence in aggressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe cell differentiation potential of 13-cis retinoic acid (RA) has not succeeded in the clinical treatment of glioblastoma (GBM) so far. However, RA may also induce the expression of disistance genes such as HOXB7 which can be suppressed by Thalidomide (THAL). Therefore, we tested if combined treatment with RA+THAL may inhibit growth of glioblastoma in vivo. Treatment with RA+THAL but not RA or THAL alone significantly inhibited tumour growth. The synergistic effect of RA and THAL was corroborated by the effect on proliferation of glioblastoma cell lines in vitro. HOXB7 was not upregulated but microarray analysis validated by real-time PCR identified four potential resistance genes (IL-8, HILDPA, IGFBPA, and ANGPTL4) whose upregulation by RA was suppressed by THAL. Furthermore, genes coding for small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNA) were identified as a target for RA for the first time, and their upregulation was maintained after combined treatment. Pathway analysis showed upregulation of the Ribosome pathway and downregulation of pathways associated with proliferation and inflammation. Combined treatment with RA + THAL delayed growth of GBM xenografts and suppressed putative resistance genes associated with hypoxia and angiogenesis. This encourages further pre-clinical and clinical studies of this drug combination in GBM.
Inhibition of 13-cis retinoic acid-induced gene expression of reactive-resistance genes by thalidomide in glioblastoma tumours in vivo.
Cell line, Treatment
View SamplesMicroarray analysis of gene expression in the olfactory epithelium of Harlequin mouse as a model of oxidative-stress induced neurodegeneration of olfactory sensory neurons
Cellular and molecular characterization of oxidative stress in olfactory epithelium of Harlequin mutant mouse.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesNeural crest cells migrate extensively in vertebrate embryos to populate diverse derivatives including ganglia of the peripheral nervous system.
Molecular Events Controlling Cessation of Trunk Neural Crest Migration and Onset of Differentiation.
Specimen part
View SamplesA specific subpopulation of neural progenitor cells, the basal radial glia cells (bRGCs) of the outer subventricular zone (OSVZ), are thought to have a key role in the evolutionary expansion of mammalian neocortex. In the developing lissencephalic mouse neocortex, bRGCs exist at low abundance and show significant molecular differences from bRGCs in developing gyrencephalic species. Here, we demonstrate that developing mouse medial neocortex, in contrast to the canonically studied lateral neocortex, exhibits an OSVZ and an abundance of bRGCs similar to that in developing gyrencephalic neocortex. Unlike bRGCs in developing mouse lateral neocortex, the bRGCs in medial neocortex exhibit human bRGC-like gene expression, including expression of Hopx, a human bRGC marker. Disruption of Hopx expression in mouse embryonic medial neocortex and forced Hopx expression in mouse embryonic lateral neocortex demonstrate that Hopx is required and sufficient, respectively, for a bRGC abundance as found in developing gyrencephalic neocortex. Taken together, our data identify a novel bRGC subpopulation in developing mouse medial neocortex that is highly related to bRGCs of developing gyrencephalic neocortex. Overall design: 221 single-cell transcriptomes from microdissected medial neocortex of E18.5 mouse embryos (two independent analyses using a pool of 8 neocortices each).
A novel population of Hopx-dependent basal radial glial cells in the developing mouse neocortex.
Sex, Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View SamplesSIRT1 deacetylase functions in a variety of cells and tissues to mitigate age- and disease-induced damages. However, it remains unknown if SIRT1 also acts to prevent pathological changes that accrue in motor units, and specifically alpha-motor neurons, with advancing age and during the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Here, we show that SIRT1 expression decreases in the spinal cord of wild type mice with advancing age. Using mouse models that overexpress or inactivate SIRT1 in motor neurons, we discovered that SIRT1 prevents age-related degeneration of motor neurons' presynaptic sites at neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). We also found that increasing SIRT1 in motor neurons delays degeneration of presynaptic sites at NMJs and extends the lifespan of SOD1G93A mice. Thus, SIRT1 has a similar effect on aging and ALS-affected motor neurons, two conditions in which a remarkable number of transcripts are similarly altered in the spinal cord. These include genes involved in inflammatory and immune responses and genes with known function at synapses. These findings show that SIRT1 functions to mitigate pathological changes induced by aging and ALS, two conditions with a surprising degree of overlap in the spinal cord. Overall design: Eight replicates spinal cords from mice aged 18-24 months, eight replicates of spinal cords from mice aged 3-4 months, 3 replicates of spinal cords from ALS symptomatic mice aged 5-6 months and 3 replicates of spinal cords from wt controls aged 5-6 months.
SIRT1 deacetylase in aging-induced neuromuscular degeneration and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Cell line, Subject
View SamplesBreast cancer is a heterogeneous disease for which prognosis and treatment strategies are largely governed by the receptor status (estrogen, progesterone and Her2-neu) of the tumor cells. Gene expression profiling of whole breast tumors further stratifies breast cancer into several molecular subtypes which also co-segregate with the receptor status of the tumor cells. We postulated that cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) within the tumor stroma may exhibit subtype specific gene expression profiles and thus contribute to the biology of the disease in a subtype specific manner. Several studies have reported gene expression profile differences between CAFs and normal breast fibroblasts but in none of these studies were the results stratified based on tumor subtypes. To address whether gene expression in breast cancer associated fibroblasts varies between breast cancer subtypes, we compared the gene expression profiles of early passage primary CAFs isolated from twenty human breast cancer samples representing three main subtypes; seven ER+, seven triple negative (TNBC) and six Her2+. We observed significant expression differences between CAFs derived from Her2+ breast cancer and CAFs from TNBC and ER+ cancers, particularly in pathways associated with cytoskeleton and integrin signaling. In the case of Her2+ breast cancer, the signaling pathways found to be selectively up regulated in CAFs may contribute to the more invasive properties and unfavorable prognosis of Her2+ breast cancer. These data demonstrate that in addition to the distinct molecular profiles that characterize the neoplastic cells, CAF gene expression is also differentially regulated in distinct subtypes of breast cancer.
Human breast cancer associated fibroblasts exhibit subtype specific gene expression profiles.
Specimen part, Subject
View Samples