Background. Primary cilia (PC) are solitary antennae present at the cell surface. These non-motile cilia play an important role in organ development and tissue homeostasis through the transduction of the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway. We recently revealed the presence of PC in the epithelium of the developing epididymis, an organ of the male reproductive system whose dysfunction triggers male infertility. Acknowledging that systemic blockade of the Hh pathway trigger epididymal dysfunctions in vivo, our main goals were 1) to portray the epididymal Hh environment, 2) to determine the direct responsiveness of epididymal epithelial cells to Hh, and 3) to define the contribution of PC to the transduction of this pathway. Results. The Hh ligands Indian and Sonic hedgehog (Ihh and Shh) were respectively located in principal and clear cells of the mouse epididymis by immunofluorescent staining. The propensity of epididymal principal cells to respond to Hh signaling was assessed on immortalized epididymal DC2 cells by western-blot, confocal imaging and 3D-reconstruction. Our results indicate that epididymal principal cells secrete Ihh and expose PC that co-localize with the conventional acetylated tubulin/Arl13b ciliary markers, as well as with GLI3 Hh signaling factor. Gene expression microarray profiling indicated that the expression of 43 and 248 genes was respectively and significantly modified following pharmacological treatment of DC2 cells with the Hh agonist SAG (250 nM) or the Hh antagonist cyclopamine (20 µM) compared with the control. Among Hh target genes identified, 6.7 % presented perfect matches for GLI-transcription factor consensus sequences, and the majority belonged to interferon-dependent immune response and lipocalin 2 pathways. Finally, the contribution of epididymal PC to the transduction of canonical Hh pathway was validated by ciliobrevinD treatment, which induced a significant decrease of PC length and the expressional reduction of Hh signalling targets. Conclusions. All together our data indicate that PC from epithelial principal cells regulate gene expression profile through a possible autocrine Hh signaling. This provides new hypotheses regarding the potential contribution of PC and Hh signaling in intercellular cross-talk and immunological regulation of the epididymis.
Hedgehog signaling pathway regulates gene expression profile of epididymal principal cells through the primary cilium.
Cell line, Treatment
View SamplesMutations in leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) are the most frequent cause of familial and sporadic Parkinsons disease (PD). Here, we investigated in parallel gene and microRNA transcriptome profiles of three different LRRK2 mouse models. Striatal tissue was isolated from adult LRRK2 knockout mice, as well as mice expressinghuman LRRK2 wildtype (hLRRK2-WT) or PD-associated R1441G mutation (hLRRK2-R1441G).
Gene and MicroRNA transcriptome analysis of Parkinson's related LRRK2 mouse models.
Age, Specimen part
View SamplesRationale - Regulatory T (Treg) cells suppress immune responses and have been shown to attenuate atherosclerosis. The Treg cell lineage specification factor FOXP3 is essential for Treg cells' ability to uphold immunological tolerance. In humans, FOXP3 exists in several different isoforms, however, their specific role is poorly understood. Objective - To define the regulation and functions of the two major FOXP3 isoforms, FOXP3fl and FOXP3?2, as well as to establish whether their expression is associated with ischemic atherosclerotic disease. Methods and Results - Human primary T-cells were transduced with lentiviruses encoding distinct FOXP3 isoforms. The phenotype and function of these cells were analyzed by flow cytometry, in vitro suppression assays and RNA-sequencing. We also assessed the effect of activation on Treg cells isolated from healthy volunteers. Treg cell activation resulted in increased FOXP3 expression that predominantly was made up of FOXP3?2. FOXP3?2 induced specific transcription of GARP, which functions by tethering the immunosuppressive cytokine TGF-ß to the cell membrane of activated Treg cells. RT-PCR was used to determine the impact of alternative splicing of FOXP3 in relation with atherosclerotic plaque stability in a cohort of over 150 patients that underwent carotid endarterectomy. Plaque instability was associated with a lower FOXP3?2 transcript usage, when comparing plaques from patients without symptoms and patients with occurrence of recent (<1 month) vascular symptoms including minor stoke, transient ischemic attack or amaurosis fugax. No difference was detected in total levels of FOXP3 mRNA between these two groups. Conclusions - These results suggest that activated Treg cells suppress the atherosclerotic disease process and that FOXP3?2 controls a transcriptional program that acts protectively in human atherosclerotic plaques. Overall design: In this experiment we have analyzed 3 groups of each 3 biological repliactes equalling 9 samples in total.
Alternative Splicing of <i>FOXP3</i> Controls Regulatory T Cell Effector Functions and Is Associated With Human Atherosclerotic Plaque Stability.
Subject
View SamplesWe sought to determine whether Ldh activity in SCC tumors is a marker of the cell type from which these cells arise, or a key metabolic activity important for tumor initiation or progression. Here we show that genetic abrogation of Ldh enzyme activity in HFSC-mediated tumorigenesis had no effect on tumor number, time to tumor formation, tumor proliferation, epithelial to mesenchymal transition in tumors, gene expression in tumors, tumor pathology, or the immune response to tumors. Overall design: Examination of mRNA profile of five LDHA knockout mice vs five wild type (WT) mice using Illumina HiSeq2500.
Increased lactate dehydrogenase activity is dispensable in squamous carcinoma cells of origin.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesSomatic mutations activating MAPK signaling in disorders of brain overgrowth and in diffuse glioma have recently been reported in pediatric neurology. Here we developed a progressive zebrafish model of glioma based on somatic expression of oncogenes that activate MAPK-AKT signalling (H-RASG12V, K-RASG12D, AKT, EGFRv3, BRAFV600E) in neural progenitor cells. Oncogenic HRAS was the most effective in activating MAPK signaling and caused the development of different types of growth disorders in juvenile fish: from benign dysplasia/heterotopia to invasive tumors of the telencephalon, midbrain and cerebellum. We used this model to clarify the molecular events leading to malignant tumors instead of benign lesions. Specific signatures distinguish benign heterotopia from tumors and establish that tumors require persistent activation of MAPK/ERK. Moreover, analysis of global RNA expression showed that brain tumors expressed a gene signature similar to the mesenchymal glioblastoma subtype Overall design: We performed transcriptome analysis (RNA-Seq) of 3 UAS:HRASV12G brains, which carried tumorigenic lesions in the telencephalon, midbrain and IV ventricle and compared them with tumor free, age matched brains.
A novel brain tumour model in zebrafish reveals the role of YAP activation in MAPK- and PI3K-induced malignant growth.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesVitiligo is an acquired depigmentation of the skin inducing a marked alteration of the quality of life of affected individuals. Halting the disease progression and repigmenting the lesional skin represent the two faces of the therapeutic challenge in vitiligo. So far, none of them has been successfully addressed. Oxidative stress and immune system in genetically predisposed individuaLesionalparticipate to the complex pathophysiology of vitiligo. We performed a transcriptome and proteomic analysis on lesional, perilesional and non-depigmented skin of vitiligo patients compared to matched skin controLesionalof healthy subjects. Our results show that the WNT pathway, implicated in melanocytes differentiation, was found to be altered in vitiligo skin. We demonstrated that the oxidative stress decreases WNT expression/activation in keratinocytes and in melanocytes. We developed an ex vivo skin model that remains functional up to 15 days. We then confirmed the decreased activation of the WNT pathway in human skin subjected to oxidative stress. Finally, using pharmacological agents that activate the WNT pathway, we treated the ex vivo depigmented skins from vitiligo patients and successfully induced the differentiation of resident stem celLesionalinto pre-melanocytes supporting further exploration of WNT activators to repigment vitiligo lesions.
Transcriptional Analysis of Vitiligo Skin Reveals the Alteration of WNT Pathway: A Promising Target for Repigmenting Vitiligo Patients.
Specimen part
View SamplesNlrp10-deficient mice have a profound defect in helper T cell-driven immune responses. T cell priming is impaired due to a defect in the emigration of a dendritic cells from inflamed tissue and antigen transport to draining lymph nodes. DC chemotaxis to CCR7-dependent and independent ligands is intact in the absence of Nlrp10.
NLRP10 is a NOD-like receptor essential to initiate adaptive immunity by dendritic cells.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesThe aim of the dataset was to study on a genome-wide level the impact of Lat deficiency on gene expression in resting and activated CD4+ T cells
Quantitative proteomics analysis of signalosome dynamics in primary T cells identifies the surface receptor CD6 as a Lat adaptor-independent TCR signaling hub.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe effect of drugs, disease and other perturbations on mRNA levels are studied using gene expression microarrays or RNA-seq, with the goal of understanding molecular effects arising from the perturbation. Previous comparisons of reproducibility across laboratories have been limited in scale and focused on a single model. The use of model systems, such as cultured primary cells or cancer cell lines, assumes that mechanistic insights derived with would have been observed via in vivo studies. We examined the concordance of compound-induced transcriptional changes using data from several sources: rat liver and rat primary hepatocytes (RPH) from Drug Matrix (DM) and open TG-GATEs (TG), primary human hepatocytes (HPH) from TG, and mouse liver / HepG2 results from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) repository. Gene expression changes for treatments were normalized to controls and analyzed with three methods: 1) gene level for 9071 high expression genes in rat liver, 2) gene set analysis (GSA) using canonical pathways and gene ontology sets, 3) weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Co-expression networks performed better than genes or GSA on a quantitative metric when comparing treatment effects within rat liver and rat vs. mouse liver. Genes and modules performed similarly at Connectivity Map-style analyses, where success at identifying similar treatments among a collection of reference profiles is the goal. Comparisons between rat liver and RPH, and those between RPH, HPH and HepG2 cells reveal low concordance for all methods. We investigate differences in the baseline state of cultured cells in the context of drug-induced perturbations in rat liver and highlight the striking similarity between toxicant-exposed cells in vivo and untreated cells in vitro.
Assessing Concordance of Drug-Induced Transcriptional Response in Rodent Liver and Cultured Hepatocytes.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesLoss of function of FMR2 due to either hypermethylation of the CpG island as a consequence of the expansion of the CCG repeat near its transcription start site, or internal deletion of FMR2 is considered to be the major cause of FRAXE fragile site associated intellectual disability. FMR2 was shown to be a potent transcription activator as well as an RNA binding protein capable of regulating alternative splicing.
Loss of FMR2 further emphasizes the link between deregulation of immediate early response genes FOS and JUN and intellectual disability.
No sample metadata fields
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