Mice expressing a doxycycline-inducible dominant negative BMPR2 transgene expressed only in smooth muscle are activated for one or eight weeks, and compared to transactivator-only mice also fed doxycycline. All mice are 12 weeks of old at sacrifice.
Molecular effects of loss of BMPR2 signaling in smooth muscle in a transgenic mouse model of PAH.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesPulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is thought to be driven by dysfunction of pulmonary vascular microendothelial cells (PMVEC). Most hereditary PAH is associated with BMPR2 mutations.
Physiologic and molecular consequences of endothelial Bmpr2 mutation.
Specimen part
View SamplesA comparison of gene expression between control versus IPF human lung MPC using human Affy 1.0st chips.
Disruption of lineage specification in adult pulmonary mesenchymal progenitor cells promotes microvascular dysfunction.
Specimen part, Disease, Disease stage
View SamplesComparison between inducible pluripotent stem cells from healthy patients and patients with BMPR2 mutation, at different differentiation stages.
Identification of a common Wnt-associated genetic signature across multiple cell types in pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Specimen part
View SamplesHere we tested a hypothesis that epileptogenesis influences expression pattern of genes in the basolateral amygdala that are critical for fear conditioning. Whole genome molecular profiling of basolateral rat amygdala was performed to compare the transcriptome changes underlying fear learning in epileptogenic and control animals. Our analysis revealed that after acquisition of fear conditioning 26 genes were regulated differently in the basolateral amygdala of both groups. Thus, our study provides the first evidence that not only the damage to the neuronal pathways but also altered composition or activity level of molecular machinery responsible for formation of emotional memories within surviving pathways can contribute to impairment in emotional learning in epileptogenic animals. Understanding the function of those genes in emotional learning provides an attractive avenue for identification of novel drug targets for treatment of emotional disorders after epileptogenesis-inducing insult.
Epileptogenesis alters gene expression pattern in rats subjected to amygdala-dependent emotional learning.
No sample metadata fields
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 SamplesAcute Myeloid Leukemia AML is a cancer in which the process of normal cell hematopoietic differentiation is disrupted. Evidence exists that AML comprises a hierarchy with leukemic stem cells giving rise to more differentiated, but immature and functionally incompetent populations. The similarity of these AML subpopulations to normal stages of hematopoietic differentiation has not been dissected comprehensively at the transcriptional level. Here we introduce Normal Memory Analysis (NorMA), a data analysis method that extracts from omic data the remnants of the healthy normal-like phenotype. Applying NorMA to gene expression data from AML uncovered a wealth of information in the normal-like component of data: the normal hematopoietic memory of AML tumor cells. We found significant variation within the patient population, and we found strong association of this normal hematopoietic memory with survival. We found that undifferentiated NorMA phenotype has significantly worse survival than differentiated NorMA phenotype, showing that the NorMA classification of tumors captures a biologically meaningful stratification of patients, with highly significant survival association. Patients with NorMA phenotype in the undifferentiated Hematopoietic Stem Cell HSC stage had the worst survival, with median survival time under 6 months. We further found significant survival differences between tumor groups with differentiated NorMA phenotype, depending on their hematopoietic path: AML patients with NorMA phenotype in megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitor MEP stage had significantly better survival than those with NorMA phenotype in granulocyte-macrophage progenitor GMP stage. Thus NorMA produced a stratification of AML cohorts by differentiation stage, with significant outcome differences. It also provided clean molecular signatures for these stages. NorMA can be used in many other contexts, to explore for example the tumor cell of origin, or disease predisposition.
An LSC epigenetic signature is largely mutation independent and implicates the HOXA cluster in AML pathogenesis.
Specimen part
View SamplesUsing primary cultures of normal human prostate epithelial cells, we developed a novel prostasphere-based, label-retention assay that permits identification and isolation of stem cells at a single cell level. Their bona fide stem cell nature was confirmed using in vitro and in vivo regenerative assays and documentation of symmetric/asymmetric division. Robust WNT10B and KRT13 expression without E-cadherin or KRT14 staining distinguished individual stem cells from daughter progenitors in spheroids. Following FACS to separate stem and progenitor cells, RNA-seq identified unique gene signatures for the separate populations which may serve as biomarkers. Pathways enrichment in stem cells identified ribosome biogenesis and membrane estrogen-receptor signaling with NF?B signaling enriched in progenitors and these were biologically confirmed. Further, bioassays identified heightened autophagy flux and reduced metabolism in stem cells relative to progenitors. These approaches similarly identified cancer stem-like cells from prostate cancer specimens and prostate, breast and colon cancer cell lines suggesting wide applicability. Together, the present studies isolate and identify unique characteristics of normal human prostate stem cells and uncover processes that maintain stem cell homeostasis in the prostate gland. Overall design: Comparing RNA-seq gene profiles in label-retaining prostate stem cells and non-retaining progenitor cells
Isolation and functional interrogation of adult human prostate epithelial stem cells at single cell resolution.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesViral infections of the CNS are of increasing concern, especially among immunocompromised populations. Rodent models are often inappropriate for studies of CNS infection, as many viruses, including JC Virus (JCV) and HIV, cannot replicate in rodent cells. Consequently, human fetal brain-derived multipotential CNS progenitor cells (NPCs) that can be differentiated into neurons, oligodendrocytes, or astrocytes, have served as a model for CNS studies. NPCs can be non-productively infected by JCV, while infection of progenitor-derived astrocytes (PDAs) is robust. We profiled cellular gene expression at multiple times during differentiation of NPCs to PDAs. Several activated transcription factors show commonality between cells of the brain in which JCV replicates and lymphocytes in which JCV is likely latent. Bioinformatic analysis determined transcription factors that may influence the favorable transcriptional environment for JCV in PDAs. This study attempts to provide a framework for understanding the functional transcriptional profile necessary for productive JCV infection.
Differentiation of human fetal multipotential neural progenitor cells to astrocytes reveals susceptibility factors for JC virus.
Specimen part, Time
View SamplesHuman diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPG) are an aggressive form of pediatric brain tumors that arise in the pons in young children thus resulting in significant morbidity and very poor survival. Recent data suggest that mutations in the histone H3.3 variant are often found in these tumors, though the mechanism of their contribution to oncogenesis remains to be elucidated. Here we report that the combination of constitutive PDGFRA activation and p53 suppression as well as expression of the K27M mutant form of the histone H3.3 variant leads to neoplastic transformation of hPSC-derived neural precursors. Our study demonstrates that human ES cells represent an excellent platform for the modeling of human tumors in vitro and in vivo, which could potentially lead to the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying neoplastic transformation and the identification of novel therapeutic targets.
Use of human embryonic stem cells to model pediatric gliomas with H3.3K27M histone mutation.
Specimen part
View Samples