Chronic inflammation leading to pro-inflammatory macrophage infiltration contributes to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes and subsequently the development of diabetic nephropathy. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) possess unique immunomodulatory and cytoprotective properties making them an ideal candidate for therapeutic intervention
Human mesenchymal stem cells alter the gene profile of monocytes from patients with Type 2 diabetes and end-stage renal disease.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Disease
View SamplesAstrocytes from optic nerve head from donors with and without glaucoma
Differential gene expression in astrocytes from human normal and glaucomatous optic nerve head analyzed by cDNA microarray.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe aldokatoreductases (AKRs) represent a gene superfamily that code for monomeric, soluble NAD(P)H-dependent oxidoreductases that mediate elimination reactions. AKR1B10, an AKR that functions to eliminate retinals, has been observed to be upregulated in squamous metaplasma and non small cell lung cancer, and has been suggested as a diagnostic marker specific to tobacco-related carcinogenesis. In the context of the link of smoking and lung cancer and the enhanced expression of AKR1B10 expression in lung cancer, we hypothesize that enhanced expression of AKR1B10 may be initiated in healthy smokers, prior to the development of any evidence of lung cancer. For this purpose, expression of AKR1B10 was assessed at the mRNA level using microarrays in the large airway epithelium (21 healthy nonsmokers, 31 health smokers) and small airway epithelium (51 healthy nonsmokers, 58 healthy smokers) obtained by fiberoptic bronchoscopy and brushing, as well as assessment in a subset of this population by TaqMan PCR and in endobronchial biopsies by Western analysis and immunohistochemistry. Compared to healthy nonsmokers, ARK1B10 mRNA levels were markedly upregulated in both the large and small airway epithelium of healthy smokers (large airway microarray p<0.0001, small airway p<0.0001; TaqMan large airway, p<0.02, small airway p<0.01). Consistent with the mRNA data, AKR1B10 protein was significantly upregulated in the airway epithelium of healthy smokers as assessed by Western analysis and by immunohistochemistry, with AKR1B10 expressed in both differentiated and basal cells of the normal epithelium. Finally, cigarette smoke extract mediated up-regulation of AKR1B10 in airway epithelial cells in vitro. Thus, smoking per se mediates up-regulation of AKR1B10 expression in the airway epithelium of healthy smokers with no evidence of lung cancer. In the context of these observations, and the link of AKR1B10 to the metabolism of retinals and to lung cancer, the smoking-induced up-regulation of AKR1B10 may be an early process in the multiple events leading to the develop of lung cancer.
Smoking-induced upregulation of AKR1B10 expression in the airway epithelium of healthy individuals.
Sex, Age
View SamplesTo study the effect of structural changes on expression, we assessed gene expression in genomic disorder mouse models. Both a microdeletion and its reciprocal microduplication mapping to mouse chromosome 11 (MMU11), which model the rearrangements present in Smith-Magenis (SMS) and Potocki-Lupski (PTLS) syndromes patients, respectively, have been engineered. We profiled the transcriptome of five different tissues affected in human patients in mice with 1n (Deletion/+), 2n (+/+), 3n (Duplication/+) and uniallelic 2n (Deletion/Duplication) copies of the same region in an identical genetic background. The most differentially expressed transcripts between the four studied genotypes were ranked. A highly significant propensity, are mapping to the engineered SMS/PTLS interval in the different tissues. A statistically significant overrepresentation of the genes mapping to the flanks of the engineered interval was also found in the top-ranked differentially expressed genes. A phenomenon efficient across multiple cell lineages and that extends along the entire length of the chromosome, tens of megabases from the breakpoints. These long-range effects are unidirectional and uncoupled from the number of copies of the copy number variation (CNV) genes. Thus, our results suggest that the assortment of genes mapping to a chromosome is not random. They also indicate that a structural change at a given position of the human genome may cause the same perturbation in particular pathways regardless of gene dosage. An issue that should be considered in appreciating the contribution of this class of variation to phenotypic features.
Phenotypic consequences of copy number variation: insights from Smith-Magenis and Potocki-Lupski syndrome mouse models.
Sex
View SamplesHES4 hESC were cultured in serum media and maintained on a layer of mouse embryonic fibroblast feeder cells at a density of 6 x 104 cells/cm2. For differentiation: hESC were differentiated for a total of 14 days. Differentiation was induced by passaging 4 human ES cell pieces onto 12 well plates seeded with 0.67 x 10E4 cells/cm2. Cells were maintained in media containing 20% FCS for 2 days before media containing 5% FCS was used. Reduced serum media was changed every second day for the remaining 12 days
Subfractionation of differentiating human embryonic stem cell populations allows the isolation of a mesodermal population enriched for intermediate mesoderm and putative renal progenitors.
Specimen part
View SamplesUlcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon with preiods of active disease followed by remission.
Transcriptional analysis of the intestinal mucosa of patients with ulcerative colitis in remission reveals lasting epithelial cell alterations.
Sex, Age, Treatment
View SamplesTolerogenic dendritic cells (tol-DCs) offer a promising therapeutic potential for autoimmune diseases. Tol-DCs have been reported to inhibit immunogenic responses, yet little is known about the mechanisms controlling their tolerogenic status, as well as associated specific markers. Here we show that the anti-inflammatory TAM receptor tyrosine kinase MERTK, is highly expressed on clinical grade dexamethasone-induced human tol-DCs and mediates their tolerogenic effect. Neutralization of MERTK in allogenic mixed lymphocyte reactions as well as autologous DC-T cell cultures leads to increased T cell proliferation and IFN-g production. Additionally, we identify a previously unrecognized non-cell autonomous regulatory function of MERTK expressed on DCs. Recombinant Mer-Fc protein, used to mimic MERTK on DCs, suppresses nave and antigen-specific memory T cell activation. This mechanism is mediated by the neutralization of the MERTK agonist Protein S (PROS1) expressed by T cells. We find that MERTK and PROS1 are expressed in human T cells upon TCR activation and drive an autocrine pro-proliferative mechanism. Collectively, these results suggest that MERTK on tol-DCs directly inhibits T cell activation through the competition for PROS1 interaction with MERTK in the T cells. Targeting MERTK may provide an interesting approach to effectively increase or suppress tolerance for the purpose of immunotherapy.
MERTK as negative regulator of human T cell activation.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesCrohn's Disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestinal tract.
Identification of inflammatory mediators in patients with Crohn's disease unresponsive to anti-TNFα therapy.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesBACKGROUND. Poorly-differentiated (PDTC) and anaplastic (ATC) thyroid cancers are rare and frequently lethal tumors, which so far have not been subjected to comprehensive genetic characterization. METHODS. We performed next generation sequencing of 341 cancer genes in 117 PDTCs and ATCs, and a transcriptomic analysis of a representative subset of 37 tumors. Results were analyzed in the context of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) study of papillary thyroid cancers (PTC). RESULTS. ATCs have a greater mutation burden than PDTCs, and higher mutation frequency of TP53, TERT promoter, PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway effectors, SWI/SNF subunits and histone methyltransferases. BRAF and RAS are the predominant drivers, and dictate remarkably distinct tropism for nodal vs. distant metastases in PDTC. RAS and BRAF sharply distinguish between PDTCs defined by the Turin (PDTC-Turin) vs. MSKCC (PDTC-MSK) criteria, respectively. Mutations of EIF1AX, a component of the translational preinitiation complex, are markedly enriched in PDTCs and ATCs, and have a striking pattern of co-occurrence with RAS. TERT promoter mutations are rare and subclonal in PTCs, whereas they are clonal and highly prevalent in advanced cancers. Application of the TCGA-derived BRAF-RAS score (a measure of MAPK transcriptional output) shows a preserved relationship with BRAF/RAS mutation in PDTCs, whereas ATCs are BRAF-like irrespective of driver mutation. CONCLUSIONS. These data support a model of tumorigenesis whereby PDTCs and ATCs arise from well-differentiated tumors through the accumulation of key additional genetic abnormalities, many of which have prognostic and possible therapeutic relevance. The widespread genomic disruptions in ATC compared to PDTC underscore their greater virulence and higher mortality.
Genomic and transcriptomic hallmarks of poorly differentiated and anaplastic thyroid cancers.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesUlcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon with preiods of active disease followed by remission.
Usefulness of Transcriptional Blood Biomarkers as a Non-invasive Surrogate Marker of Mucosal Healing and Endoscopic Response in Ulcerative Colitis.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Disease stage, Treatment
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