d-serine is naturally present throughout the human body. It is also used as add-on therapy for treatment-refractory schizophrenia. d-Serine interacts with the strychnine-insensitive glycine binding site of NMDA receptor, and this interaction could lead to potentially toxic activity (i.e., excitotoxicity) in brain tissue. The transcriptomic changes that occur in the brain after d-serine exposure have not been fully explored.
D-Serine exposure resulted in gene expression changes implicated in neurodegenerative disorders and neuronal dysfunction in male Fischer 344 rats.
Sex
View SamplesSkin and bladder epithelia form effective permeability barriers through the activation of distinct differentiation gene programs. Employing a genome-wide gene expression study, we identified transcription regulators whose expression correlates highly with that of differentiation markers both in bladder and skin, including the Grainyhead factor Get1/Grhl3, already known to be important for epidermal barrier formation. In the bladder, Get1 is most highly expressed in the differentiated umbrella cells and its mutation in mice leads to a defective bladder epithelial barrier formation due to failure of apical membrane specialization. Genes encoding components of the specialized urothelial membrane, the uroplakins, were downregulated in Get1-/- mice. At least one of these genes, Uroplakin II, is a direct target of Get1. The urothelial-specific activation of the Uroplakin II gene is due to selective binding of Get1 to the Uroplakin II promoter in urothelial cells, most likely regulated by histone modifications. These results demonstrate a key role for Get1 in urothelial differentiation and barrier formation.
The epidermal differentiation-associated Grainyhead gene Get1/Grhl3 also regulates urothelial differentiation.
Specimen part
View SamplesSkin and bladder epithelia form effective permeability barriers through the activation of distinct differentiation gene programs. Employing a genome-wide gene expression study, we identified transcription regulators whose expression correlates highly with that of differentiation markers both in bladder and skin, including the Grainyhead factor Get1/Grhl3, already known to be important for epidermal barrier formation. In the bladder, Get1 is most highly expressed in the differentiated umbrella cells and its mutation in mice leads to a defective bladder epithelial barrier formation due to failure of apical membrane specialization. Genes encoding components of the specialized urothelial membrane, the uroplakins, were downregulated in Get1-/- mice. At least one of these genes, Uroplakin II, is a direct target of Get1. The urothelial-specific activation of the Uroplakin II gene is due to selective binding of Get1 to the Uroplakin II promoter in urothelial cells, most likely regulated by histone modifications. These results demonstrate a key role for Get1 in urothelial differentiation and barrier formation.
The epidermal differentiation-associated Grainyhead gene Get1/Grhl3 also regulates urothelial differentiation.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe expansion, trafficking and functional effectiveness of adoptively transferred CD8+ T-cells play a critical role in mediating effective anti-tumor immunity. However, the mechanisms which program the highly proliferative and functional state of CD8+ T-cells are not completely understood. We hypothesized that IL-12, a cytokine commonly induced by TLR activation, could enhance T-cell priming by altering responsiveness to antigen and cytokines. Priming of tumor specific CD8+ T-cells in the presence of IL-12 induced the acquisition of a 'polyfunctional' effector response and increased the generation of memory cells. Moreover, IL-12 priming also promoted high levels of the IL-2 receptor alpha-chain (CD25) and robust IL-2 mediated activation of STAT5. This sensitivity to IL-2 translated into enhanced in vivo proliferation of adoptively transferred CD8+ T-cells. Furthermore, real-time, in vivo imaging of T-cell trafficking confirmed the ability of IL-12 priming to drive in vivo proliferation. IL-12 priming enhanced the anti-tumor function of adoptively transferred cells by reducing established subcutaneous tumor burden, and significantly increasing survival in an established intracranial tumor model. Finally, IL-12 priming of human PBMCs generates tumor specific T-cells phenotypically and functionally similar to IL-12 primed Pmel-1 T-cells. These results highlight IL-12 as an important mediator of CD8+ T-cell effector function and anti-tumor immunity.
Enhanced sensitivity to IL-2 signaling regulates the clinical responsiveness of IL-12-primed CD8(+) T cells in a melanoma model.
Sex, Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesBackground: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of small, non-coding single-stranded RNA molecules involved in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. As such, they are believed to play a role in regulating the step-wise changes in gene expression patterns that occur during cell fate specification of multipotent stem cells. Here, we have studied whether terminal differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts is indeed controlled by lineage-specific changes in miRNA expression.
MicroRNA miR-378 promotes BMP2-induced osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal progenitor cells.
Cell line
View SamplesTo examine whether the BPA-induced morphological alterations of the fetal mouse mammary glands are a) associated with changes in mRNA expression reflecting estrogenic actions and/or b) dependent on the estrogen receptor (ER), we compared the transcriptomal effects of BPA and the steroidal estrogen ethinylestradiol (EE2) on fetal mammary tissues of wild type and ER knock-out mice.
Low-dose BPA exposure alters the mesenchymal and epithelial transcriptomes of the mouse fetal mammary gland.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Dynamic HoxB4-regulatory network during embryonic stem cell differentiation to hematopoietic cells.
Specimen part
View SamplesActivation of telomerase often endows cancer cells, but rarely normal somatic cells, with immortality. Especially, fetal lung fibroblasts are known to be hardly immortalized by TERT overexpression. We here established an immortal non-transformed lung fibroblast cell line only by TERT transfection, as well as an immortal transformed cell line by transfection of TERT and SV40 early antigens. Comparing the expression profiles of these cell lines with those of mortal cell strains with elongated lifespan after TERT transfection, 51 genes, including 19 upregulated and 32 downregulated, were explored to be the candidates responsible for regulation of cellular proliferation of lung fibroblasts. These included the genes previously reported to be involved in cellular proliferation, transformation, or self-renewal capacity, and those highly expressed in lung tissues obtained from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis or hypersensitivity pneumonitis. This set of lung fibrobrast cell lines/strains of identical genetic background with different proliferative capacity, mortal and immortal non-transformed fibroblasts may become useful model cells for research on lung fibroblast growth regulation and the candidate genes explored in this study may provide promising biomarkers or molecular targets of pulmonary fibrosis.
Exploration of the genes responsible for unlimited proliferation of immortalized lung fibroblasts.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesEfficient in vitro generation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) holds great promise for cell-based therapies of hematological diseases. To date, HoxB4 remains to be the most effective transcription factor (TF) whose over-expression in ESCs confers long-term repopulating ability to ESC-derived HSCs. Despite its importance, the components and dynamics of the HoxB4 transcriptional regulatory network is poorly understood, hindering efforts to develop a more efficient protocol for in vitro derivation of HSCs. Towards this goal, we performed global gene expression profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with deep sequencing (ChIP-Seq) at four stages of the HoxB4-mediated HSC development. Joint analyses of ChIP-Seq and gene expression profiles unveil a number of global features of the HoxB4 regulatory network.
Dynamic HoxB4-regulatory network during embryonic stem cell differentiation to hematopoietic cells.
Specimen part
View SamplesSirtuin 1 (SIRT1) is involved in both aging and circadian-clock regulation, yet the link between the two processes in relation to SIRT1 function is not clear. Using Sirt1-deficient mice, we found that Sirt1 and Period 2 (Per2) constitute a reciprocal negative regulation loop that plays important roles in modulating hepatic circadian rhythmicity and aging. Sirt1-deficient mice exhibited profound premature aging and enhanced acetylation of histone H4 on lysine16 (H4K16) in the promoter of Per2, the latter of which leads to its overexpression; in turn, Per2 suppresses Sirt1 transcription through binding to the Sirt1 promoter at the Clock/Bmal1 site. This negative reciprocal relationship between SIRT1 and PER2 was also observed in human hepatocytes. We further demonstrated that the absence of Sirt1 or the ectopic overexpression of Per2 in the liver resulted in a dysregulated pace of the circadian rhythm. The similar circadian rhythm was also observed in aged wild type mice. The interplay between Sirt1 and Per2 modulates aging gene expression and circadian-clock maintenance.
Negative reciprocal regulation between Sirt1 and Per2 modulates the circadian clock and aging.
Age, Specimen part
View Samples