Low back pain is a major cause of disability especially for people between 20 and 50 years of age. As a costly healthcare problem, it imposes a serious socio-economic burden. Current surgical therapies have considerable drawbacks and fail to replace the normal disc in facilitating spinal movements and absorbing load. Therefore, the focus of regenerative medicine is on identifying biomarkers and signalling pathways to improve our understanding about the cascades of disc degeneration and allow for the design of specific therapies. We hypothesized that comparing microarray profiles from degenerative and non-degenerative discs will lead to the identification of dysregulated signalling and pathophysiological targets. Microarray data sets were generated from human annulus fibrosus cells and analysed using IPA ingenuity pathway analysis system. Gene expression values were validated by qRT-PCR, and respective proteins were identified by immunohistochemistry. Microarray analysis revealed 17 dysregulated molecular markers and various dysregulated cellular functions, including cell proliferation and inflammatory response, in the human degenerative annulus fibrosus. The most significant canonical pathway induced in degenerative annulus fibrosus was found to be the interferon signalling pathway. In conclusion, this study indicates interferon-alpha signalling pathway activation with IFIT3 and IGFBP3 up-regulation which may affect cellular function in human degenerative disc.
Gene Expression Profiling Identifies Interferon Signalling Molecules and IGFBP3 in Human Degenerative Annulus Fibrosus.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesStaphylococcus aureus can cause serious skin, respiratory, and other life-threatening invasive infections in humans, and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains have been acquiring increasing antibiotic resistance. While MRSA was once mainly considered a hospital-acquired infection, the emergence of new strains, some of which are pandemic, has resulted in community-acquired MRSA infections that often present as serious skin infections in otherwise healthy individuals. Accordingly, defining the mechanisms that govern the activation and regulation of the immune response to MRSA is clinically important and could lead to the discovery of much needed rational targets for therapeutic intervention. Because the cytokine thymic stromal lymphopoetin (TSLP) is highly expressed by keratinocytes of the skin3, we investigated its role in host-defense against MRSA. Here we demonstrate that TSLP acts on neutrophils to increase their killing of MRSA. In particular, we show that both mouse and human neutrophils express functional TSLP receptors. Strikingly, TSLP enhances mouse neutrophil killing of MRSA in both an in vitro whole blood killing assay and an in vivo skin infection model. Similarly, TSLP acts directly on purified human blood neutrophils to reduce MRSA burden. Unexpectedly, we demonstrate that TSLP mediates these effects both in vivo and in vitro by engaging the complement C5 system. Thus, TSLP increases MRSA killing in a neutrophil- and complement-dependent manner, revealing a key connection between TSLP and the innate complement system, with potentially important therapeutic implications for control of MRSA infection. Overall design: mRNA expression analysis. 16 samples are from 2 donors, 8 samples per donor, 2 time points (4hr and 16 hr), and 4 conditions (control, TSLP treated, Heat Killed MRSA treated, and TSLP+HKM treated) .
A TSLP-complement axis mediates neutrophil killing of methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesMononuclear phagocytes play an important role in the removal of apoptotic cells by expressing cell surface receptors that recognize and remove apoptotic cells. Based on the knowledge that cigarette smoking is associated with increased lung cell turnover, we hypothesized that alveolar macrophages (AM) of normal cigarette smokers may exhibit enhanced expression of apoptotic cell removal receptor genes. AM obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage of normal non-smokers (n=11) and phenotypic normal smokers (n=13, 36 6 pack-yr) were screened for mRNA expression of all known apoptotic cell removal receptors using Affymetrix HG-U133 Plus 2.0 chips with TaqMan RT-PCR confirmation. Of the 14 known apoptotic receptors expressed, only MER Tyrosine Kinase (MERTK), a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor, was significantly up-regulated in smokers. MERTK expression was then assessed in AM of smokers vs nonsmokers by TaqMan RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, Western and flow analysis. Smoker AM had up-regulation of MERTK mRNA levels (smoker vs non-smoker, 3.6-fold by microarray, p<0.003; 9.5-fold by TaqMan RT-PCR, p<0.02). Immunohistochemistry demonstrated a qualitative increase in MERTK protein expression on AM of smokers. Increased protein expression of MERTK on AM of smokers was confirmed by Western and flow analyses (p< 0.007 and p< 0.0002, respectively). MERTK, a cell surface receptor that recognizes apoptotic cells, is expressed on human AM, and its expression is up-regulated in AM of cigarette smokers. This may reflect an increased demand for removal of apoptotic cells in smokers, an observation with implications for the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a disorder associated with dysregulated apoptosis of lung parenchymal cells.
Overexpression of apoptotic cell removal receptor MERTK in alveolar macrophages of cigarette smokers.
Sex, Age
View SamplesTo understand molecular mechanisms underlying the growth inhibitory ativity of Stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1) inhibitor, we performed microarray analysis using HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells, in which SCD1 was pharmacologically blocked or genetically ablated.
Feedback activation of AMPK-mediated autophagy acceleration is a key resistance mechanism against SCD1 inhibitor-induced cell growth inhibition.
Specimen part, Cell line, Treatment
View SamplesSmokers weigh less and have less body fat than non-smokers, and increased body fat and weight gain are observed following smoking cessation. To assess a possible molecular mechanism underlying the inverse association between smoking and body weight, we hypothesized that smoking may induce the expression of a fat depleting gene in the airway epithelium, the cell population that takes the brunt of the stress of cigarette smoke. As a candidate gene we evaluated the expression of alpha2-zinc-glycoprotein1 (AZGP1), a soluble protein that stimulates lipolysis, induces a reduction in body fat in mice and is associated with the cachexia related to cancer, and is known to be expressed in secretory cells of lung epithelium. To assess if smoking upregulates AZGP1 expression, microarray analysis with TaqMan confirmation was used to evaluate large airway epithelial samples obtained by fiberoptic bronchoscopy from 37 normal smokers and 55 normal nonsmokers. Both microarray and TaqMan analysis demonstrated that AZGP1 mRNA levels were higher in the large airway epithelium of normal smokers compared to normal nonsmokers (p<0.05, all comparisons). Western analysis of airway biopsies of smokers compared with nonsmokers demonstrated upregulation of AZGP1 at the protein level, and immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated upregulation of AZGP1 in secretory as well as neuroendocrine cells of smokers. In the context that AZGP1 is involved in lipolysis and fat loss, its overexpression in the airway epithelium of chronic smokers may represent one mechanism for the weight difference in smokers vs nonsmokers.
Cigarette smoking induces overexpression of a fat-depleting gene AZGP1 in the human.
Sex, Age
View SamplesCNBP is a eukaryote-conserved nucleic-acid binding protein required in mammals for embryonic development. It contains seven CCHC-type zinc-finger domains and was suggested to act as a nucleic acid chaperone, as well as a transcription factor. Here, we identify all CNBP isoforms as cytoplasmic messenger RNA (mRNA)-binding proteins. Using Photoactivatable Ribonucleoside Enhanced Cross-linking and Immunoprecipitation, we mapped its binding sites on RNA at nucleotide-level resolution on a genome-wide scale and find that CNBP interacted with 3961 mRNAs in human cell lines, preferentially at a G-rich motif close to the AUG start codon on mature mRNAs. Loss- and gain-of-function analyses coupled with system-wide RNA and protein quantification revealed that CNBP did not affect RNA abundance, but rather promoted translation of its targets. This is consistent with an RNA chaperone function of CNBP helping to resolve secondary structures, thus promoting translation. Overall design: CNBP protein knockdown and RNA-seq
The Human CCHC-type Zinc Finger Nucleic Acid-Binding Protein Binds G-Rich Elements in Target mRNA Coding Sequences and Promotes Translation.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesHuman immunity relies on the coordinated responses of many cellular subsets and functional states. Inter-individual variations in cellular composition and communication could thus potentially alter host protection. Here, we explore this hypothesis by applying single-cell RNA-Seq to examine viral responses among the dendritic cells (DCs) of three elite controllers (ECs) of HIV-1 infection. We discover a highly functional antiviral DC state in ECs whose fractional abundance after in vitro exposure to HIV-1 correlates with higher CD4+ T cell counts and lower HIV-1 viral loads, and that effectively primes polyfunctional T cell responses in vitro. We identify and validate select immunomodulators that increase the fractional abundance of this state in primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy individuals in vitro. Overall design: Single-cell RNA-seq profiling of HIV-1-exposed cDCs and media controls from 3 elite controllers used to identify reproducible gene expression programs associated with cell-intrinsic HIV-1 immune recognition.
A Reproducibility-Based Computational Framework Identifies an Inducible, Enhanced Antiviral State in Dendritic Cells from HIV-1 Elite Controllers.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesHuman immunity relies on the coordinated responses of many cellular subsets and functional states. Inter-individual variations in cellular composition and communication could thus potentially alter host protection. Here, we explore this hypothesis by applying single-cell RNA-Seq to examine viral responses among the dendritic cells (DCs) of three elite controllers (ECs) of HIV-1 infection. We discover a highly functional antiviral DC state in ECs whose fractional abundance after in vitro exposure to HIV-1 correlates with higher CD4+ T cell counts and lower HIV-1 viral loads, and that effectively primes polyfunctional T cell responses in vitro. We identify and validate select immunomodulators that increase the fractional abundance of this state in primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy individuals in vitro. Overall design: Bulk RNA-seq profiling of sorted cDC subsets associated with cell-intrinsic HIV-1 immune recognition.
A Reproducibility-Based Computational Framework Identifies an Inducible, Enhanced Antiviral State in Dendritic Cells from HIV-1 Elite Controllers.
Subject, Time
View SamplesHuman immunity relies on the coordinated responses of many cellular subsets and functional states. Inter-individual variations in cellular composition and communication could thus potentially alter host protection. Here, we explore this hypothesis by applying single-cell RNA-Seq to examine viral responses among the dendritic cells (DCs) of three elite controllers (ECs) of HIV-1 infection. We discover a highly functional antiviral DC state in ECs whose fractional abundance after in vitro exposure to HIV-1 correlates with higher CD4+ T cell counts and lower HIV-1 viral loads, and that effectively primes polyfunctional T cell responses in vitro. We identify and validate select immunomodulators that increase the fractional abundance of this state in primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy individuals in vitro. Overall design: Bulk RNA-seq profiling of TLR-perturbed cDCs and controls from a healthy donor for comparison with gene expression programs associated with cell-intrinsic HIV-1 immune recognition.
A Reproducibility-Based Computational Framework Identifies an Inducible, Enhanced Antiviral State in Dendritic Cells from HIV-1 Elite Controllers.
Subject, Time
View SamplesWe introduce a microfluidic platform that enables off-chip single-cell RNA-seq after multigenerationa lineage tracking under controlled culture conditions. Overall design: Examination of lineage and cell cycle dependent transcriptional profiles in two cell types
A microfluidic platform enabling single-cell RNA-seq of multigenerational lineages.
Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
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