Project description:The developmental origin of the c-kit expressing progenitor cell pool in the adult heart has remained elusive. Recently, it has been discovered that the injured heart is enriched with c-kit+ cells, which also express the hematopoietic marker CD45. In this study, we characterize the phenotype and transcriptome of the c-kit+/CD45+ cell population, originating from the left atrial appendage. These cells are defined as cardiac macrophage progenitors. We also demonstrate that the c-kit+/CD45+ progenitor cell population activates heart development, neural crest and pluripotency associated pathways in vitro, in conjunction with CD45 down-regulation, and acquire a c-kit+/lin- phenotype. This spontaneous reprogramming progresses further to a highly proliferative, partially myogenic phenotype. Our data suggests that c-kit+/lin- cells and cardiac macrophages have a common lineage origin possibly resolving some current conundrums in the field of cardiac regeneration. Two different stem cell types were grown by altering the tissue digestion protocol. To investigate their transcriptional profiles we prepared RNA from two cell sorted replicates per cell type and from two left ventricular biopsy samples as controls.
Project description:The developmental origin of the c-kit expressing progenitor cell pool in the adult heart has remained elusive. Recently, it has been discovered that the injured heart is enriched with c-kit+ cells, which also express the hematopoietic marker CD45. In this study, we characterize the phenotype and transcriptome of the c-kit+/CD45+ cell population, originating from the left atrial appendage. These cells are defined as cardiac macrophage progenitors. We also demonstrate that the c-kit+/CD45+ progenitor cell population activates heart development, neural crest and pluripotency associated pathways in vitro, in conjunction with CD45 down-regulation, and acquire a c-kit+/lin- phenotype. This spontaneous reprogramming progresses further to a highly proliferative, partially myogenic phenotype. Our data suggests that c-kit+/lin- cells and cardiac macrophages have a common lineage origin possibly resolving some current conundrums in the field of cardiac regeneration. Two different stem cell types were grown by altering the tissue digestion protocol, from which one type was spontaneously transdifferentiating to other cell types. To investigate their transcriptional profiles we prepared RNA from two cell sorted replicates per cell type (A, B, C1, C2, C3).
Project description:We provide an original multi-stage approach identifying a gene signature to assess the fibroblast polarization. Prototypic polarizations (inflammatory/fibrotic) were induced by seeded mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) with TNFα or TGFß1, respectively. The transcriptomic and proteomic profiles were obtained by RNA microarray and LC/MS-MS. Gene Ontology and pathways analysis were performed among the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and proteins (DEPs). Balb/c mice underwent daily intradermal injections of HOCl (or PBS) as an experimental murine model of inflammation-mediated fibrosis in a time-dependent manner. As results, 1,456 and 2,215 DEGs, and 289 and 233 DEPs were respectively found in MEFs in response to TNFα or TGFß1, respectively. Among the most significant pathways, we combined 26 representative genes to encompass the proinflammatory and profibrotic polarizations of fibroblasts. Based on principal component analysis, this signature deciphered baseline state, proinflammatory polarization, and profibrotic polarization as accurately as did RNA microarray and LC/MS-MS. Then, we assessed the gene signature on dermal fibroblasts isolated from the experimental murine model. We observed a proinflammatory polarization at day 7, and a mixture of a proinflammatory and profibrotic polarizations at day 42 in line with histological findings. Our approach provides a small-size and convenient gene signature to assess murine fibroblast polarization.
Project description:The spinal cord is generated progressively as cells leave the caudal region of the elongating body axis such that the temporal steps of neural differentiation become spatially separated along the head to tail axis. At key stages, it is therefore possible to isolate near-adjacent cell populations from the same embryo in distinct differentiation states. Cells in the caudal lateral epiblast adjacent to the primitive streak (also known as the stem zone, SZ, in the chick) express both early neural and mesodermal genes. Other cells in the stem zone will gastrulate to form the paraxial mesoderm or remain in the epiblast cell sheet and become neural progenitors. These latter cells form a new region called the preneural tube (PNT), which is flanked by unsegmented presomitic mesoderm and represents an early neural progenitor state that can be induced by FGF signalling to revert back to a multi-potent SZ state. Rostral to this, the closed caudal neural tube (CNT) is flanked by somites and is an early site of co-expression of genes characteristic of neural progenitors, and of ventral patterning genes (Diez del Corral et al., 2003). The CNT contains the first few neurons and exposure to FGF cannot revert this tissue to a multi-potent SZ state (Diez del Corral et al., 2002). The transition from the PNT to the CNT thus involves commitment to a neural fate that this is regulated by a switch from FGF to retinoid signalling. More advanced neuroepithelium is then located in more rostral neural tube (RNT), in which neuronal differentiation is ongoing and dorsoventral pattern is refined. This experiment uses the Affymetrix GeneChip chicken genome microarray to compare the transcriptomes of microdissections of these spatially distinct cell populations from the elongating neural axis of HH stage 10 chick embryos. Dissections were carried out in L15 medium at 4°C and explants pooled in TRIzol reagent (Gibco) for RNA extraction. Notochord was removed by controlled trypsin digestion that aimed to keep the neural ventral midline. For the microarrays, at least five tissue samples for each region were pooled to make each of three biological replicates for each (n>15 for each region).
Project description:Primary cells from high grade serous ovarian carcinoma patients, derived from ascites and omentum were sequenced to study signaling networks.
Project description:Aortic valve calcification is the most common form of valvular heart disease, but the mechanisms of calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) are unknown. NOTCH1 mutations are associated with aortic valve malformations and adult-onset calcification in families with inherited disease. The Notch signaling pathway is critical for multiple cell differentiation processes, but its role in the development of CAVD is not well understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular changes that occur with inhibition of Notch signaling in the aortic valve. Notch signaling pathway members are expressed in adult aortic valve cusps, and examination of diseased human aortic valves revealed decreased expression of NOTCH1 in areas of calcium deposition. To identify downstream mediators of Notch1, we examined gene expression changes that occur with chemical inhibition of Notch signaling in rat aortic valve interstitial cells (AVICs). We found significant downregulation of Sox9 along with several cartilage-specific genes that were direct targets of the transcription factor, Sox9. Loss of expression Sox9 has been published to be associated with aortic valve calcification. Utilizing an in vitro porcine aortic valve calcification model system, inhibition of Notch activity resulted in accelerated calcification while stimulation of Notch signaling attenuated the calcific process. Finally, the addition of Sox9 was able to prevent the calcification of porcine AVICs that occurs with Notch inhibition. In conclusion, loss of Notch signaling contributes to aortic valve calcification via a Sox9-dependent mechanism. 3 samples of aortic valve interstitial cells treated with DAPT were compared with 3 samples of aortic valve interstitial cells treated with DMSO
Project description:2D-LC/MS/MS analysis was used to examine time-dependent changes in proteome of E. coli O157:H7 strain Sakai upon an abrupt downshift in temperature (i.e., from 35°C to 14°C). Cell cultures were harvested at 30, 90, 160, and 330 min post-temperature downshift. It also should be noted that these time points were chosen with the aims to characterize the physiology of E. coli during dynamic changes in growth kinetics induced by an abrupt temperature downshift. Specifically, the samples taken at time 30 and 90 min were obtained during adaptation period, whereas the samples at time 160 and 330 min reflected the physiological state of E. coli during growth after the shift. MS/MS data obtained from each protein sample were processed by the Computational Proteomics Analysis System (CPAS), a web-based system built on the LabKey Server (v9.1, released 02.04.2009). The experimental mass spectra produced were subjected to a semi-tryptic search against the combined databases of E. coli O157:H7 Sakai (5,318 entries in total) downloaded from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/, downloaded 25.11.2008) using X!Tandem v2007.07.01. These databases included the E. coli O157:H7 Sakai database (5230 entries, NC_002695.fasta) and two E. coli O157:H7 Sakai plasmid databases, plasmid pO157 (85 entries, NC_002128.fasta) and plasmid pOSAK1 (three entries, NC_002127.fasta). The parameters for the database search were as follows: mass tolerance for precursor and fragment ions: 10 ppm and 0.5 Da, respectively; fixed modification: cysteine cabamidomethylation (+57 Da); and no variable modifications. The search results were then analyzed using the PeptideProphet and ProteinProphet algorithms from the Trans Proteomic Pipeline v3.4.2. All peptide and protein identifications were accepted at PeptideProphet and ProteinProphet of ≥0.9, corresponding to a theoretical error rate of ≤2%.
Project description:Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are among the most promising nanomaterials because of their physical and chemical properties. However, since they are biopersistent fiber-like materials which share similarities with asbestos, concerns have arisen about their health effects. With their various industrial usages, occupational exposure to MWCNTs may occur mainly by inhalation as these nanomaterials can get aerosolised. The number of toxicological studies on CNTs has steadily increased for the last decades. Different works showed that MWCNT exposure by inhalation or intratracheal instillation could lead to pulmonary toxicity, such as lung inflammation, genotoxicity, fibrosis or lung cancer (Kasai et al. 2015, Kasai et al. 2016, Porter et al. 2013, Suzui et al. 2016). To date, only one MWCNT (MWNT-7) has been classified as possibly carcinogen to human (Group 2B) while the others have not been as classifiable as to their carcinogenicity to humans (Group 3) because of the lack of data on their carcinogenic potential (IARC 2017). Because of the wide variety of CNTs with various length, diameter or functionalisation, additional effort is required to assess their pulmonary toxicity. As a complementary approach to conventional toxicological assays, the omics methods are useful technologies for the mechanistic understanding of the toxicological effects observed following exposure to chemicals and particulate matters. Importantly, they can also be used as predictive tools for identifying the mode of action of other particles with similar physical and chemical characteristics. These molecular approaches may also be used for the discovery of exposure markers or early markers of adverse effects, before the appearance of clinical signs of a disease (Rahman et al. 2017). Several studies assessed gene expression alteration following in vivo exposure to CNTs (Poulsen et al. 2015, Snyder-Talkington et al. 2013, Ellinger-Ziegelbauer and Pauluhn 2009). These omics approaches were used to identify genes and pathways modulated in response to exposure. However, there are still too few studies to assess the link between MWCNT physico-chemical properties, global gene or protein expression profiles, and long-term effects. In a previous study, we showed that inhalation of two pristine MWCNTs, the long and thick NM-401, and the short and thin NM-403, induced alveolar neutrophilic granulocyte influx, a hallmark of inflammation, which was proportional to the lung CNT BET surface deposited dose (Gate et al. 2019). However, due to their different physical and chemical properties, one could assume that these two CNTs may have diverse toxicological profiles, but the conventional toxicology approaches used in this early work were probably not sensitive enough to identify such differences. In order to gain additional insight about their toxicological properties, in the current study, we compare the alteration induced by the two MWCNTs on the transcriptome in the lung tissue and the proteome in the broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) after rat exposure by inhalation. The omics analyses were performed from 3 days up to 180 days.
Project description:Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are among the most promising nanomaterials because of their physical and chemical properties. However, since they are biopersistent fiber-like materials which share similarities with asbestos, concerns have arisen about their health effects. With their various industrial usages, occupational exposure to MWCNTs may occur mainly by inhalation as these nanomaterials can get aerosolised. The number of toxicological studies on CNTs has steadily increased for the last decades. Different works showed that MWCNT exposure by inhalation or intratracheal instillation could lead to pulmonary toxicity, such as lung inflammation, genotoxicity, fibrosis or lung cancer (Kasai et al. 2015, Kasai et al. 2016, Porter et al. 2013, Suzui et al. 2016). To date, only one MWCNT (MWNT-7) has been classified as possibly carcinogen to human (Group 2B) while the others have not been as classifiable as to their carcinogenicity to humans (Group 3) because of the lack of data on their carcinogenic potential (IARC 2017). Because of the wide variety of CNTs with various length, diameter or functionalisation, additional effort is required to assess their pulmonary toxicity. As a complementary approach to conventional toxicological assays, the omics methods are useful technologies for the mechanistic understanding of the toxicological effects observed following exposure to chemicals and particulate matters. Importantly, they can also be used as predictive tools for identifying the mode of action of other particles with similar physical and chemical characteristics. These molecular approaches may also be used for the discovery of exposure markers or early markers of adverse effects, before the appearance of clinical signs of a disease (Rahman et al. 2017). Several studies assessed gene expression alteration following in vivo exposure to CNTs (Poulsen et al. 2015, Snyder-Talkington et al. 2013, Ellinger-Ziegelbauer and Pauluhn 2009). These omics approaches were used to identify genes and pathways modulated in response to exposure. However, there are still too few studies to assess the link between MWCNT physico-chemical properties, global gene or protein expression profiles, and long-term effects. In a previous study, we showed that inhalation of two pristine MWCNTs, the long and thick NM-401, and the short and thin NM-403, induced alveolar neutrophilic granulocyte influx, a hallmark of inflammation, which was proportional to the lung CNT BET surface deposited dose (Gate et al. 2019). However, due to their different physical and chemical properties, one could assume that these two CNTs may have diverse toxicological profiles, but the conventional toxicology approaches used in this early work were probably not sensitive enough to identify such differences. In order to gain additional insight about their toxicological properties, in the current study, we compare the alteration induced by the two MWCNTs on the transcriptome in the lung tissue and the proteome in the broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) after rat exposure by inhalation. The omics analyses were performed from 3 days up to 180 days.
Project description:RNA-seq analysis of zebrafish foxc1a mutant For RNA-seq, mRNA was extracted from 38-40 hpf old embryos. We isolated wild type and foxc1a mutant samples by dissecting the entire first 6 anterior somitic segments (AS) through which the fin nerves migrate, and the adjacent posterior segments (PS; segments 7 through ~12) devoid of fin innervating nerves. Heads and yolks were excluded from all samples. Tissues were stored in RNAlater solution (Life Technologies) for up to 2 days at 4 degree before RNA was extracted using the RNAeasy kit (Qiagen) according to the manufactureM-bM-^@M-^Ys protocol. RNA was tested for integrity using a Bioanalyzer (Agilent technologies). RNA samples showing RIN value of 8 or higher were used for generating cDNA libraries as described in the TruSeqM-BM-. Stranded mRNA sample preparation guide. At the final stage, 15 cycles of PCR amplifications was performed. Barcoded libraries representing duplicates of AS and PS samples of wild type and mutants were validated using Bionalyzer (Agilent Technology) and finally sequenced in Illumina HiSeq 2500 yielding paired end reads of 100bp. The RNA-seq Unified Mapper (RUM) (Grant et al., 2011) was used to align the reads to the Zv9/danRer7 reference genome and to assign each read uniquely to a transcript. We investigated transcripts that showed the highest fold changes of expression between the different groups. For Gene Ontology annotations, genes tagged by the GO term M-bM-^@M-^\axon guidanceM-bM-^@M-^] were obtained from the gene ontology database (http://www.geneontology.org/). Next we filtered this list for the M-bM-^@M-^\Danio rerioM-bM-^@M-^] taxon (resulting in 116 unique genes) and used them to annotate our RNA-seq results.