Metabolomics,Unknown,Transcriptomics,Genomics,Proteomics

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Transcription profiling of human bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells of CR and corticosteroid sensitive (CS) asthmatics

ABSTRACT: Background: A subset of asthmatics does not respond to steroid therapy and therefore is at risk for escalation of disease severity. The cause of corticosteroid resistant (CR) asthma is unknown. Gene microarray technologies have the potential to substantiate new hypotheses regarding the etiology of corticosteroid resistance. Methods: Gene microarray analysis was performed with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells of CR and corticosteroid sensitive (CS) asthmatics. Increased gene expression was verified with real time PCR and at the protein level by ELISA. Findings: Microarray analyses demonstrated significantly higher levels (over two-fold increase, p<0.05) of TNF-alpha, IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL3, CXCL8 (IL-8), CCL3, CCL4, CCL20 gene expression in BAL cells of CR than CS asthmatics. These findings, confirmed by RT-PCR in additional BAL samples, were consistent with classical macrophage activation by bacterial products. In contrast, markers of alternatively-activated macrophages, Arginase I and CCL24, were decreased in CR asthmatics. Genes associated with activation of the LPS signaling pathway (EGR1, DUSP2, MAIL, TNFAIP3) were significantly elevated in CR BAL samples (p<0.05). CR asthmatics had significantly higher amounts (1444.0Â±457.3 pg per mg of total protein) of LPS in BAL fluid than CS asthmatics (270.5Â±216.0 pg; p<0.05). Prolonged exposure to LPS induced functional steroid resistance to dexamethasone (DEX) in normal monocytes, demonstrated by persistently elevated IL-6 levels in the presence of DEX. Interpretation: Classical macrophage activation and induction of LPS signaling pathways along with high endotoxin levels detected in BAL fluid from CR asthmatics suggest that LPS exposure may contribute to CR asthma. Experiment Overall Design: Patients with a diagnosis of asthma according to American Thoracic Society criteria were selected for evaluation. Asthmatics had a baseline FEV1% predicted of 55% to 85% of predicted, a beta2-adrenergic response of â¥12% of baseline FEV1% predicted and/or a methacholine PC20 value of â¤8 mg/ml. Asthma patients were further subdivided in CR and CS groups, based on their response to steroids. The definition was based on change in FEV1 % predicted over a one-week course of 40 mg/day of oral prednisone. Asthmatic patients were defined as CS if they had an increase in FEV1% predicted of greater than 15% after a one-week course of prednisone, and as CR if less than 12% change in FEV1% predicted was observed. None of the asthmatic subjects recruited for this study had evidence for other types of lung diseases. None of the subjects had received systemic corticosteroid therapy for at least one month prior to bronchoscopy. All subjects provided written informed consent to participate in the study. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, CO. Gene array studies of BAL macrophages were performed in 3 CR and 3 CS asthmatics.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

SUBMITTER: Clifton Hall

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-7368 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress

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Project description:Patients with severe uncontrolled asthma represent a distinct endotype with persistent airway inflammation and remodeling refractory to corticosteroid treatment. CD4+ T cells and their canonical effector molecules, like type 2 cytokines, play a central role in orchestrating asthma pathogenesis, and biologic therapies targeting these cytokine pathways have had promising outcomes. However, not all patients respond well to such treatment, and their effects are not always durable nor reverse airway remodeling. This observation raises the possibility that other CD4+ T cell subsets and their effector molecules may drive airway inflammation and remodeling. To address this issue in a hypothesis-free manner, we performed single-cell transcriptome analysis of >50,000 airway CD4+ T cells isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples from 30 patients with mild and severe asthma. We observed striking heterogeneity in the nature of CD4+ T cells present in asthmatics' airways with tissue-resident memory (TRM) cells making a dominant contribution. Notably, a subset of CD4+ TRM cells (CD103-expressing) was significantly increased, comprising nearly 65% of all CD4+ T cells in the airways of male patients with severe asthma when compared to mild asthma. This subset was enriched for transcripts linked to T cell receptor (TCR) activation (HLA-DRB1, HLA-DPA1, CD40LG) and cytotoxicity (GZMB, GZMH), and following stimulation expressed high levels of transcripts encoding for pro-inflammatory non-TH2 cytokines (CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, TNF, IL-17A, CSF2, LIGHT) that could fuel persistent airway inflammation and remodeling. Furthermore, we found that CD4+ T cells isolated ex vivo from airways of severe asthmatics displayed signatures linked to corticosteroid resistance (FKBP5, DDIT4), as well as reduced expression of transcripts encoding for molecules that dampen TCR signaling and T cell effector functions (CREM, DUSP1, TNFAIP3). Overall, our single-cell transcriptomic analysis highlights the pathogenic properties and clinical associations of airway CD4+ T cell subsets in severe asthmatics, features that can potentially trigger their unrestrained activation, and that these findings were more pronounced in males. These pathways may therefore be crucial for driving disease severity in adult male severe asthmatics.

Project description:Background: The first step in SARS-CoV-2 infection is binding of the virus to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on the airway epithelium. Asthma affects over 300 million people world-wide, many of whom may encounter SARS-CoV-2. Epidemiologic data suggests that asthmatics who get infected may be at increased risk of more severe disease. Our objective was to assess whether maintenance inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), a major treatment for asthma, is associated with airway ACE2 expression in asthmatics. Methods: Large airway epithelium (LAE) of asthmatics treated with maintenance ICS (ICS+), asthmatics not treated with ICS (ICS-), and healthy controls (controls) was analyzed for expression of ACE2 and other coronavirus infection-related genes using microarrays. Results: AsResults: As a group, there was no difference in LAE ACE2 expression in all asthmatics vs controls. In contrast, subgroup analysis demonstrated that LAE ACE2 expression was higher in asthmatics ICS+ compared to ICS‾ and ACE2 expression was higher in male ICS+ compared to female ICS+ and ICS‾ of either sex. ACE2 expression did not correlate with serum IgE, absolute eosinophil level, or change in FEV1 in response to bronchodilators in either ICS- or ICS+. Conclusion: Airway ACE2 expression is increased in asthmatics on long-term treatment with ICS, an observation that should be taken into consideration when assessing the use of inhaled corticosteroids during the pandemic. a group, there was no difference in LAE ACE2 expression in all asthmatics vs controls. In contrast, subgroup analysis demonstrated that LAE ACE2 expression was higher in asthmatics ICS+ compared to ICS‾ and ACE2 expression was higher in male ICS+ compared to female ICS+ and ICS‾ of either sex. ACE2 expression did not correlate with serum IgE, absolute eosinophil level, or change in FEV1 in response to bronchodilators in either ICS- or ICS+. Conclusion: Airway ACE2 expression is increased in asthmatics on long-term treatment with ICS, an observation that should be taken into consideration when assessing the use of inhaled corticosteroids during the pandemic.

Project description:Rationale: MicroRNAs have emerged as crucial post-transcriptional and network regulators in inflammatory diseases, including asthma. We hypothesized that peripheral blood miRNA would be associated with airflow obstruction in children with asthma, and that some of these effects would also be observable in adults with COPD. Methods: We analyzed small RNA-Seq data from 365 peripheral blood samples from the Genetics of Asthma in Costa Rica Study (GACRS). GACRS comprised children from the Central Valley of Costa Rica age 6-14 years with physician-diagnosed asthma and ≥2 respiratory symptoms or asthma attacks in the prior year. FEV1/FVC percent-predicted was dichotomized at 100%, splitting the cohort into those with and without evidence of airflow obstruction and used as our primary outcome. Differentially expressed (DE) miRs were identified using the DESeq2 package in R with a 10% FDR and adjustment for age, gender, and inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) use. We attempted to replicate the top airflow obstruction-associated microRNAs from the GACRS study in the COPDGene study, in which blood microRNA data were available in 439 current and former smoking adults with and without airflow obstruction (defined as raw FEV1/FVC < 0.7). Results: After QC, we had 361 samples and 649 miRs for DE analysis. Of the 361 samples, 220 and 141 were from subjects without and with airflow obstruction, respectively. We found 1 upregulated (let-7e-5p p=0.0004) and 2 downregulated (miR-342-3p p=0.0002; miR-671-5p p=0.0001) miRs in subjects with airflow obstruction compared to those without airflow obstruction. These three miRNAs were then tested for association with airflow obstruction in the COPDGene study, in which let-7e-5p was upregulated (p = 0.064) and miR-342-3p (p =0.085) was downregulated in participants with FEV1/FVC < 0.7 (n=196) compared to those with FEV1/FVC > 0.7 (n=243). Differentially expressed miR’s target genes were enriched for PI3K-Akt, Hippo, WNT, MAPK, and focal adhesion signaling pathways. We also separately considered the targets of only the two miRNAs that were also associated with FEV1/FVC in the adult current and former smokers, where PI3K-Akt, MAPK and Hippo signaling pathways were among the top five most enriched pathways. Conclusion: Three DE miRs were linked to airflow obstruction in children with asthma. Two miRs were associated with FEV1/FVC in current and former smoking adults. These miRs were involved in asthma and COPD-related pathways: PI3K-Akt, Hippo, MAPK, and focal adhesion signaling pathways. Together these findings provide important evidence that these two disorders may share genetic regulatory systems that contribute to airflow obstruction.

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Transcription profiling of human bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells of CR and corticosteroid sensitive (CS) asthmatics

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