Project description:HLA-B27-associated inflammatory diseases remains one of the strongest HLA-disease known to date. HLA-B27-associated acute anterior uveitis has wide-ranging medical significance due to its ocular, systemic, immunologic, and genetic features. To investigate the genes and signalling pathways located upstream of the inflammatory processes in HLA-B27-associated acute anterior uveitis will help to know the mechanism of this disease. HLA-B27-positive and -negative monocytes isolated from human peripheral blood were stimulated with Vibrio cholera lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Gene expression microarrays were used to identify the differentially expressed genes, and they were analysed by a series of bioinformatics-based techniques. Gene expression microarray analysis revealed marked differences between B27-positive monocytes in the genes that are upregulated in response to LPS stimulation. Gene Ontology enrichment (GO) and pathway analysis indicated that genes participating in protein transport and folding were essential to the inflammatory process. The LPS receptor, TLR4, induced the Toll-like receptor signalling pathway and pathways related to Vibrio cholerae infection, which are located upstream of the network and contribute to the overall response. Among the DE genes, PIK3CA, PIK3CB, AKT3, and MAPK1 may play critical roles in inflammation.Equivalent LPS stimulation induces a different response in HLA-B27-positive monocytes compared to monocytes lacking this HLA protein, suggesting that the TLR pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of HLA-B27-associated AAU. Blocking this pathway and other pathways by siRNA interference of candidate genes may contribute to the development of a treatment for this type of AAU. HLA-B27-positive monocytes isolated from human peripheral blood were stimulated with Vibrio cholera lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 12 hours.
Project description:HLA-B27-associated inflammatory diseases remains one of the strongest HLA-disease known to date. HLA-B27-associated acute anterior uveitis has wide-ranging medical significance due to its ocular, systemic, immunologic, and genetic features. To investigate the genes and signalling pathways located upstream of the inflammatory processes in HLA-B27-associated acute anterior uveitis will help to know the mechanism of this disease. HLA-B27-positive and -negative monocytes isolated from human peripheral blood were stimulated with Vibrio cholera lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Gene expression microarrays were used to identify the differentially expressed genes, and they were analysed by a series of bioinformatics-based techniques. Gene expression microarray analysis revealed marked differences between B27-positive monocytes in the genes that are upregulated in response to LPS stimulation. Gene Ontology enrichment (GO) and pathway analysis indicated that genes participating in protein transport and folding were essential to the inflammatory process. The LPS receptor, TLR4, induced the Toll-like receptor signalling pathway and pathways related to Vibrio cholerae infection, which are located upstream of the network and contribute to the overall response. Among the DE genes, PIK3CA, PIK3CB, AKT3, and MAPK1 may play critical roles in inflammation.Equivalent LPS stimulation induces a different response in HLA-B27-positive monocytes compared to monocytes lacking this HLA protein, suggesting that the TLR pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of HLA-B27-associated AAU. Blocking this pathway and other pathways by siRNA interference of candidate genes may contribute to the development of a treatment for this type of AAU.
Project description:Uveitis is a devastating ocular disease that causes blindness. Our previous studies have achieved great advancements in depicting the genetic profiles of uveitis regarding complement pathway genes. This study aimed to provide additional insights into this interest by testing the "central" factor of the complement system, C3 gene variants, in two uveitis entities. Eight haplotype-tagging SNPs of C3 gene were genotyped in 141 anterior uveitis (AU), 158 non-infectious intermediate and posterior uveitis (NIPU) and 293 controls. The results showed that none of the tagging SNPs had a significant association with uveitis (P > 0.05), either in the global uveitis or subtypes. Although rs428453 showed a nominal association with NIPU subtype in the recessive model (P = 0.042), the P value could not withstand the Bonferroni correction (P corr > 0.05). Stratification analyses according to HLA-B27 status and correlation analysis still did not find any significant interactions or genetic markers regarding AU. Logistic regression analysis also revealed no gender-related epistatic effects of C3 on uveitis. Two haplotype blocks were defined across the C3 locus but neither of them was significantly associated with uveitis or subtypes. This study shows no significant association of the C3 gene with uveitis, suggesting C3 confers either no or limited risk for uveitis susceptibility.
Project description:Uveitis is a sight-threatening eye disease in equids known worldwide that leads to considerable pain and suffering. By far the most common type of uveitis in Germany and neighboring countries is classical equine recurrent uveitis (ERU), which is caused by chronic intraocular leptospiral infection and is the main cause of infectious uveitis in horses. Other infectious causes are extremely rare and are usually clinically distinguishable from ERU. ERU can be treated very effectively by vitreous cavity lavage (vitrectomy). For proper indications of this demanding surgery, it is necessary to differentiate ERU from other types of uveitis in which vitrectomy is not helpful. This can be conducted on the basis of anamnesis in combination with ophthalmologic findings and by aqueous humor examination. During vitrectomy, vitreous material is obtained. These vitreous samples have historically been used for numerous etiologic studies. In this way, a chronic intraocular leptospiral infection has been shown to be the cause of typical ERU and, among other findings, ERU has also been recognized as a biofilm infection, providing new insights into the pathogenesis of ERU and explaining some thus far unexplainable phenomena of ERU. ERU may not only have transmissible aspects to some types of uveitis in humans but may also serve as a model for a spontaneously occurring biofilm infection. Vitreous material obtained during therapeutically indicated vitrectomy can be used for further studies on in vivo biofilm formation, biofilm composition and possible therapeutic approaches.
Project description:Oxidative stress is crucial to the biology of tumors. Oxidative stress' potential predictive significance in colorectal cancer (CRC) has not been studied; nevertheless here, we developed a forecasting model based on oxidative stress to forecast the result of CRC survival and enhance clinical judgment. The training set was chosen from the transcriptomes of 177 CRC patients in GSE17536. For validation, 65 samples of colon cancer from GSE29621 were utilized. For the purpose of choosing prognostic genes, the expression of oxidative stress-related genes (OXEGs) was found. Prognostic risk models were built using multivariate Cox regression analysis, univariate Cox regression analysis, and LASSO regression analysis. The outcomes of the western blot and transcriptome sequencing tests were finally confirmed. ATF4, CARS2, CRP, GPX1, IL1B, MAPK8, MRPL44, MTFMT, NOS1, OSGIN2, SOD2, AARS2, and FOXO3 were among the 14 OXEGs used to build prognostic characteristics. Patients with CRC were categorized into low-risk and high-risk groups according on their median risk scores. Cox regression analysis using single and multiple variables revealed that OXEG-related signals were independent risk factors for CRC. Additionally, the validation outcomes from western blotting and transcriptome sequencing demonstrated that OXEGs were differently expressed. Using 14 OXEGs, our work creates a predictive signature that may be applied to the creation of new prognostic models and the identification of possible medication candidates for the treatment of CRC.
Project description:Population genetic studies have clearly indicated that immunity and host defense are among the functions most frequently subject to natural selection, and increased our understanding of the biological relevance of the corresponding genes and their contribution to variable immune traits and diseases. Herein, we will focus on some recently studied forms of human adaptation to infectious agents, including hybridization with now-extinct hominins, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, and admixture between modern human populations. These studies, which are partly enabled by the technological advances in the sequencing of DNA from ancient remains, provide new insight into the sources of immune response variation in contemporary humans, such as the recently reported link between Neanderthal heritage and susceptibility to severe COVID-19 disease. Furthermore, ancient DNA analyses, in both humans and pathogens, allow to measure the action of natural selection on immune genes across time and to reconstruct the impact of past epidemics on the evolution of human immunity.