Project description:We employed single-cell combinatorial indexing RNA-seq (sci-RNA-seq), a scRNA-seq technology with high throughput, high sample multiplexing capacity and low costs, to decipher the molecular events involved in mouse kidney fibrogenesis. With the hypothesis that different types of kidney insults may lead to distinct cellular injury responses, we leveraged sci-RNA-seq to profile mouse kidneys collected from two mouse kidney fibrogenesis models, unilateral ischemia-reperfusion injury (uni-IRI) and unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO), at multiple stages. We described an atlas of kidney fibrogenesis (available at http://humphreyslab.com/SingleCell/) with a total of 309,666 cells profiled from 11 biological conditions and 24 samples in one experiment. We discovered that uni-IRI and UUO produced two types of early-stage injured PT cells with different transcriptomic signature. Further investigation on the two cell states highlighted their distinct mechanisms of metabolic regulation. Analysis of other structures of TECs revealed a common cellular response to injury and repair. In addition, we described the heterogeneity within kidney stroma and the dynamics of cell-cell communications in kidney fibrogenesis.
Project description:Develop a novel de-glyco-assisted methylation site identification (DOMAIN) strategy which enables straightforward, fast, and reproducible analysis of protein methylation in a proteome-wide manner. Combining multidimensional fractionation and multiprotease digestion, our method enabled the identification of 573 methylated forms in 270 proteins, including 311 new methylation forms, in A549 cells. Combining this technique with stable isotope labeling quantitative proteomics and RNA interference, we determined the differential regulation of several putative methylated sites that are related to the protein arginine N-methyltransferase 3 (PRMT3). Collectively, our integrated proteomics workflow for comprehensive mapping of methylation sites enables a better understanding of protein methylation, while providing a rapid and effective approach for global protein methylation analysis in biomedical research.
Project description:Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is a genetic disease of the kidney characterized by the gradual replacement of normal kidney parenchyma by fluid-filled cysts and fibrotic tissue. Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) is caused by mutations in the PKD1 or PKD2 gene. Here we present an RNASeq experiment designed to investigate the effect of a kidney specific and Tamoxifen inducible knockout of the Pkd1 gene in mice. 7 mice were grouped into two groups, 4 Tamoxifen treated mice which develop an adult onset Polycystic Kidney Disease phenotype and 3 untreated mice which have WT phenotype.