Project description:We have sequenced miRNA libraries from human embryonic, neural and foetal mesenchymal stem cells. We report that the majority of miRNA genes encode mature isomers that vary in size by one or more bases at the 3’ and/or 5’ end of the miRNA. Northern blotting for individual miRNAs showed that the proportions of isomiRs expressed by a single miRNA gene often differ between cell and tissue types. IsomiRs were readily co-immunoprecipitated with Argonaute proteins in vivo and were active in luciferase assays, indicating that they are functional. Bioinformatics analysis predicts substantial differences in targeting between miRNAs with minor 5’ differences and in support of this we report that a 5’ isomiR-9-1 gained the ability to inhibit the expression of DNMT3B and NCAM2 but lost the ability to inhibit CDH1 in vitro. This result was confirmed by the use of isomiR-specific sponges. Our analysis of the miRGator database indicates that a small percentage of human miRNA genes express isomiRs as the dominant transcript in certain cell types and analysis of miRBase shows that 5’ isomiRs have replaced canonical miRNAs many times during evolution. This strongly indicates that isomiRs are of functional importance and have contributed to the evolution of miRNA genes
Project description:To date nothing is known about the specificity of regulatory B cells. Here we analyzed the B cell repertoire at the Ig gene level of regulatory transitional CD24(high)CD38(high) B cells of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in comparison with healthy donors. 5 patients with highly active MS, 4 patients with benign MS and 6 healthy donors were examined. Mononuclear cells from peripheral blood were stained against CD19, CD24 and CD38 surface markers. Subpopulation CD19(+)CD24(high)CD38(high) and total pool of CD19(+) cells were sorted individually for subsequent RNA isolation and BCR sequences comparison. Variable heavy (VH) and light (VL) chains genes of each patient were amplified from cDNA and deep sequencing of the VH and VL genes was carried out.
Project description:Single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) was used to profile the transcriptome of 16,015 nuclei in human adult testis. This dataset includes five samples from two different individuals. This dataset is part of a larger evolutionary study of adult testis at the single-nucleus level (97,521 single-nuclei in total) across mammals including 10 representatives of the three main mammalian lineages: human, chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, gibbon, rhesus macaque, marmoset, mouse (placental mammals); grey short-tailed opossum (marsupials); and platypus (egg-laying monotremes). Corresponding data were generated for a bird (red junglefowl, the progenitor of domestic chicken), to be used as an evolutionary outgroup.