Project description:mRNA expression was assayed from bronchial epithelial cell samples from smokers with and without lung cancer. A subset of the samples (2 of the lung cancer samples and 3 of the no cancer samples) were pooled and underwent whole transcriptome sequencing. The goals were to compare whole transcriptome sequencing gene expression levels to gene expression levels derived from these samples run on the Affymetrix HGU133A 2.0 platform. Current and former smokers with cancer (n=8) and without cancer (n=5) undergoing flexible bronchoscopy in the operating room for resection of a suspicious lung nodule at Boston University Medical Center were recruited. Patients were classified as having no lung cancer based on the pathological results from the lung biopsy. Patients with no cancer were diagnosed with alternative benign diseases of the chest including organizing pneumonitis, sarcoidosis and chronic inflammation due to foreign body material.
Project description:An Easy Operating Pathogen Microarray (EOPM) was designed to detect almost all known pathogens and related species based on their genomic sequences. For effective identification of pathogens from EOPM data, a statistical enrichment algorithm has been proposed and further implemented in a user-friendly interface. A microarray was designed with probes for vertebrate-infecting virus sequences in EMBL, 18S rRNA fungi and parasite sequences from EMBL, and 16S rRNA sequences of bacteria from RDP, synthesized on the Agilent platform. The array was tested using 2 color dyes on cultured microbes and on clinical samples from sick and healthy people, looking for differences in clinically ill people compared to a number of healthy "controls".
Project description:It is unclear why preterm birth increases risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. Studies in mice indicate excess oxygen typically used to treat preterm infants causes pulmonary hypertension, cardiac failure, and shortens lifespan. We previously reported neonatal hyperoxia causes pulmonary hypertension in aged mice as defined pathologically by pulmonary capillary rarefaction, dilation of pulmonary arterioles and veins, right ventricular hypertrophy, and reduced lifespan. These changes were preceded by a pronounced growth inhibition of cardiomyocytes lining the pulmonary vein and extending into the left atria, resulting in diastolic heart failure as the mice aged. To identify transcriptional changes by which hyperoxia suppresses proliferation of these cardiomyocytes, newborn mice were exposed to room air or 100% oxygen between birth and postnatal day 4. RNA was then isolated from atria of 3 room air and 4 hyperoxia-exposed mice and used to probe Affymetrix mouse array 430 versus 2.0
Project description:It is unclear why preterm birth increases risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. Studies in mice indicate excess oxygen used to treat preterm infants causes pulmonary hypertension, cardiac failure, and shortens lifespan. We previously reported neonatal hyperoxia causes pulmonary hypertension in aged mice as defined pathologically by pulmonary capillary rarefaction, dilation of pulmonary arterioles and veins, right ventricular hypertrophy, and reduced lifespan. Here, affymetrix gene arrays were used to identify early transcriptional changes in lungs of young adult mice exposed to room air or 100% oxygen between postnatal days 0-4.
Project description:The rate of cesarean delivery (CD) in China has risen sharply and the high rate was reported to be associated with increased risk of disease in the offspring. However, there is little research on the molecular mechanism of critical pathways and gene signatures involved in the neonatal immunity of cesarean-born infants. This study was undertaken to identify unique gene signatures which was involved in the neonatal immunity of cesarean-born infants through large-scale RNA-sequencing. Genes differentially expressed in cesarean-born infants were identified and further validated through quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). Moreover, we employed weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to identify highly connected genes that were correlated with neonatal inflammation. In total, 73 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between cesarean-born infants and normal vagina childbirth. The results obtained by secondary validation indicated that GATM, MIF, IFI27, IL1B, CA1, and EPHB1 were significantly upregulated in phenotype CD, while CYP2A6 and DLK1 were significantly down regulated. Further, functional and pathway enrichment analysis reveals perturbation of several DEGs involved in signaling pathways pertaining to immunoregulation, inflammation, apoptosis, and nervous development. Additionally, HLA-DOB popped out as a core gene in the process of inflammation, which might indicate the risk of cesarean-born infants for inflammatory disease. Notably, our study for the first time has documented gene signatures PIK3CA, PTPRC, SOS1, IL6ST, and MALT1, which were found to be involved in neonatal inflammation. Taken together, the full expression repertoire including the differentially expressed gene sets and core differentially co-expressed genes should provide an excellent resource for identifying potential biomarkers of cesarean-born infants with inflammation, and formulating new hypotheses for physiological functions and the discovery of novel therapeutic targets for inflammatory disease.
Project description:Experiment1: 2 day old baby mice were exposed to hyperoxia (75% O2) continuously for 7 days. Control baby mice were housed in room air (normoxia). Plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were harvested after 7 days of exposure (on Day of life 9). Experiment2: 2 day old baby mice were exposed to room air or hyperoxia for 14 days and subsequently treated with RV1 or sham.Plasma was collected 5 days after treatment. Human tracheal aspirates were collected from prematurely born infants undergoing mechanical ventilation for respiratory distress syndrome in the first week of life.Tracheal aspirate supernatants are submitted for the assay. We would like to measure adenosine, AMP, ADP and ATP levels.