Project description:To further explore the effect of blood lead on miRNA expression in blood, children (aged 2-5 years) from kindergartens of Shaanxi province were divided into two groups and blood samples were collected. miRNA array was used to testify miRNA expression landscape between low blood lead level (BLL) group (0~ 50.00 g/L) and high BLL group (>50.00 g/L).Our data showed that 27 miRNAs were highly differentially expressed. Expression of miR-34b from this signiture was quantified by qRT-PCR,linear regression analysis showed that the correlation coefficient between blood lead level and miR-34b is 0.247, p <0.001, indicating that miR-34b was correlated with BLL.
Project description:Background: Sepsis can lead to multiple organ damage, and the heart is one of the most vulnerable organs. Vagal nerve stimulation can reduce myocardial injury in sepsis and improve survival rate. However, the relative effect of disparate cell populations on sepsis induced myocardial dysfunction and the low-level tragus stimulation on it, remain unclear. Methods: We used the cardiac single-cell transcriptomic strategy to characterize the cardiac cell population and the network of cells that forms the heart. And we selected all cardiac macrophage from CD45+ cells using single-cell mRNA sequencing data. Then we used echocardiography performing, western blot and immunofluorescence and immunohistochemical technology to verify the data of the single-cell mRNA sequencing results. Results: In single-cell mRNA sequencing data, our analysis provides a comprehensive map of the cardiac cellular landscape uncovering multiple cell populations that contribute to sepsis induced myocardial dysfunction under low-level tragus stimulation. Pseudo timing analysis in single-cell sequencing showed that low level vagal nerve stimulation could induce the transformation of cardiac monocytes into M2 macrophages and play an anti-inflammatory role. After low-level tragus stimulation, the expression of α7nAChR in the heart tissue increased significantly. Echocardiography showed that low-level tragus stimulation could improve the cardiac function of septic myocardial injury of the mice. Comparing with the sepsis group, the expression of interleukin-1β in heart tissue of the mice in sepsis with low-level tragus stimulation group is significantly lower. Conclusion: Low-level tragus stimulation can improve sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction by promoting cardiac monocytes to M2 macrophages. Goal of the study: In the present study, we aimed to screen macrophages, their crosstalk with other cells, and macrophages associated with cardiac injury and further verify their origins and roles in the septic myocardial injury process and low-level tragus stimulation (LL-TS) to treat septic myocardial dysfunction.
Project description:The ovarian follicle is devoid of direct blood supply because of a blood follicle barrier. The intra follicular compartments are hypothesized to have low oxygen level. As the diameter of an ovarian follicle substantially increases during follicular development, the oxygen concentration is likely to decrease in the follicular fluid and reaches lowest levels in the ovulatory follicles. During the present investigation, transcriptome differences induced by low oxygen levels were comprehensively analyzed to understand the specific significance of low oxygen levels in ovulatory follicles.
Project description:Coordinated regulation of stemness gene activity by transcriptional and translational controls poise stem cells for a timely cell-state transition during differentiation. Although important for all stemness-to-differentiation transitions, mechanistic understanding of the fine-tuning of stemness gene transcription is lacking due to the compensatory effect of translational control. We used intermediate neural progenitor (INP) identity commitment to define the mechanisms that fine-tune stemness gene transcription in fly neural stem cells (neuroblasts). We demonstrate that the transcription factor FruitlessC (FruC) binds cis-regulatory elements of most genes uniquely transcribed in neuroblasts. Loss of fruC function alone has no effect on INP commitment but drives INP dedifferentiation when translational control is reduced. FruC negatively regulates gene expression by promoting low-level enrichment of the repressive histone mark H3K27me3 in gene cis-regulatory regions. Identical to fruC loss-of-function, reducing Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 activity increases stemness gene activity. We propose low-level H3K27me3 enrichment fine-tunes stemness gene transcription in stem cells, a mechanism likely conserved from flies to humans.
Project description:Voice disorders are an important human health condition. Hydration is a commonly recommended preventive measure for voice disorders though it is unclear how vocal fold dehydration, is harmful at the cellular level. Airway surface dehydration can result from exposure to low humidity air. Here we have used a recurring 8-hour low humidity exposure over 15 days to mimic an occupational exposure to a low humidity environment. Exposure to moderate humidity was the control condition. Full thickness soft-tissue samples, including the vocal folds and surrounding laryngeal tissue, were collected for molecular analysis. RT-qPCR demonstrated a significant upregulation of MUC4 (mucin 4) and SCL26A9 (chloride channel) and a large fold-change though statistically non-significant upregulation of SCNNA1 (epithelial sodium channel). Proteomic analysis demonstrated differential regulation of proteins clustering into prospective functional groups of muscle structure and function, oxidative stress response, and the protein chaperonin stress response. Together, the data demonstrate that recurring exposure to low humidity is sufficient to induce both transcriptional and translational level changes in laryngeal tissue and suggest that low humidity exposure induces cellular stress at the level of the vocal folds.
