Project description:We examined the microRNA profiles of THP-1 macrophages upon the MTB infection of (1) Beijing/W and non-Beijing/W clinical strains, and (2) susceptible and multidrug-resistant (MDR-) MTB strains.
Project description:We examined the microRNA profiles of THP-1 macrophages upon the MTB infection of (1) Beijing/W and non-Beijing/W clinical strains, and (2) susceptible and multidrug-resistant (MDR-) MTB strains. THP-1 cells were induced differentiation into a macrophage phenotype. Then cells were infected with three MDR (INHR, RIFR) Beijing/W, three sensitive (INHS, RIFS) Beijing/W, three MDR(INHR, RIFR) non-Beijing/W, and three sensitive (INHS, RIFS) non-Beijing/W strains. Total RNA were extracted and transfered into cDNA for miRNA profile analysis. Non-infected cells were used as control.
Project description:We have found that drug-resistant (DR) Mtb infection alters the host pathogen interactions thought to occur during drug-sensitive (DS) Mtb infection. Recent data suggests that lack of both, Type I and IL-1, signaling pathways leads to susceptibility to infection to DR Mtb infection. To understand the pathways involved in maintaining control of DR Mtb infection, we are sequencing the bulk lung cells early in infection.
Project description:We have found that drug-resistant (DR) Mtb infection alters the host pathogen interactions thought to occur during drug-sensitive (DS) Mtb infection. Recent data suggests that lack of IL-1, but not Type I IFN, signaling pathways leads to susceptibility to infection to DR Mtb infection. To understand the pathways involved in maintaining control of DS Mtb infection, we are sequencing the bulk lung cells early in infection.
Project description:Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the deadliest infectious disorders in the world. To effectively TB manage, an essential step is to gain insight into the lineage of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains and the distribution of drug resistance. Although the Campania region is declared a cluster area for the infection, to contribute to the effort to understand TB evolution and transmission, still poorly known, we have generated a dataset of 159 genomes of MTB strains, from Campania region collected during 2018-2021, obtained from the analysis of whole genome sequence data. The results show that the most frequent MTB lineage is the 4 according for 129 strains (81.11%). Regarding drug resistance, 139 strains (87.4%) were classified as multi susceptible, while the remaining 20 (12.58%) showed drug resistance. Among the drug-resistance strains, 8 were isoniazid-resistant MTB (HR-MTB), 7 were resistant only to one antibiotic (3 were resistant only to ethambutol and 3 isolate to streptomycin while one isolate showed resistance to fluoroquinolones), 4 multidrug-resistant MTB, while only one was classified as pre-extensively drug-resistant MTB (pre-XDR). This dataset expands the existing available knowledge on drug resistance and evolution of MTB, contributing to further TB-related genomics studies to improve the management of TB infection.
Project description:Genome-wide expression data can provide important insights into normal and pathological cellular processes. However, the ability to use gene expression data to quantitatively assess the activation state of a given signaling pathway or transcriptional network in a sensitive and specific manner remains an important unmet goal. We now describe a computational algorithm, energy-paired scoring (EPS), that satisfies these criteria by predicting pathway activity using gene-gene interactions within a pathway signature in a manner analogous to the estimation of energy generated by two charged particles, as described by Coulomb’s law. We demonstrate the ability of EPS to: quantitatively assess pathway activation levels in vivo and in vitro; accurately estimate the extent of pathway inhibition achieved by gene knockdown; sensitively detect crosstalk between endogenous signaling pathways in vivo; and accurately identify compounds capable of inhibiting selected signaling pathways. Our findings indicate that EPS can accurately predict pathway activity over a wide dynamic range based upon gene expression data sets derived from multiple profiling platforms, as well as different species, tissues and cell types in both in vitro and in vivo contexts Four timepoints (0h, 24h, 48h and 96h) with 3 replicates per timepoint of doxycycline induction for MTB (Control), MTB/TAN, MTB/TOM and MTB/TWNT1
Project description:Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) cluster containing proteins are a subset of proteins with crucial functions in the maintenance of cellular physiology throughout all kingdoms of life. The systems involved in the biogenesis and repair of Fe-S clusters hence plays important role in fine-tuning the availability and functionality of Fe-S proteins. Two of the systems known in bacteria are, Isc and Suf. Compared to the facultative anaerobe, E. coli, which codes for the two multi-genic Fe-S biogenesis systems; Mtb Fe-S biogenesis machinery is skewed with a multi-genic Suf system (sufRBDCSUT) and a single gene of Isc system (iscS). Several Fe-S proteins are deployed by Mtb to maintain cellular homeostasis and survival in a hostile host environment. Hence, we determine the transcriptome of Mtb on depletion of the two key enzymes of Fe-S biogenesis- IscS and sufS, that could help understand the role and regulation between the two systems in the human pathogen Mtb.
Project description:RNA was isolated from mammary glands from 55 day old control mice, mice overexpressing the miR-200b/200a/429 cluster in mammary epithelial cells (MTB-200ba429) mice overexpressing the IGF-IR transgene in mammary epithelial cells (MTB-IGFIR), and mice overexpressing both the miR-200b/200a/429 cluster and the IGF-IR transgene in mammary epithelial cells (MTB-IGFIRba429)