Project description:Small RNA-Seq analysis of on stool samples from an Italian cohort of 120 healthy individuals with three dietary habits. The cohort includes 72 women and 48 men included an equal proportion of vegetarians, vegans and omnivores.
Project description:Dysbiotic configurations of the human gut microbiota have been linked with colorectal cancer (CRC). Human small non-coding RNAs are also implicated in CRC and recent findings suggest that their release in the gut lumen contributes to shape the gut microbiota. Bacterial small RNAs (bsRNAs) may also play a role in carcinogenesis but their role is less explored. Here, we performed small RNA and shotgun sequencing on 80 stool specimens of patients with CRC, or adenomas, and healthy subjects collected in a cross-sectional study to evaluate their combined use as a predictive tool for disease detection. We reported a considerable overlap and correlation between metagenomic and bsRNA quantitative taxonomic profiles obtained from the two approaches. Furthermore, we identified a combined predictive signature composed by 32 features from human and microbial small RNAs and DNA-based microbiome able to accurately classify CRC from healthy and adenoma samples (AUC= 0.87). In summary we reported evidence that host-microbiome dysbiosis in CRC can be observed also by altered small RNA stool profiles. Integrated analyses of the microbiome and small RNAs in the human stool may provide insights for designing more accurate tools for diagnostic purposes.
Project description:Background:
There are about 100 trillion microbial cells in a person s gut. This is called the human gut microbiota. When this is disrupted, it can lead to many diseases. Studies show that the gut microbiota in people with cancer is different than that found in healthy people. Researchers want to study links between the gut microbiota and the immune system in people with a liver disease called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Objective:
To study links between gut microbiota and the immune system in people with HCC.
Eligibility:
People at least 18 years old with HCC. They must be scheduled to have tumors removed by surgery.
Design:
* People having surgery for primary liver tumors at the Mount Sinai Medical Center will be screened for this study.
* At the initial visit, blood, rectal swabs, urine, and stool will be collected. Participants will answer questions about their medical condition.
* Before surgery, blood, rectal swabs, urine, and stool will be collected. This will be done at a routine visit.
* When they have surgery, a piece of liver tissue with the tumor will be collected. This will be sent to the National Cancer Institute for tests.
* After surgery, blood, rectal swabs, urine, and stool will be collected 3 times. This will be done at routine visits.
Project description:Exploring differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) in plasma sample between lung adenocarcinoma patients and healthy people using a small RNA (sRNA) sequencing,results showed that we could used these DEmiRNAs identified could discriminate healthy peoples from lung adenocarcinoma patients. In present study, we applied an RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) approach to explore the differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) in plasma sample between 6 lung adenocarcinoma patients and 4 healthy people.
Project description:Understanding gene expression by bacteria during the actual course of human infection may provide important insights into microbial pathogenesis. In this study, we evaluated the transcriptional profile of Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, in clinical specimens from cholera patients. We collected samples of human stool and vomitus that were positive by dark-field microscopy for abundant vibrios and used a microarray to compare gene expression in organisms recovered directly from the early and late stages of human infection. Our results reveal that V. cholerae gene expression within the human host environment differs from patterns defined in in vitro models of pathogenesis. tcpA, the major subunit of the essential V. cholerae colonization factor, was significantly more highly expressed in early compared with late infection; however, the genes encoding cholera toxin were not highly expressed in either phase of human infection. Furthermore, expression of the virulence regulators, toxRS and tcpPH, was uncoupled. Interestingly, the pattern of gene expression indicates that the human upper intestine may be a uniquely suitable environment for the transfer of genetic elements that are important in the evolution of pathogenic strains of V. cholerae. These findings provide a more detailed assessment of the transcriptome of V. cholerae in the human host than previous studies of organisms in stool alone and have implications for cholera control and the design of improved vaccines. The V. cholerae microarray consists of 3,890 full-length PCR products representing the annotated open reading frames from the initial release of the V. cholerae N16961 genome. Each labeling and hybridization was performed in duplicate. Genomic DNA was used as a universal internal control for the quality of the microarray and to allow for the comparison of results across multiple experiments. Data were normalized using locally-weighted regression (Lowess) to obtain the relative abundance of each transcript as an intensity ratio with respect to that of genomic DNA. High correlation coefficients were observed between technical replicates (Pearsonâs correlation coefficient (r) > 0.80) and between results of separate clinical specimens of vomitus (r > 0.77) and of stool (r > 0.80). Hence, the results from the two clinical vomitus specimens and the five clinical stool specimens were pooled. Fold changes for the relative expression of a given gene between the two clinical specimens were calculated by dividing the normalized median intensity ratios with respect to genomic DNA.
Project description:The genetics, social, cultural and environmental factors pose a great challenge for the diagnosis and treatment of coronary heart disease among different racial groups. We aimed to identify the differentially expressed genes involved in coronary heart disease in Chinese Han people as an aid for screening and diagnosing coronary heart disease. We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression to identify the differentially gene between the patients with coronary heart disease and healthy people in Chinese Han people Three patients with coronary heart disease and three healthy people in Chinese Han people were recruited,total RNA of each samples were extracted from peripheral blood to hybridize with Affymetrix microarrays.
Project description:Understanding gene expression by bacteria during the actual course of human infection may provide important insights into microbial pathogenesis. In this study, we evaluated the transcriptional profile of Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, in clinical specimens from cholera patients. We collected samples of human stool and vomitus that were positive by dark-field microscopy for abundant vibrios and used a microarray to compare gene expression in organisms recovered directly from the early and late stages of human infection. Our results reveal that V. cholerae gene expression within the human host environment differs from patterns defined in in vitro models of pathogenesis. tcpA, the major subunit of the essential V. cholerae colonization factor, was significantly more highly expressed in early compared with late infection; however, the genes encoding cholera toxin were not highly expressed in either phase of human infection. Furthermore, expression of the virulence regulators, toxRS and tcpPH, was uncoupled. Interestingly, the pattern of gene expression indicates that the human upper intestine may be a uniquely suitable environment for the transfer of genetic elements that are important in the evolution of pathogenic strains of V. cholerae. These findings provide a more detailed assessment of the transcriptome of V. cholerae in the human host than previous studies of organisms in stool alone and have implications for cholera control and the design of improved vaccines. Keywords: comparative gene expression analysis
Project description:Immune activation in people living with HIV on anti-retroviral therapy is associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. To identify whether perturbation of immunological pathways persist at systems level, we compared genome-wide whole blood transcriptomes from 26 people living with HIV on long-term anti-retroviral therapy with 12 HIV-negative healthy controls. All participants were Caucasian male adults recruited from London, UK. People living with HIV were on anti-retroviral therapy for a median of 8.5 years (interquartile range 3-16 years). They had undetectable plasma HIV viral load (<40 copies/ml) and median circulating CD4 counts of 703 cells/µl (interquartile range 491-841 cells/µl).