Project description:We produced an extensive transcript catalog for LCLs of 5 primate species by leveraging isoform sequencing and short-read RNA-seq. The curated transcriptomes were used to assist mass spectrometry protein identifications.
Project description:With improved whole-cell isolation protocols, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and profiled the transcriptomes from adult non-human primate brain. We identified discriminative cell populations with canonical and novel markers. Cross-species projection demonstrated the evolutionary conservation among mouse, monkey, and human. This dataset serves as a detailed transcriptomic atlas for understanding the adult primate central nervous system.
Project description:Embryonic development is largely conserved among mammals. However, certain genes show divergent functions. By generating a transcriptional atlas containing >30,000 cells from post-implantation non-human primate embryos, we uncover that ISL1, a gene with a well-established role in cardiogenesis, controls a gene regulatory network in primate amnion. CRISPR/Cas9-targeting of ISL1 results in non-human primate embryos which do not yield viable offspring, demonstrating that ISL1 is critically required in primate embryogenesis. On a cellular level, mutant ISL1 embryos display a failure in mesoderm formation due to reduced BMP4 signaling from the amnion. Via loss of function and rescue studies in human embryonic stem cells we confirm a similar role of ISL1 in human in vitro derived amnion. This study highlights the importance of the amnion as a signaling center during primate mesoderm formation and demonstrates the potential of in vitro primate model systems to dissect the genetics of early human embryonic development.
Project description:Key to the human brain’s unique capacities are a myriad of neural cell types, specialized molecular expression signatures, and complex patterns of neuronal connectivity. Neurons in the human brain communicate via well over a quadrillion synapses. Their specific contribution might be key to the dynamic activity patterns that underlie primate-specific cognitive function. Recently, functional differences were described in transmission capabilities of human and rat synapses. To test whether unique expression signatures of synaptic proteins are at the basis of this, we performed a quantitative analysis of the hippocampal synaptic proteome of four mammalian species, two primates, human and marmoset, and two rodents, rat and mouse. Abundance differences down to 1.15-fold at an FDR-corrected p-value of 0.005 were reliably detected using SWATH mass spectrometry. The high measurement accuracy of SWATH allowed the detection of a large group of differentially expressed proteins between individual species and rodent versus primate. Differentially expressed proteins between rodent and primate were found highly enriched for plasticity-related proteins.
Project description:DNA methylation data from several primate species profiled on the mammalian methylation array (HorvathMammalMethylChip40) which focuses on highly conserved CpGs across mammalian species. We selected a total of 91 samples from animals representing 26 strepsirrhine species, in most cases, the entire lifespan, from immature (infant or juvenile) to senile stages: 68 samples from peripheral blood, 23 samples from skin Blood and skin samples from many different primates. We profiled the following species: Cheirogaleus medius (Fat-tailed dwarf lemur), Daubentonia madagascariensis (Aye-aye), Eulemur albifrons (White-headed lemur), Eulemur collaris (Collared brown lemur), Eulemur coronatus (Crowned lemur), Eulemur flavifrons (Blue-eyed black lemur), Eulemur fulvus (Brown lemur), Eulemur macaco (Black lemur), Eulemur mongoz (Mongoose lemur), Eulemur rubriventer (Red-bellied lemur), Eulemur rufus (Red-fronted lemur), Eulemur sanfordi (Sanford's brown lemur), Galago moholi (South African galago), Hapalemur griseus (Bamboo lemur), Lemur catta (Ring-tailed lemur), Loris tardigradus (Slender loris), Microcebus murinus (Gray mouse lemur), Mirza zaza (Northern giant mouse lemur), Nycticebus coucang (Slow loris), Otolemur crassicaudatus (Greater galago), Perodicticus potto (Potto), Propithecus diadema (Diademed sifaka), Propithecus tattersalli (Golden-crowned sifaka), Varecia rubra (Red ruffed lemur). Peripheral blood was collected through venipuncture with standard procedures, either during a routine veterinary procedure or at time of necropsy. Skin tissues were collected during necropsies.
Project description:Alternative splicing (AS) influences the expression of human genes in diverse ways. We previously used subcellular fraction-sequencing (Frac-Seq) to reveal an unexpected connection between alternative splicing and isoform-specific mRNA translation. Here we apply comparative transcriptomics to explore alternative splicing coupled translational control (AS-TC) across 13 million years of primate evolution. We used Frac-seq to identify polyribosome associated mRNA isoforms from human, chimpanzee and orangutan induced pluripotent stem cell lines. We discovered orthologous AS-TC events with either conserved or species-specific translation patterns. Exons sequences associated with similar sedimentation profiles between species show strong sequence conservation compared to orthologous exons with divergent sedimentation profiles, suggesting exonic cis-regulatory elements influence to translational control. To test this hypothesis we created luciferase reporters from orthologous exons with divergent sedimentation profiles differing by a single nucleotide. Remarkably, single nucleotide substitutions were sufficient to drive species-specific expression of luciferase reporters. Together these data establish that cis-acting elements regulate AS-TC across primate species.
Project description:The domestic ferret has recently been described as a uniformly lethal model of infection for three species of Ebolavirus known to be pathogenic to humans. Reagents to systematically analyze the ferret host response to infection are lacking; however, the recent publication of a draft ferret genome has opened the potential for transcriptional analysis of ferret models of disease. In this work, we present comparative analysis of longitudinally sampled blood taken from ferrets and non-human primates infected with lethal doses of the Makona strain of Zaire ebolavirus. Strong induction of proinflammatory and prothrombotic signaling programs were present in both ferrets and non-human primates and both transcriptomes were similar to previously published datasets of fatal cases of human Ebola virus infection.
Project description:A NanoString targeted gene panel was used to elucidate the transcriptomic changes occurring in non-human primate whole blood during Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus infection.