Project description:Whole-genome expression studies in peripheral tissues of patients affected by schizophrenia (SCZ) can provide new insights into the molecular basis of the disorder and innovative biomarkers that may be of great usefulness in the clinical practice. Recent evidence suggests that skin fibroblasts could represent a non-neural peripheral model useful to investigate molecular alterations in psychiatric disorders. A microarray expression study was conducted comparing transcriptomic profiles of skin fibroblasts from SCZ patients and controls. Fibroblasts can be more advantageous to discover mental disorder aetiological mechanisms since they seem more similar to neurons and less affected by the environmental confounders. Transcriptomic profiles of human skin fibroblasts obtained from 20 schizophrenia patients were compared to 20 controls
Project description:Whole-genome expression studies in peripheral tissues of patients affected by schizophrenia (SCZ) can provide new insights into the molecular basis of the disorder and innovative biomarkers that may be of great usefulness in the clinical practice. Recent evidence suggests that skin fibroblasts could represent a non-neural peripheral model useful to investigate molecular alterations in psychiatric disorders. A microarray expression study was conducted comparing transcriptomic profiles of skin fibroblasts from SCZ patients and controls. Fibroblasts can be more advantageous to discover mental disorder aetiological mechanisms since they seem more similar to neurons and less affected by the environmental confounders.
Project description:Although not an affected cell type, skin fibroblasts from individuals with childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CCALD), an early onset X-linked neurological disorder, show defects in very long chain fatty acid (VLCFA) metabolism that provide the basis for clinical diagnostic tests. We report the gene expression profiles of fibroblasts from childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy patients and healthy controls
Project description:Although not an affected cell type, skin fibroblasts from individuals with CC-ALD, an early onset X-linked neurological disorder, show defects in very long chain fatty acid (VLCFA) metabolism that provide the basis for clinical diagnostic tests. Skin fibroblasts from CC-ALD patients can be reprogrammed into iPS cells with all the hallmark properties of pluripotency. The iPS cell phenotypes may reflect the tissue-specificity of the lipid metabolic defects found in CC-ALD patients. We report the gene expression profiles of fibroblasts and fibroblast-reprogrammed iPSCs from childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy patients and healthy controls
Project description:Skin fibroblasts from individuals with PBD-ZSD, a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by peroxisome assembly defects, show defects in lipid metabolism that provide the basis for clinical diagnostic tests, but are not among the cell types most affected by disease. To explore phenotypes of more clinically relevant cell types, skin fibroblasts from PBD-ZSD patients and healthy controls were reprogrammed into iPS cells with all the hallmark properties of pluripotency. Subsequently, iPSCs were differentiated into ASGPR-positive hepatocyte-like cells that were subject to flow cytometry and subject to gene expression profiling. We report the gene expression profiles of hepatocyte-like cells derived from iPSCs that were themselves derived from skin fibroblasts from PBD-ZSD patient donors and healthy controls.
Project description:Although not an affected cell type, skin fibroblasts from individuals with CC-ALD, an early onset X-linked neurological disorder, show defects in very long chain fatty acid (VLCFA) metabolism that provide the basis for clinical diagnostic tests. Skin fibroblasts from CC-ALD patients can be reprogrammed into iPS cells with all the hallmark properties of pluripotency. The iPS cell phenotypes may reflect the tissue-specificity of the lipid metabolic defects found in CC-ALD patients. We report the gene expression profiles of fibroblasts and fibroblast-reprogrammed iPSCs from childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy patients and healthy controls Dermal fibroblast cultures from 2 CCALD patients and 3 healthy controls were reprogrammed into iPSCs by transfection with retroviruses desinged to express the human OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and c-MYC cDNA. Fibroblasts and iPSCs were cultured in 1:1 ratio of DMEM/F12 medium supplemented with 20% KSR at 37°C with 5% CO2 until confluence for RNA extraction. The overall goal was to identify genes that are differentially expressed between CCALD patients and healthy controls.
Project description:Although not an affected cell type, skin fibroblasts from individuals with childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CCALD), an early onset X-linked neurological disorder, show defects in very long chain fatty acid (VLCFA) metabolism that provide the basis for clinical diagnostic tests. We report the gene expression profiles of fibroblasts from childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy patients and healthy controls Primary dermal fibroblast cultures from 5 CC-ALD patients and 5 healthy controls were cultured in DMEM medium supplemented with 10% FBS at 37°C with 5% CO2 until confluence for RNA extraction. The overall goal was to identify genes that are differentially expressed between CCALD patients and healthy controls
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of Homo sapiens inflammatory skin diseases (whole skin biospies): Psoriasis (Pso), vs Atopic Dermatitis (AD) vs Lichen planus (Li), vs Contact Eczema (KE), vs Healthy control (KO) In recent years, different genes and proteins have been highlighted as potential biomarkers for psoriasis, one of the most common inflammatory skin diseases worldwide. However, most of these markers are not psoriasis-specific but also found in other inflammatory disorders. We performed an unsupervised cluster analysis of gene expression profiles in 150 psoriasis patients and other inflammatory skin diseases (atopic dermatitis, lichen planus, contact eczema, and healthy controls). We identified a cluster of IL-17/TNFα-associated genes specifically expressed in psoriasis, among which IL-36γ was the most outstanding marker. In subsequent immunohistological analyses IL-36γ was confirmed to be expressed in psoriasis lesions only. IL-36γ peripheral blood serum levels were found to be closely associated with disease activity, and they decreased after anti-TNFα-treatment. Furthermore, IL-36γ immunohistochemistry was found to be a helpful marker in the histological differential diagnosis between psoriasis and eczema in diagnostically challenging cases. These features highlight IL-36γ as a valuable biomarker in psoriasis patients, both for diagnostic purposes and measurement of disease activity during the clinical course. Furthermore, IL-36γ might also provide a future drug target, due to its potential amplifier role in TNFα- and IL-17 pathways in psoriatic skin inflammation. In recent years, different genes and proteins have been highlighted as potential biomarkers for psoriasis, one of the most common inflammatory skin diseases worldwide. However, most of these markers are not psoriasis-specific but also found in other inflammatory disorders. We performed an unsupervised cluster analysis of gene expression profiles in 150 psoriasis patients and other inflammatory skin diseases (atopic dermatitis, lichen planus, contact eczema, and healthy controls). We identified a cluster of IL-17/TNFα-associated genes specifically expressed in psoriasis, among which IL-36γ was the most outstanding marker. In subsequent immunohistological analyses IL-36γ was confirmed to be expressed in psoriasis lesions only. IL-36γ peripheral blood serum levels were found to be closely associated with disease activity, and they decreased after anti-TNFα-treatment. Furthermore, IL-36γ immunohistochemistry was found to be a helpful marker in the histological differential diagnosis between psoriasis and eczema in diagnostically challenging cases. These features highlight IL-36γ as a valuable biomarker in psoriasis patients, both for diagnostic purposes and measurement of disease activity during the clinical course. Furthermore, IL-36γ might also provide a future drug target, due to its potential amplifier role in TNFα- and IL-17 pathways in psoriatic skin inflammation.