Project description:Aberrant activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 (mTORC1) is a common molecular event in a large variety of pathological settings, including genetic tumor syndromes, cancer, and obesity. However, the cell intrinsic consequences of mTORC1 activation remain poorly defined. Here, we identify global trancriptional changes in TSC1 and TSC2 null MEFs, which exhibit constitutive activation of mTORC1, compared to wild-type littermate control lines. A rapamycin time course is included to determine those changes that are dependent on mTORC1 signaling, revealing mTORC1 induced and repressed transcripts. In order to identify mTORC1-dependent transcriptional changes, we compared wild-type MEFs to both Tsc1-/- and Tsc2-/- MEFs following serum starvation, where mTORC1 signaling is off in wild-type cells and fully active in TSC-deficient cells. All cell lines were serum-starved for 24 h, and the Tsc1-/- and Tsc2-/- cells were treated with a time course of rapamycin prior to the isolation of mRNA for microarray analysis. Immortalized wild-type (Tsc2+/+ p53-/-), Tsc1-/- (p53+/+, 3T3-immortalized), and Tsc2-/- (p53-/-, derived from a littermate of the wild-type cell line) MEFs are the three cell lines used in this study and were derived in the laboratory of David J. Kwiatkowski (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA). Wild-type and null MEFs were grown to 70% confluence in 10 cm plates and were serum starved for 24 h in the presence of vehicle (DMSO) for 24 h or rapamycin (20 nM) for 2, 6, 12, or 24 h. All vehicle-treated samples (0 h time points) were plated in triplicate and all rapamycin time course samples were plated in duplicate. For each replicate, expression analysis was performed by hybridization to an Affymetrix Mouse 430_2 oligonucleotide microarray chip.
Project description:The study aimed to analyse the transcriptome of mouse cancer cells while in primary tumor, in circulation and after homing to metastatic site. The model used here is the 4T1 cancer cell orthotopic model. GFP-labeled 4T1 breast cancer cells were orthotopically implanted in the mammary pads of mice. In this mouse model for breast cancer, primary breast tumors emerge following injection of cancer cells in the breast pad of female mice and subsequently develop lung metastases with 100% penetrance. Circulating cancer cells (CCC) and cancer cells from the primary tumors (PCC) and metastatic lungs (MCC) were FACS purified and their transcriptome assayed by gene expression microarray. RNA was extracted from PCC, MCC, and CCC using RNeasy Plus Mini Kit (Qiagen) and submitted to the Molecular Genetics Core Facility at Children’s Hospital (Boston, MA). Microarray analysis was performed using Mouse Ref8 Gene Expression BeadChip (Illumina platform).
Project description:This study identified and compared the bacterial diversity and the antimicrobial resistance profile of clinically relevant isolates around a newly developed hospital and university precinct
Project description:A microarray analysis involving whole blood samples isolated from critically ill patients in the medical intensive care unit at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Four groups of intubated subjects undergoing mechanical ventilation were recruited for the study: those with sepsis alone (Sepsis), those with sepsis + ARDS (se/ARDS), those with SIRS (SIRS), and those whithout sepsis, SIRS, or ARDS (untreated). Blood was obtained from patients on the day of admission (day 0) and 7 days later. RNA was isolated from the whole blood samples and microarrays were prepared to determine differential gene expression between the four groups.
Project description:A microarray analysis involving whole blood samples isolated from critically ill patients in the medical intensive care unit at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Four groups of intubated subjects undergoing mechanical ventilation were recruited for the study: those with sepsis alone (Sepsis), those with sepsis + ARDS (se/ARDS), those with SIRS (SIRS), and those whithout sepsis, SIRS, or ARDS (untreated). Blood was obtained from patients on the day of admission (day 0) and 7 days later. RNA was isolated from the whole blood samples and microarrays were prepared to determine differential gene expression between the four groups. Total RNA obtained from whole blood samples of critically ill patients
Project description:Symptoms including pain and discomfort commonly present during ureteral stenting is not well understood. We investigated global changes in ureters at the transcriptional, translational, and functional levels while stents are indwelling and following removal and recovery using a porcine model. Polaris stents (6Fr, Boston Scientific, Natick, MA) were cystoscopically inserted with placement confirmed using fluoroscopy. For proteomics samples, ureters were stented for 14 days and recovered for 7 days and each pig was stented unilaterally so that the contralateral unstented kidney and ureter served as an internal control.
Project description:In normal skin, interactions between melanocytes and keratinocytes, and between melanocytes and the basal membrane are functionally relevant for maintenance of homeostasis and epidermal melanin unit whose deregulation may trigger a continuous proliferation of the melanocytes. In order to further elucidate the molecular events related to cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions in relation to the biology of melanomas, we analyzed the expression profile of 64 human melanomas, 21 primary samples and 43 independent metastasis. Tissue samples melanomas were obtained at Hospital A. C. Camargo. All patients signed an informed consent and the study was approved by our internal ethics committee. Tissue samples obtained by surgery were snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and biopsy samples were collected in RNAlaterTM (Ambion, Austin, TX). Non-tumor areas were removed by handy dissection and only samples represented by at least 70% of tumors cells within their natural stroma were selected for RNA extraction. Total RNA was extracted using RNeasy Midi-Kit® and amplified by a T7-based protocol. An indirect cDNA-labeling was performed as described by Cox et al. (2004). We used dual-label system in which two RNA samples (test and reference) were separately reverse-transcribed, labeled, mixed, and hybridized together to each array. Each sample was hybridized in duplicate, with dye swap between sample and reference. As reference RNA we used a pool of equal amounts of total RNA from 5 human cutaneous melanoma cell lines (SK-MEL 05; 17; 28; 37 and 188, kindly provided by Dr. Alan Houghton, MSKCC, New York, NY, USA). We used glass arrays containing 4.800 cDNA sequences (Brentani et al. 2003) were prepared in our lab with the aid of the Flexys robot17 (Genomic Solutions, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom). The list of immobilized genes can be obtained at GEO, accession number GPL1930. Pre-hybridization, hybridization and washing were performed as previously described (Gomes et al. 2003; 2005), and slides were scanned on a laser scanner (ScanArray Express, PerkinElmer Life Sciences, Boston, MA). Data were extracted with ScanArray Express software (PerkinElmer Life Sciences, Boston, MA) using the histogram method.