Project description:The microRNA (miRNA) dependent regulation of gene expression confers robustness to cellular phenotypes and controls responses to extracellular stimuli. Although a single miRNA can regulate expression of hundreds of target genes, it is unclear whether any of its distinct biological functions can be due to the regulation of a single target. To explore in vivo the function of a single miRNA-mRNA interaction, we mutated the 3' UTR of a major miR-155 target SOCS1 to specifically disrupt its regulation by miR-155. We found that under physiologic conditions and during autoimmune inflammation or viral infection some immunological functions of miR-155 were fully or largely attributable to the regulation of SOCS1, whereas others could be accounted only partially or not at all by this interaction. Our data suggest that the role of a single miRNA-mRNA interaction is cell type- and biological context-dependent. Naive WT, SOCS1KI and miR-155KO OVA-specific OT-1 TCR transgenic CD8+ T cells (1x10e4 per mouse) were adoptively transferred into CD45.1+ wt mice prior to infection with MCMV-OVA. WT, SOCS1KI and miR-155KO NK cells (2x10e5 per mouse) were adoptively transferred into CD45.1+ Klra8KO (Ly49H-deficient) mice prior to infection with MCMV. On d4 post infection, CD45.2+ CD44+ CD8+ OT-1 and CD45.2+ Ly49H+ NK1.1+ CD3- NK cells were FACS-sorted (BD FACS ARIA2). Each condition has 3 sequencing replicates.
Project description:The microRNA (miRNA) dependent regulation of gene expression confers robustness to cellular phenotypes and controls responses to extracellular stimuli. Although a single miRNA can regulate expression of hundreds of target genes, it is unclear whether any of its distinct biological functions can be due to the regulation of a single target. To explore in vivo the function of a single miRNA-mRNA interaction, we mutated the 3' UTR of a major miR-155 target SOCS1 to specifically disrupt its regulation by miR-155. We found that under physiologic conditions and during autoimmune inflammation or viral infection some immunological functions of miR-155 were fully or largely attributable to the regulation of SOCS1, whereas others could be accounted only partially or not at all by this interaction. Our data suggest that the role of a single miRNA-mRNA interaction is cell type- and biological context-dependent.
Project description:Tuberculosis results from an interaction between a chronically persistent pathogen counteracted by IFN-g-mediated immune responses. Modulation of IFN-g signaling could therefore constitute a major immune evasion mechanism for M. tuberculosis. SOCS1 plays a major role in the inhibition of IFN-g-mediated responses. We found that M. tuberculosis infection stimulates SOCS1 expression in mouse and human myeloid cells. Significantly higher levels of SOCS1 were induced after in vitro or in vivo infection with virulent M. tuberculosis-than with attenuated M. bovis BCG. Different innate and adaptive immune mechanisms participated in infection-induced SOCS1 expression. SOCS1 hampered M. tuberculosis clearance both in macrophages and during murine infection in vivo. On the other hand, SOCS1 protected the host from an infection-induced inflammation. Despite SOCS1 expression, mycobacteria-infected macrophages were not tolerant to IFN-g. Instead, an impaired IFN-g secretion by macrophages, associated to lower responses to IL-12, accounted for the increased mycobacterial intracellular growth in presence of SOCS1. SOCS1 attenuated the expression of the majority of genes modulated by infection of macrophages (6,1% of the transcriptome), indicating the relevance of the molecule in the outcome of infection with M. tuberculosis. We suggest that SOCS1 is expressed during M. tuberculosis infection to establish a successful chronic infection, and dampen inflammatory damage. Difference in genotype and TB infection comparison Relative gene expressions were determined by normalized intensity values. GeneSpring analysis was performed using the Treg transcriptome data with following comparisons: no GvHD d90 versus no GvHD d150, no GvHD d90 versus acute GvHD, no GvHD d150 versus chronic GvHD, acute GvHD versus chronic GvHD, acute GvHD versus GvHD d90 and chronic GvHD versus GvHD d150 (Figure 2). Cut-off was a transcript fold change of +2 or -2 in at least one comparison. Student´s t-test was used to identify significant expression changes.
Project description:This study aims to dissect gene-environment interactions on gene expression and regulation in immune cells using scRNA-seq data from 120 donors being stimulated with 3 pathogens, for 2 different timepoints. More specifically, we identified context- and cell-type-specific eQTLs and co-expression QTLs in PBMCs.
Project description:Tuberculosis results from an interaction between a chronically persistent pathogen counteracted by IFN-g-mediated immune responses. Modulation of IFN-g signaling could therefore constitute a major immune evasion mechanism for M. tuberculosis. SOCS1 plays a major role in the inhibition of IFN-g-mediated responses. We found that M. tuberculosis infection stimulates SOCS1 expression in mouse and human myeloid cells. Significantly higher levels of SOCS1 were induced after in vitro or in vivo infection with virulent M. tuberculosis-than with attenuated M. bovis BCG. Different innate and adaptive immune mechanisms participated in infection-induced SOCS1 expression. SOCS1 hampered M. tuberculosis clearance both in macrophages and during murine infection in vivo. On the other hand, SOCS1 protected the host from an infection-induced inflammation. Despite SOCS1 expression, mycobacteria-infected macrophages were not tolerant to IFN-g. Instead, an impaired IFN-g secretion by macrophages, associated to lower responses to IL-12, accounted for the increased mycobacterial intracellular growth in presence of SOCS1. SOCS1 attenuated the expression of the majority of genes modulated by infection of macrophages (6,1% of the transcriptome), indicating the relevance of the molecule in the outcome of infection with M. tuberculosis. We suggest that SOCS1 is expressed during M. tuberculosis infection to establish a successful chronic infection, and dampen inflammatory damage. Difference in genotype and TB infection comparison
Project description:Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 1 (SOCS1) functions as a tumor suppressor in hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating cytokine, growth factor and other signaling pathways. The tumor suppressor functions of SOCS1 are mediated partly via promoting ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of several signaling proteins. In this study, we used an unbiased approach to characterize SOCS1-mediated changes in the protein profile of hepatocytes. The murine HCC cell line Hepa1-6 transduced with wildtype SOCS1, an SH2 domain mutant or the empty lentiviral vector were grown in Stable Isotopic Labelling of Amino acids in Cell culture (SILAC) media. The cells were stimulated with hepatocyte growth factor or left at steady state. Following cell lysis, proteins were separated on SDS-PAGE gels and peptides extracted by in-gel trypsinization were analyzed by mass spectrometry. Differentially modulated proteins identified and quantified were subjected to pathway enrichment analysis. In total, 3440 proteins were identified in Hepa cells in the presence of SOCS1 at steady state, of which 181 proteins were significantly modulated by SOCS1. The SH2 domain mutation and HGF stimulation increased the number of differentially modulated proteins, which showed only a limited overlap with SOCS1-modulated proteins. Protein interaction network analysis revealed enrichment of SOCS1-modulated proteins within multiprotein complexes such as ubiquitin conjugating enzymes, proteasome, mRNA spliceosome, mRNA exosome and mitochondrial ribosome. Further analysis indicated SOCS1-dependent regulation of the UBE2D ubiquitin conjugating enzymes, which are implicated in growth factor receptor signaling, indirectly via an unknown protein. Given the ubiquitous and highly regulated induction of SOCS1 by diverse cellular stimuli, our findings suggest a fundamental role of SOCS1 in regulating large macromolecular complexes that are important for cellular homeostasis.
Project description:Gene regulation is highly cell type-specific and understanding the function of non-coding genetic variants associated with complex traits requires molecular phenotyping at cell type resolution. In this study we performed single nucleus ATAC-seq (snATAC-seq) and genotyping in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 13 individuals. We mapped chromatin accessibility QTLs (caQTLs) in each immune cell type and sub-type in a subset of 10 samples of European genetic ancestry.