Project description:Here, we performed label-free liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to profile the normal human proteome. In total, we analyzed 117 samples from 46 histologically normal tissues and organs at autopsy. Our high-resolution MS approach allowed for the quantification of 10,438 unique proteins. In order to expand our coverage of the human proteome, we combined our previously published biological fluid proteomic data from healthy individuals. We considered data from seven biological fluids, including urine, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, seminal plasma, sweat, cervical vaginal fluid, and nipple aspirate fluid. Overall, we generated tandem mass spectra corresponding to 13,028 unique human protein-coding genes.
Project description:Gut microbiome research is rapidly moving towards the functional characterization of the microbiota by means of shotgun meta-omics. Here, we selected a cohort of healthy subjects from an indigenous and monitored Sardinian population to analyze their gut microbiota using both shotgun metagenomics and shotgun metaproteomics. We found a considerable divergence between genetic potential and functional activity of the human healthy gut microbiota, in spite of a quite comparable taxonomic structure revealed by the two approaches. Investigation of inter-individual variability of taxonomic features revealed Bacteroides and Akkermansia as remarkably conserved and variable in abundance within the population, respectively. Firmicutes-driven butyrogenesis (mainly due to Faecalibacterium spp.) was shown to be the functional activity with the higher expression rate and the lower inter-individual variability in the study cohort, highlighting the key importance of the biosynthesis of this microbial by-product for the gut homeostasis. The taxon-specific contribution to functional activities and metabolic tasks was also examined, giving insights into the peculiar role of several gut microbiota members in carbohydrate metabolism (including polysaccharide degradation, glycan transport, glycolysis and short-chain fatty acid production). In conclusion, our results provide useful indications regarding the main functions actively exerted by the gut microbiota members of a healthy human cohort, and support metaproteomics as a valuable approach to investigate the functional role of the gut microbiota in health and disease.
Project description:Importance: Monocytes are plastic cells that assume different polarization states that can either promote inflammation or tissue repair and inflammation resolution. Polarized monocytes are partially defined by their transcriptional profiles that are influenced by environmental stimuli. The airway monocyte response in pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS) is undefined. Objectives: To identify differentially expressed genes and networks using a novel transcriptomic reporter assay with donor monocytes exposed to the airway fluid of intubated children with and at-risk for PARDS. To determine differences in gene expression at two time points using the donor monocyte assay exposed to airway fluid from intubated children with PARDS obtained 48-96 hours following initial tracheal aspirate sampling. Design, Setting and Participants: In vitro pilot study carried out using airway fluid supernatant from 57 children: 44 children with PARDS and 13 children at-risk for PARDS. Main Outcomes and Measures: We performed bulk RNA sequencing using a transcriptomic reporter assay of monocytes exposed to airway fluid from intubated children to discover gene networks differentiating PARDS from at-risk for PARDS. We also report differences in gene expression in children with PARDS 48-96 hours following initial tracheal aspirate sampling. Results: We found that interleukin (IL)-10, -4, and -13, cytokine/chemokine signaling, and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype are upregulated in monocytes exposed to airway fluid from intubated children with PARDS compared to those at-risk for PARDS. Signaling by NOTCH, histone deacetylation/acetylation, DNA methylation, chromatin modifications (B-WICH complex), and RNA polymerase I transcription and its associated regulatory apparatus were upregulation in children with PARDS 48-96 hours following initial tracheal aspirate sampling. Conclusions and Relevance: We identified gene networks important to the PARDS airway immune response using bulk RNA sequencing from a monocyte reporter assay that exposed monocytes to airway fluid from intubated children with and at-risk for PARDS. Mechanistic investigations are needed to validate our findings.
Project description:We performed global proteomics of premature infant tracheal aspirate (TA) and plasma to determine the composition and source of lung fluid proteins and to identify potential biomarkers of respiratory outcome