Project description:Purpose: Anti-angiogenic treatment is well established in the management of exudative AMD, but not sufficient in all patients. Characterization of factors driving this chronic disease could serve to identify additional treatment options. The purpose of this study was to assess gene expression patterns and distinct changes in cells derived from surgically extracted CNV (chorioidal neovascularization) membranes. Materials and Methods: Expression of >11.000 genes was analyzed by means of a microarray in cells cultured from two late-stage CNV membranes, compared to primary human RPE and ARPE-19 cells. A pathway analysis was performed to identify gene expression patterns associated with exudative AMD. Results: The analysis revealed significant alterations in gene sets associated with inflammatory processes in CNV-derived cells, involving up-regulation of pro-inflammatory factors IL6, C3, and C5 and downregulation of anti-inflammatory CFB and CFI. Factors associated with angiogenesis, such as VEGFA or ANGPT2, were not significantly regulated in the two RPE-derived cell lines. Conclusion: In late-stage CNV membrane-derived RPE, gene expression was shifted towards a pro-inflammatory state. Angiogenesis-associated factors were regulated differently in the two CNV-derived RPE membranes. While inflammation seems to be continuously stimulated by RPE associated with late exudative AMD, this seems not the case with regard to angioregulatory mechanisms.
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.
Project description:Gene expression profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells with hTERT/E6/E7 transfected MSCs. hTERT may change gene expression in MSCs. Goal was to determine the gene expressions of immortalized MSCs.
Project description:Endothelial cell (EC) metabolism is an emerging target for anti-angiogenic therapy in tumor and choroidal neovascularization (CNV), but little is known about individual EC metabolic transcriptomes. Here, by scRNA-sequencing 28,337 murine choroidal ECs (CECs) and sprouting CNV-ECs, we constructed a taxonomy to characterize their heterogeneity. Comparison with murine lung tumor ECs (TECs) revealed congruent marker gene expression by distinct EC phenotypes across tissues and diseases, suggesting similar angiogenic mechanisms. Trajectory inference of CNV-ECs revealed that differentiation of venous to angiogenic ECs was accompanied by metabolic transcriptome plasticity. EC phenotypes displayed metabolic transcriptome heterogeneity. Hypothesizing that conserved genes are more important, we used an integrated analysis, based on congruent transcriptome analysis, CEC-tailored genome scale metabolic modeling, and gene expression meta-analysis in multiple cross-species datasets, followed by functional validation, to identify the top-ranking metabolic targets SQLE and ALDH18A1, involved in EC proliferation and collagen production, respectively, as novel angiogenic targets. The effect of SQLE and ALDH18A1 silencing in ECs was investigated by transcriptomics and proteomics analysis.
Project description:Analysis of ex vivo isolated lymphatic endothelial cells from the dermis of patients to define type 2 diabetes-induced changes. Results preveal aberrant dermal lymphangiogenesis and provide insight into its role in the pathogenesis of persistent skin inflammation in type 2 diabetes. The ex vivo dLEC transcriptome reveals a dramatic influence of the T2D environment on multiple molecular and cellular processes, mirroring the phenotypic changes seen in T2D affected skin. The positively and negatively correlated dLEC transcripts directly cohere to prolonged inflammatory periods and reduced infectious resistance of patients´ skin. Further, lymphatic vessels might be involved in tissue remodeling processes during T2D induced skin alterations associated with impaired wound healing and altered dermal architecture. Hence, dermal lymphatic vessels might be directly associated with T2D disease promotion. Global gene expression profile of normal dermal lymphatic endothelial cells (ndLECs) compared to dermal lymphatic endothelial cells derived from type 2 diabetic patients (dLECs).Quadruplicate biological samples were analyzed from human lymphatic endothelial cells (4 x diabetic; 4 x non-diabetic). subsets: 1 disease state set (dLECs), 1 control set (ndLECs)
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of human mesenchymal stem cells comparing normoxic MSCs cells with hypoxic MSCs cells. Hypoxia may inhibit senescence of MSCs during expansion. Goal was to determine the effects of hypoxia on global MSCs gene expression.