Project description:PURPOSE Corneal infections are a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness worldwide. Here we applied high-resolution transcriptomic profiling to assess the general and pathogen-specific molecular and cellular mechanisms during human corneal infection. METHODS Clinical diagnoses of herpes simplex virus (HSV) (n=5) and bacterial/fungal (n=5) keratitis were confirmed by histology. Healthy corneas (n=7) and keratoconus (n=4) samples served as controls. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) human corneal specimens were analyzed using the 3' RNA sequencing method Massive Analysis of cDNA Ends (MACE RNA-seq). The cellular host response was investigated using comprehensive bioinformatic deconvolution (xCell) analyses and by integration with single cell RNA-seq data. RESULTS Our analysis identified 216 and 561 genes, that were specifically overexpressed in viral or bacterial/fungal keratitis, respectively, and allowed to distinguish the two etiologies. The virus-specific host response was driven by adaptive immunity and associated molecular signaling pathways, whereas the bacterial/fungal-specific host response mainly involved innate immunity signaling pathways and cell types. We identified several molecular mechanisms involved in the host response to infectious keratitis, including CXCL9, CXCR3, and MMP9 for viral, and S100A8/A9, MMP9, and the IL17 pathway for bacterial/fungal keratitis. CONCLUSIONS High-resolution molecular profiling provides new insights into the human corneal host response to viral and bacterial/fungal infection. Pathogen-specific molecular profiles may provide the foundation for novel diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic approaches that target inflammation-induced damage to corneal host cells with the goal to improve the outcome of infectious keratitis.
Project description:Morphine and its pharmacological derivatives are the most prescribed analgesics for moderate to severe pain management. However, chronic use of morphine reduces pathogen clearance and induces bacterial translocation across the gut barrier. The enteric microbiome has been shown to play a critical role in the preservation of the mucosal barrier function and metabolic homeostasis. Here, we show for the first time, using bacterial 16s rDNA sequencing, that chronic morphine treatment significantly alters the gut microbial composition and induces preferential expansion of the gram-positive pathogenic and reduction of bile-deconjugating bacterial strains. A significant reduction in both primary and secondary bile acid levels was seen in the gut, but not in the liver with morphine treatment. Morphine induced microbial dysbiosis and gut barrier disruption was rescued by transplanting placebo-treated microbiota into morphine-treated animals, indicating that microbiome modulation could be exploited as a therapeutic strategy for patients using morphine for pain management. In this study, we establish a link between the two phenomena, namely gut barrier compromise and dysregulated bile acid metabolism. We show for the first time that morphine fosters significant gut microbial dysbiosis and disrupts cholesterol/bile acid metabolism. Changes in the gut microbial composition is strongly correlated to disruption in host inflammatory homeostasis13,14 and in many diseases (e.g. cancer/HIV infection), persistent inflammation is known to aid and promote the progression of the primary morbidity. We show here that chronic morphine, gut microbial dysbiosis, disruption of cholesterol/bile acid metabolism and gut inflammation; have a linear correlation. This opens up the prospect of devising minimally invasive adjunct treatment strategies involving microbiome and bile acid modulation and thus bringing down morphine-mediated inflammation in the host.
Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, stable non-coding RNA molecules with regulatory function and marked tissue specificity that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression, however their role in fungal keratitis remain unknown. Our purpose was to identify the miRNAs in human cornea from fungal keratitis patients and understand their key role in regulation of pathogenesis. Corneal samples from normal cadaver (n=3) and fungal keratitis (n=5) patients were pooled separately and total RNA was extracted. Deep sequencing was done using Illumina HiSeq1000 platform to identify miRNA profile. We identified seventy five differentially expressed miRNAs in fungal keratitis corneas. Select miRNAs were validated by real-time RT-PCR (Q-PCR). We predicted their role in regulating target genes in several pathways by combining miRNA target genes and pathway analysis, and mRNA expression of select target genes were further analysed by Q-PCR. MiR-21-5p, miR-223-3p, miR-146b-5p, miR-155-5p, miR-511-5p were found to be involved in inflammatory and immune responses, regulating Toll like receptor signaling pathways, which is of particular interest. MiR-451a with an increased expression in keratitis may have a role in wound healing by targeting Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF). Further, we highlighted that Neurotrophin signaling pathway may play a role in wound healing process. One novel miRNA was also detected in cornea. In conclusion, several miRNAs with high expression in fungal keratitis corneas point towards their role in regulation of pathogenesis. Further insights in understanding miRNAs role in wound healing and inflammation may help design new therapeutic strategies. Control and fungal keratitis, human corneal miRNA profiles were generated using IlluminaHiseq1000 platform
Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, stable non-coding RNA molecules with regulatory function and marked tissue specificity that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression, however their role in fungal keratitis remain unknown. Our purpose was to identify the miRNAs in human cornea from fungal keratitis patients and understand their key role in regulation of pathogenesis. Corneal samples from normal cadaver (n=3) and fungal keratitis (n=5) patients were pooled separately and total RNA was extracted. Deep sequencing was done using Illumina HiSeq1000 platform to identify miRNA profile. We identified seventy five differentially expressed miRNAs in fungal keratitis corneas. Select miRNAs were validated by real-time RT-PCR (Q-PCR). We predicted their role in regulating target genes in several pathways by combining miRNA target genes and pathway analysis, and mRNA expression of select target genes were further analysed by Q-PCR. MiR-21-5p, miR-223-3p, miR-146b-5p, miR-155-5p, miR-511-5p were found to be involved in inflammatory and immune responses, regulating Toll like receptor signaling pathways, which is of particular interest. MiR-451a with an increased expression in keratitis may have a role in wound healing by targeting Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF). Further, we highlighted that Neurotrophin signaling pathway may play a role in wound healing process. One novel miRNA was also detected in cornea. In conclusion, several miRNAs with high expression in fungal keratitis corneas point towards their role in regulation of pathogenesis. Further insights in understanding miRNAs role in wound healing and inflammation may help design new therapeutic strategies.
Project description:Microbial keratitis is a major cause of blindness worldwide. An excessive host inflammatory response can occur even after adequate antimicrobial treatment. This results in tissue damage with corneal thinning and even perforation, which may require corneal transplantation. In this study we investigated the pathways involved in the pathophysiology of this disease by comparing the human transcriptome profile of tissue from culture-proven bacterial and fungal keratitis (n=7 and n=8 respectively) with normal non-infected cadaveric corneal tissue (C, n=12) using Illumina HT12 v4 microarrays. The causative organisms were Streptococcus pneumoniae (n=6) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=1) for bacterial keratitis (BK). Fungal keratitis (FK) was caused by Fusarium sp. (n=5), Aspergillus sp. (n=2, A. flavus and terreus) and Lasiodiplodia sp. (n=1). Differential expression (DE) analysis revealed 2310 significantly altered probes in the BK v C comparison, and 1813 probes for FK v C. The most highly upregulated gene in both comparisons was MMP9 with fold changes (FC) of 64 (fdr-adjusted p<6 x10-11) for FK v C and 89 for BK v C (fdr-adjusted p<4 x10-11) respectively. Network co-expression analyses revealed the defense response, inflammatory response and extracellular matrix mechanisms to be the main functional pathways involved. Microarray results were validated by performing real-time quantitative PCR (RTqPCR) for 46 DE genes using RNA extracted from the same samples. There was a high correlation between log2 FC values from microarray and RTqPCR. Further studies are needed to evaluate the most highly differentially expressed genes as possible biomarkers of disease progression or therapeutic targets. Case - control study design. Corneal ulcer tissue from 8 bacterial and 9 fungal ulcers was excised at the time of corneal transplantation surgery and immediately preserved in RNALater. Non-infected corneal tissue from 13 cadaver corneas were the control tissue. Transcriptome profile generated using Illumina HT12 v4 beadchips. Differential expression analysis was performed with pairwise comparisons: bacterial ulcers versus controls, fungal ulcers versus controls and bacterial versus fungal ulcers. Microarray results validated with RTqPCR.
Project description:Significant gut microbiota heterogeneity exists amongst UC patients though the clinical implications of this variance are unknown. European and South Asian UC patients exhibit distinct disease risk alleles, many of which regulate immune function and relate to variation in gut microbiota β-diversity. We hypothesized ethnically distinct UC patients exhibit discrete gut microbiotas with unique luminal metabolic programming that influence adaptive immune responses and relate to clinical status. Using parallel bacterial 16S rRNA and fungal ITS2 sequencing of fecal samples (UC n=30; healthy n=13), we corroborated previous observations of UC-associated depletion of bacterial diversity and demonstrated significant gastrointestinal expansion of Saccharomycetales as a novel UC characteristic. We identified four distinct microbial community states (MCS 1-4), confirmed their existence using microbiota data from an independent UC cohort, and show they co-associate with patient ethnicity and degree of disease severity. Each MCS was predicted to be uniquely enriched for specific amino acid, carbohydrate, and lipid metabolism pathways and exhibited significant luminal enrichment of metabolic products from these pathways. Using a novel in vitro human DC/T-cell assay we show that DC exposure to patient fecal water led to MCS -specific changes in T-cell populations, particularly the Th1:Th2 ratio, and that patients with the most severe disease exhibited the greatest Th2 skewing. Thus, based on ethnicity, microbiome composition, and associated metabolic dysfunction, UC patients may be stratified in a clinically and immunologically meaningful manner, providing a platform for the development of FMC-focused therapy. Fecal microbiome was assessed with Affymetrix PhyloChip arrays from patients with ulcerative colitis and healthy controls.
Project description:The gut microbiome is significantly altered in inflammatory bowel diseases, but the basis of these changes is not well understood. We have combined metagenomic and metatranscriptomic profiling of the gut microbiome to assess changes to both bacterial community structure and transcriptional activity in a mouse model of colitis. Gene families involved in microbial resistance to oxidative stress, including Dps/ferritin, Fe-dependent peroxidase and glutathione S-transferase, were transcriptionally up-regulated in colitis, implicating a role for increased oxygen tension in gut microbiota modulation. Transcriptional profiling of the host gut tissue and host RNA in the gut lumen revealed a marked increase in the transcription of genes with an activated macrophage and granulocyte signature, suggesting the involvement of these cell types in influencing microbial gene expression. Down-regulation of host glycosylation genes further supports a role for inflammation-driven changes to the gut niche that may impact the microbiome. We propose that members of the bacterial community react to inflammation-associated increased oxygen tension by inducing genes involved in oxidative stress resistance. Furthermore, correlated transcriptional responses between host glycosylation and bacterial glycan utilisation support a role for altered usage of host-derived carbohydrates in colitis. Complementary transcription profiling data from the mouse hosts have also been deposited at ArrayExpress under accession number E-MTAB-3590 ( http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress/experiments/E-MTAB-3590/ ).
Project description:Aging is associated with declining immunity and inflammation as well as alterations in the gut microbiome with a decrease of beneficial microbes and increase in pathogenic ones. The aim of this study was to investigate aging associated gut microbiome in relation to immunologic and metabolic profile in a non-human primate (NHP) model. 12 old (age>18 years) and 4 young (age 3-6 years) Rhesus macaques were included in this study. Immune cell subsets were characterized in PBMC by flow cytometry and plasma cytokines levels were determined by bead based multiplex cytokine analysis. Stool samples were collected by ileal loop and investigated for microbiome analysis by shotgun metagenomics. Serum, gut microbial lysate and microbe-free fecal extract were subjected to metabolomic analysis by mass-spectrometry. Our results showed that the old animals exhibited higher inflammatory biomarkers in plasma and lower CD4 T cells with altered distribution of naïve and memory T cell maturation subsets. The gut microbiome in old animals had higher abundance of Archaeal and Proteobacterial species and lower Firmicutes than the young. Significant enrichment of metabolites that contribute to inflammatory and cytotoxic pathways was observed in serum and feces of old animals compared to the young. We conclude that aging NHP undergo immunosenescence and age associated alterations in the gut microbiome that has a distinct metabolic profile.