Project description:Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder for which a definitive cure is still missing. This is characterized by an overwhelming inflammatory milieu in the colonic tract where a composite set of immune and non-immune cells orchestrate its pathogenesis. Over the last years, a growing body of evidence has been pinpointing gut virome dysbiosis as underlying its progression. Nonetheless, its role during the early phases of chronic inflammation is far from being fully defined. Here we show the gut virome-associated Hepatitis B virus protein X, most likely acquired after an event of zoonotic spillover, to be associated with the early stages of ulcerative colitis and to induce colonic inflammation in mice. It acts as a transcriptional regulator in epithelial cells, provoking barrier leakage and altering mucosal immunity at the level of both innate and adaptive immunity. This study paves the way to the comprehension of the aetiopathogenesis of intestinal inflammation and encourages further investigations of the virome as a trigger also in other scenarios. Moreover, it provides a brand-new standpoint that looks at the virome as a target for tailored treatments, blocking the early phases of chronic inflammation and possibly leading to better disease management.
Project description:This is a study to characterize gene expression profiles in stored Russet Burbank potato tubers. Tubers were harvested from commercial fields in the central sands region of Wisconsin in the fall of 2006. The tubers were put into storage at 55 degrees F for preconditioning and wound healing. Shortly after the temperature of the storage bin began to decrease, uniform, healthy tubers were selected for use in this microarray analysis. Tubers were at 53.6 degrees F at this time, and pieces of starch-storing tissue were collected for use as the reference sample. Other tubers were moved to temperature-controlled lockers and these were cooled gradually to either 48 or 40 degrees F following industry standard procedures. The expectation was that tubers held at 48 degrees would not have a significant accumulation of glucose and fructose, but that tubers cooled to 40 degrees would undergo low temperature sweetening and accumulate glucose and fructose to a degree that is unsuitable for processing. Three weeks later, when the locker temperatures were 48 degrees F and 41.5 degrees F, tissue samples were collected for RNA analysis. After another three weeks, samples were collected from tubers at 48 degrees F and 40 degrees F. At that time some tubers were moved from the 48 degree locker to the 40 degree locker in order to see if gene expression changes observed as a result of gradual cooling are similar to those that occur following a sudden decrease in temperature. Three weeks later, samples were collected from tubers held at 48 degrees F, tubers held at 40 degrees F, and from the tubers that were moved from 48 to 40 degrees F. At this time another set of tubers was transferred from 48 degrees to 40 degrees. Three weeks later the last samples were harvested from tubers held at 48 degrees F, from tubers held at 48 degrees F and from tubers that were transferred three weeks prior from 48 to 40 degrees. RNA was isolated from tissue extracted from three tubers. Keywords: Reference design
Project description:Mammals are co-infected by multiple pathogens that interact through unknown mechanisms. We found that helminth infection, characterized by the induction of the cytokine interleukin-4 (IL-4) and the activation of the transcription factor Stat6, reactivated murine gammaherpesvirus infection in vivo. IL-4 promoted viral replication and blocked the antiviral effects of interferon-g (IFNg) by inducing Stat6 binding to the promoter for an important viral transcriptional transactivator. IL-4 also reactivated human Kaposi's sarcoma associated herpesvirus from latency in cultured cells. Exogenous IL-4 plus blockade of IFNg reactivated latent murine gammaherpesvirus infection in vivo, suggesting a âtwo-signalâ model for viral reactivation. Thus chronic herpesvirus infection, a component of the mammalian virome, is regulated by the counterpoised actions of multiple cytokines on viral promoters that have evolved to sense host immune status. All of the RNA from virus-pos cells and 50 ng of RNA from virus-neg cells was prepared for RNA-seq using ScriptSeq v2 RNA-seq library preparation kit (Epicentre). Index Primers (Epicentre) were added and samples underwent Duplex-Specific thermostable nuclease (DSN) (Evrogen) treatment to remove ribosomal RNA. Samples were pooled and sequenced on HiSeq.
Project description:An efficient and accurate reconstruction of the full-length phage genomes by chimera-free long-read metagenomics of the human gut virome