Project description:We evaluated the applicability and usability of whole-genome methylomics of sputum samples in molecular profiling of chronic inflammatory lung diseases. Genomic DNA was purified from sputum samples of subjects with Asthma, COPD as well as healthy controls and analyzed on the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation 450k platform.
Project description:In addition to analyzing whole-genome methylation, we concomitantly evaluated sputum cell gene expression in the context of chronic inflammatory lung disease. Nucleic acids were purified from sputum samples of subjects with Asthma, COPD as well as healthy controls. Gene expression was analyzed on the Agilent Human GE 4x44k v2 platform.
Project description:Background: Macrophages are important cells in pathogenesis of obstructive lung diseases including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of the study was a multivariate, genetic, comparative analysis of macrophages from patients with asthma and COPD. Methods: Macrophages were isolated from induced sputum (IS) by magnetic bead separation. Transcriptomic measurements were carried out using Affymetrix Human Gene 2.1 ST ArrayStrip in 17 samples: 8 asthma (4 ICS naive , 4 ICS treated), 4 COPD and 5 control samples. The expression of the most significantly differentiating genes was evaluated by real time PCR in 34 samples (15 patients with asthma, 11 patients with COPD and 17 controls). Results: USP53 was the only gene differentially expressed (p adjusted clue =0.09) in the comparison between ICS naïve and ICS treated asthma. The PCR verification showed increased expression of BTF3, CDS2, DNAJC13, DDX5, GNAI2, SCGB1A1, SIRPB1, TRAF3IP, USP53, WDR49 in the asthma compared to COPD group. The changed gene expression profile of macrophages were characterized mostly by gene ontology terms linked with cell motility, cilium function, cell junction and adhesion organization. Conclusions: Gene expression profiling of sputum macrophages revealed distinct molecular capacity in asthma and COPD. The role of sputum macrophages in the pathophysiology of obstructive lung diseases is probably connected with biological processes associated with their motility, cilium dysfunction and cell junction organization.
Project description:Gene expression profiles were generated from induced sputum samples in asthma and healthy controls. The study identified differential gene expression and pathways in severe asthma.
Project description:This study identifies differentially expression genes in the sputum of people with eosinophilic, neutrophilic and paucigranulocytic asthma. A selection of markers identified using this microarray were further validated using qPCR on a wider sample set. Gene expression profiles were generated from induced sputum samples from 47 asthma patients and were grouped by the inflammatory phenotype assigned using sputum cell counts into neutrophilic asthma (n=12), eosinophilic asthma (n=17) and paucigranulocytic asthma (n=18). RNA was extracted, amplified and hybridised to Illumina Sentrix HumanRef-8 Version 2 Expression BeadChips, and genes that were differentially expressed between asthma inflammatory phenotypes were compared.
Project description:Background: MicroRNAs are potent regulators of biologic systems that are critical to tissue homeostasis. Individual microRNAs have been identified in airway samples. However, a systems analysis of the microRNA-mRNA networks present in the sputum that contribute to airway inflammation in asthma has not been published. Methods: We conducted a genome-wide analysis of microRNA and messenger RNA (mRNA) in the sputum from patients with asthma and correlated expression with clinical phenotypes. Weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA) was implemented to identify microRNA networks (modules) that significantly correlate with clinical features of asthma and mRNA expression networks. MicroRNA expression in peripheral blood neutrophils and lymphocytes, and in situ hybridization of the sputum were used to identify the cellular sources of microRNAs. MicroRNA expression obtained before and after ozone exposure was also used to identify changes associated with neutrophil counts in the airway. Results: Six microRNA modules were associated with clinical features of asthma. A single module (nely) was associated with a history of hospitalizations, lung function impairment, and numbers of neutrophils and lymphocytes in the sputum. Of the 12 microRNAs in the nely module, hsa-miR-223-3p was the highest expressed microRNA in neutrophils and was associated with increased neutrophil counts in the sputum in response to ozone exposure. Multiple microRNAs in the nely module correlated with two mRNA modules enriched for toll-like receptor (TLR) and Th17 signaling, and endoplasmic reticulum stress. Hsa-miR-223-3p was a key regulator of the TLR and Th17 pathways in the sputum of subjects with asthma. Conclusions: This study of sputum microRNA and mRNA expression from patients with asthma demonstrates the existence of microRNA networks and genes that are associated with features of asthma severity. Among these, hsa-miR-223-3p, a neutrophil-derived microRNA, regulates TLR/Th17 signaling and endoplasmic reticulum stress.
Project description:The role of eosinophilic inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) pathogenesis is unknown and is probably different than in asthma. The molecular processes underlying the differences between eosinophils from asthma and COPD have not been studied. The study group included 5 patients with asthma and 4 patients with COPD. The RNA-Seq data analysis identified 26 differentially expressed genes between COPD and asthma (according to adjusted p-value). In total, 6 genes were up-regulated (CCL3L1, CCL4L2, SERPINB2, PRSS21, GPR82) and 20 were down-regulated (e.g. JUN, IFITM3, DUSP1, GNG7, ZNF107, BCL6) in peripheral eosinophils of COPD patients compared to asthma. Biological processes associated with down-regulated genes were cell differentiation, positive regulation of RNA metabolic process. The genes associated with signaling of IL-4 and IL-13 pathway were down-regulated in COPD eosinophils compared to asthma. Peripheral eosinophils from COPD and asthma patients present different transcriptomic profiles suggesting their different function in pathobiology of both obstructive airway diseases.
Project description:Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most prevalent lung diseases, and involves persistent airflow limitation and incorporates both emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Cigarette smoking has been identified as the main risk factor for disease development and progression. In a basic model of COPD, the disease is initiated when the physiologic response mechanisms to cigarette smoke exposure are overwhelmed; for example, because of long-term exposure effects or other aging-related changes. In this parallel-group case-controlled clinical study we asked to what extent the different transitions in a chronic-exposure-to-disease model are reflected in the proteome and cellular transcriptome of induced sputum samples from the lung. For this, we selected 60 age- and gender-matched individuals for each of four study groups: current healthy smokers, current-smoker COPD patients, former smokers, and never smokers (a total of 240 individuals). Induced sputum was collected, the cell-free supernatant was analyzed by quantitative proteomics (isobaric-tag based), and the cellular mRNA fraction was analyzed by microarray-based expression profiling. The sputum proteome of current smokers (healthy or COPD patients) clearly reflected the common physiological responses to smoke exposure, including alterations in mucin/trefoil proteins (e.g., MUC5AC and TFF1/3up-regulation), peptidase regulators (e.g., TIMP1 up-regulation), and a prominent xenobiotic/oxidative stress response (e.g., NQO1 and ALDH3A1 up-regulation). The latter response also was observed in the sputum transcriptome, which additionally demonstrated an immune-related polarization change (toward a M2 signature). The (long-term) former smoker group showed nearly complete reversal of the observable biological effects. Thirteen differentially abundant proteins between the COPD and healthy smoker groups were identified. These abundant proteins included previously reported COPD-associated proteins (e.g., TIMP1 (up-regulation) and APOA1 (down-regulation)) and novel proteins such as C6orf58 and BPIFB1 (LPLUNC1) (both up-regulated in the COPD group compared with the healthy smokers). In summary, our study demonstrates that sputum proteomics/transcriptomics can capture the complex and reversible physiological response to cigarette smoke exposure, which appears to be only slightly modulated in early-stage COPD patients. The study has been registered on ClinicalTrials.gov with identifier NCT01780298.