Project description:Diesel exhaust (DE) has been shown to enhance allergic sensitization in animals following high dose instillation or chronic inhalation exposure scenarios. The purpose of this study was to determine if short term exposures to diluted DE enhance allergic immune responses to antigen, and identify possible mechanisms using microarray technology. BALB/c mice were exposed to filtered air or diluted DE to yield particle concentrations of 500 or 2000 µg/m3 4 hr/day on days 0-4. Mice were sensitized intranasally with ovalbumin (OVA) antigen or saline on days 0-2, and 18 and all were challenged with OVA on day 28. Mice were necropsied either 4 hrs after the last DE exposure on day 4, or 18, 48, and 96 hrs after challenge. Immunological endpoints included OVA-specific serum IgE, biochemical and cellular profiles of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), and cytokine production in the BAL. OVA-sensitized mice exposed to both concentrations of DE had increased eosinophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and IL-6 post-challenge compared to OVA control, while DE/saline exposure yielded increases in neutrophils at the high dose only. Microarray analysis demonstrated distinct gene expression profiles for the high dose DE/OVA and DE/saline groups. DE/OVA induced pathways involved in oxidative stress and metabolism while DE in the absence of allergen sensitization modulated cell cycle control, growth and differentiation, G-proteins, and cell adhesion pathways. This study shows for the first time early changes in gene expression induced by the combination of diesel exhaust inhalation and antigen sensitization, which resulted in stronger development of an allergic asthma phenotype. Experiment Overall Design: Lung RNA was isolated from mice exposed to filtered air, 500 ug/m3 DE, or 2000 ug/m3 DE with or without OVA for a total of 6 exposure groups. Each group had 4 replicates for a total of 24 microarrays.
Project description:We have demonstrated that allergic airway inflammation (induced by an ovalbumin sensitization and aerosol challenge protocol) decreases lung bacterial burden following lung infection with Klebsiella pneumoniae. The goals of this study are to indentify novel targets that are expressed during allergic airway inflammation in this model that contribute to enhanced lung bacterial immunity.
Project description:Allergic asthma is a chronic disease of the airways characterized by eosinophilic and neutrophilic inflammation. MYD88, the adaptor molecule for TLR and IL-1 family member signaling, is required for allergic sensitization through the airway in animal models of allergic asthma. We generated conditionally mutant mice separately lacking Myd88 in airway epithelial cells (ECs) or dendritic cells (DCs) and alveolar macrophages (AMs) to define the contribution of Myd88 expression in each of these cell types. To examine crosstalk from ECs to AMs in vivo, we examined transcriptional profiles from lung AMs sorted following 6h in vivo lung allergic sensitization through the airways from WT MyD88 fx/fx, SPC cre+ MyD88 fx/fx (EC-MYD88 KO), CD11c cre+ MyD88 fx/fx (DC-MYD88 KO), and full MyD88 KO mice. We observed immune-specific transcriptional changes in AMs that were cell-intrinsic as well as resulting from in vivo crosstalk from ECs. We also observed transcriptional (linked data set) and epigenetic changes in chromatin conformation in cDCs by ATAC-seq (linked data set) as well as changes in immune-specific whole lung RNA, sorted EC RNA, and sorted cDC RNA by Nanostring nCounter Immunology Codeset Analysis (additional linked files).
Project description:Allergic asthma is a chronic disease of the airways characterized by eosinophilic and neutrophilic inflammation. MYD88, the adaptor molecule for TLR and IL-1 family member signaling, is required for allergic sensitization through the airway in animal models of allergic asthma. We generated conditionally mutant mice separately lacking Myd88 in airway epithelial cells (ECs) or dendritic cells (DCs) to define the contribution of Myd88 expression in each of these cell types. To examine crosstalk from ECs to conventional (c)DCs in vivo, we examined immune-specific transcriptional profiles from lung cDCs sorted following 6h in vivo lung allergic sensitization through the airways from WT MyD88 fx/fx, SPC cre+ MyD88 fx/fx (EC-MYD88 KO), CD11c cre+ MyD88 fx/fx (DC-MYD88 KO), and full MyD88 KO mice. We observed immune-specific transcriptional changes in cDCs that were cell-intrinsic as well as resulting from in vivo crosstalk from ECs. We also observed transcriptional (linked data set) and epigenetic changes in chromatin conformation in cDCs by ATAC-seq (linked data set) as well as changes in immune-specific whole lung RNA, sorted EC RNA, and sorted alveolar macrophage (AM) RNA by Nanostring nCounter Immunology Codeset Analysis (additional linked files).
Project description:Allergic asthma is a chronic disease of the airways characterized by eosinophilic and neutrophilic inflammation. MYD88, the adaptor molecule for TLR and IL-1 family member signaling, is required for allergic sensitization through the airway in animal models of allergic asthma. We generated conditionally mutant mice separately lacking Myd88 in airway epithelial cells (ECs) or dendritic cells (DCs) to define the contribution of Myd88 expression in each of these cell types. To examine crosstalk from ECs to conventional (c)DCs in vivo, we examined transcriptional profiles from lung cDCs sorted at baseline or following 6h in vivo lung allergic sensitization through the airways from WT MyD88 fx/fx, SPC cre+ MyD88 fx/fx (EC-MYD88 KO), CD11c cre+ MyD88 fx/fx (DC-MYD88 KO), and full MyD88 KO mice. We observed specific transcriptional changes in cDCs that were cell-intrinsic as well as resulting from in vivo crosstalk from ECs. We also observed epigenetic changes in chromatin conformation in cDCs by ATAC-seq (linked data set) as well as changes in immune-specific whole lung RNA, sorted EC RNA, sorted alveolar macrophage RNA, and sorted cDC by Nanostring nCounter Immunology Codeset Analysis (additional linked files).
Project description:Allergic asthma is a chronic disease of the airways characterized by eosinophilic and neutrophilic inflammation. MYD88, the adaptor molecule for TLR and IL-1 family member signaling, is required for allergic sensitization through the airway in animal models of allergic asthma. We generated conditionally mutant mice separately lacking Myd88 in airway epithelial cells (ECs) or dendritic cells (DCs) and alveolar macrophages (AMs) to define the contribution of Myd88 expression in each of these cell types. To examine crosstalk between ECs and CD11c-expressing cells in vivo, we examined transcriptional profiles from whole lung RNA at baseline, or following 2h or 6h in vivo lung allergic sensitization through the airways from WT MyD88 fx/fx, SPC cre+ MyD88 fx/fx (EC-MYD88 KO), CD11c cre+ MyD88 fx/fx (DC-MYD88 KO), and full MyD88 KO mice. We observed immune-specific transcriptional changes in whole lung RNA that were altered based on EC- or CD11c-specific deletion of MYD88. We also observed transcriptional (linked data set) and epigenetic changes in chromatin conformation in cDCs by ATAC-seq (linked data set) as well as changes in immune-specific sorted EC RNA, sorted AM RNA, and sorted cDC RNA by Nanostring nCounter Immunology Codeset Analysis (additional linked files).
Project description:Mouse lung CD11c+ dendritic cells are composed of 2 major DC subsets, the CD103+CD11b-low/intermediate DC (CD103+ DC) and the CD11b-highCD103- DC (CD11b-high DC). These 2 subsets are functionally distinct. Comparison of their functions showed CD103+ DC Microarray analysis was performed to compare the gene expression profiles of the 2 lung DC subsets in naïve mice.
Project description:Allergic asthma is a chronic disease of the airways characterized by eosinophilic and neutrophilic inflammation. MYD88, the adaptor molecule for TLR and IL-1 family member signaling, is required for allergic sensitization through the airway in animal models of allergic asthma. We generated conditionally mutant mice separately lacking Myd88 in airway epithelial cells (ECs) or dendritic cells (DCs) to define the contribution of Myd88 expression in each of these cell types. To examine epigenetic crosstalk from ECs to conventional (c)DCs in vivo, we examined ATAC-seq data from lung cDCs sorted at baseline or following 6h in vivo lung allergic sensitization through the airways from WT MyD88 fx/fx, SPC cre+ MyD88 fx/fx (EC-MYD88 KO), CD11c cre+ MyD88 fx/fx (DC-MYD88 KO), and full MyD88 KO mice. We observed specific epigenetic changes in chromatin conformation in cDCs that were cell-intrinsic as well as resulting from in vivo crosstalk from ECs. We also observed transcriptional changes in cDCs by Affymetrix Whole Transcriptome Array (linked data set) as well as changes in immune-specific whole lung RNA, sorted EC RNA, sorted alveolar macrophage RNA, and sorted cDC RNA changes by Nanostring nCounter Immunology Codeset Analysis (additional linked files).