Project description:Aims: We investigate sex differences and the role of oestrogen receptor beta (ERbeta) in a mouse model of pressure overload-induced myocardial hypertrophy. Methods and results: We performed transverse aortic constriction (TAC) or sham surgery in male and female wild-type (WT) and ERbeta knockout (ERbeta-/-) C57Bl6 mice. All mice were characterised by echocardiography and haemodynamic measurements and were sacrificed nine weeks after surgery. Left ventricular (LV) samples were analysed by microarray profiling, real-time RT-PCR and histology. After nine weeks, WT males showed more hypertrophy and heart failure signs than WT females. Notably, WT females developed a concentric form of hypertrophy, while males developed eccentric hypertrophy. These sex differences were abolished in ERbeta-/- mice. ERbeta deletion augmented the TAC-induced increase in cardiomyocyte diameter in both sexes. Gene expression profiling revealed that male WT hearts had a stronger induction of matrix-related genes and a stronger repression of mitochondrial genes than female hearts. ERbeta-/- mice exhibited a different transcriptome. Induction of pro-apoptotic genes after TAC occurred in ERbeta-/- mice of both sexes with a stronger expression in ERbeta-/- males. Histological analysis revealed, that cardiac fibrosis was more pronounced in male WT TAC than in female mice. This was abolished in ERbeta-/- mice. Apoptosis was significantly induced in both sexes of ERbeta-/- TAC mice, but it was most prominent in males. Conclusion: Female sex offers protection against ventricular chamber dilation in the TAC model. Both the female sex and ERbeta attenuate the development of fibrosis and apoptosis; thus slowing the progression to heart failure.
Project description:Mice with myeloid ARNT deficiency (LysMCre;Arntfl/fl mice) exhibit defective resolution of DSS-induced acute colitis compared to LysMCre mice. This microarray is carried out to compare the phenotype of lamina propria macrophages from the two cohorts, and to identify factors that are disrupted by myeloid ARNT deficiency and can potentially contribute to the defective resolution of acute colitis.
Project description:Aims: We investigate sex differences and the role of oestrogen receptor beta (ERbeta) in a mouse model of pressure overload-induced myocardial hypertrophy. Methods and results: We performed transverse aortic constriction (TAC) or sham surgery in male and female wild-type (WT) and ER knockout (ERbeta-/-) C57Bl6 mice. All mice were characterised by echocardiography and haemodynamic measurements and were sacrificed nine weeks after surgery. Left ventricular (LV) samples were analysed by microarray profiling, real-time RT-PCR and histology. After nine weeks, WT males showed more hypertrophy and heart failure signs than WT females. Notably, WT females developed a concentric form of hypertrophy, while males developed eccentric hypertrophy. These sex differences were abolished in ERbeta-/- mice. ERbeta deletion augmented the TAC-induced increase in cardiomyocyte diameter in both sexes. Gene expression profiling revealed that male WT hearts had a stronger induction of matrix-related genes and a stronger repression of mitochondrial genes than female hearts. ERbeta-/- mice exhibited a different transcriptome. Induction of pro-apoptotic genes after TAC occurred in ERbeta-/- mice of both sexes with a stronger expression in ERbeta-/- males. Histological analysis revealed, that cardiac fibrosis was more pronounced in male WT TAC than in female mice. This was abolished in ERbeta-/- mice. Apoptosis was significantly induced in both sexes of ERbeta-/- TAC mice, but it was most prominent in males. Conclusion: Female sex offers protection against ventricular chamber dilation in the TAC model. Both the female sex and ER attenuate the development of fibrosis and apoptosis; thus slowing the progression to heart failure. The influence of sex (male/female) and estrogen receptor beta expression (ERbeta knockout/wildtype) on cardiac hypertrophy (transverse aortic constriction/sham operated) was investigated. The left ventricular transcriptome of four individual mice for each combination of the three factors (sex, genotype, surgery) was detected with Affymetrix RAE 430 2.0 GeneChip arrays.
Project description:Estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) is a ligand inducible transcription factor regulating gene expression in response to the female sex hormone estrogen. Previously, we found that ERβ deficiency results in changes in DNA methylation patterns at two gene promoters, implicating an involvement of ERβ in DNA methylation. In this study, we set out to explore this involvement on a genome-wide level, and to investigate the underlying mechanisms of this function. Using reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS), we compared genome-wide DNA methylation in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) derived from wildtype (wt) and ERβ knock-out (βerko) mice, and identified around 8000 differentially methylated positions (DMPs). This suggests that ERβ is involved in regulating DNA methylation at specific sites in the genome. Genome-wide DNA methylation was analysed in MEFs derived from wildtype and ERbeta null mice by educed representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) on an Illumina Genome Analyser IIx platform.
Project description:We report that epithelial-Gab1 deficiency in mice facilitates inflammatory cell infiltration and aggravates colonic inflammation in colitis microenvironment
Project description:To determine how deficiency of Efhd2 in intestinal epithelial cells aggravates DSS-induced colitis in mice, we performed a transcriptional analysis.
Project description:Microbiota dysbiosis has been reported to contribute to the pathogenesis of colitis, to demonstrate whether IL-17D protects against DSS-induced colitis through regulation of microflora, we performed 16S rRNA sequencing in feces from WT and Il17d-deficient mice. Our data indicate that Il17d deficiency results in microbiota dysibiosis in both steady state and DSS-induced colitis.
Project description:Two subtypes of the estrogen receptor, ERalpha and ERbeta, mediate the actions of estrogens, and the majority of human breast tumors contain both ERalpha and ERbeta. To examine the possible interactions and modulatory effects of ERbeta on ERalpha activity, we have used adenoviral gene delivery to produce human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells expressing ERbeta, along with their endogenous ERalpha. We have examined the effects of ERβ expression on genome-wide gene expression by Affymetrix GeneChip microarrays. We find that ERbeta modulated estrogen gene expression on nearly 24% of E2-stimulated genes but only 8% of E2-inhibited genes. We find that ERbeta modulation is gene-specific, enhancing or counteracting ERalpha regulation for distinct subsets of estrogen target genes. Introduction of ERbeta into ERalpha-containing cells induced up/down-regulation of many estrogen target in the absence of any added ligand. In addition, ERbeta presence elicited the expression of a unique set of genes that were not regulated by ERalpha alone. ERbeta modulated the expression of genes in many functional categories, but the greatest numbers were associated with transcription factor and signal transduction pathways. Regulation of multiple components in the TGF beta, SDF1, and semaphorin pathways, may contribute to the suppression of proliferation observed with ERbeta both in the presence and absence of estrogen. Hence, ERbeta modulates ERalpha gene regulation in diverse ways that may contribute to its growth-inhibiting beneficial effects in breast cancer Keywords: modulatory effects of ERb on ERa
Project description:Human Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by chronic colonic inflammation and has been associated with an increased risk of colorectal carcinoma. Gene and protein expression profiles of ABCB1/MDR1 have been shown to be dysregulated in UC and sporadic colorectal cancer. We demonstrated that in a murine model of colitis-associated tumorigenesis, MDR1A KO mice showed reduced tumor load when compared to wildtype (WT) mice. The aim of this study was to identify gene alterations in colitis-associated tumors in the context of MDR1A deficiency. We used microarrays to assess gene expression profiles of colitis-associated colonic tumors from WT or MDR1A KO mice.