Project description:Liver lymphatic vessels support liver function by draining interstitial fluid, cholesterol, fat, and immune cells for surveillance in the liver draining lymph node. Chronic liver disease is associated with increased inflammation and immune cell infiltrate. However, it is currently unknown if or how lymphatic vessels respond to increased inflammation and immune cell infiltrate in the liver during chronic disease. Here we demonstrate that lymphatic vessel abundance increases in patients with chronic liver disease and is associated with areas of fibrosis and immune cell infiltration. Using single-cell mRNA sequencing and multi-spectral immunofluorescence analysis we identified liver lymphatic endothelial cells and found that chronic liver disease results in lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) that are in active cell cycle with increased expression of CCL21. Additionally, we found that LECs from patients with NASH adopt a transcriptional program associated with increased IL13 signaling. Moreover, we found that oxidized low density lipoprotein, associated with NASH pathogenesis, induced the transcription and protein production of IL13 in LECs both in vitro and in a mouse model. Finally, we show that oxidized low density lipoprotein reduced the transcription of PROX1 and decreased lymphatic stability. Together these data indicate that LECs are active participants in the liver, expanding in an attempt to maintain tissue homeostasis. However, when inflammatory signals, such as oxidized low density lipoprotein are increased, as in NASH, lymphatic function declines and liver homeostasis is impeded.
Project description:Single-cell RNA-sequencing revealed that the transcriptional profile of LECs from HFHC livers was consistent with changes in the LEC transcriptome that reflect both proliferation and a potential de-differentiation of liver LECs in the context of disease which may impact their functions, such as permeability and metabolism.
Project description:Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) can impair endothelial function and lead to the development of atherosclerosis. Protein S-nitrosylation is sensitive to the cellular redox state and acts as a crucial regulator and executor of NO signaling pathways. Aberrant S-nitrosylation contributes to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. However, the effect of ox-LDL on S-nitrosylation and its significance for endothelial dysfunction have not been studied at the S-nitrosylation proteome level. In our study, many key proteins belonged to ribosomal structure and translational regulatory proteins, covering the entire translation process. These results indicated that S-nitrosylation of the translational machinery in vascular endothelial cells was susceptible to ox-LDL.
Project description:The goal of this study is to use bulk RNA-sequencing of the right brain hemisphere to observe the effects of TBI in the context of pre-existing meningeal lymphatic dysfunction in mice. We find that pre-existing meningeal lymphatic dysfunction potentiates the inflammatory response to TBI, suggesting an important role for the meningeal lymphatics in injury site drainage and proper recovery.
Project description:The difference of microRNA profiles among control, normal high density lipoprotein-treated and proflammatory high density lipoprotein-treated endothelial cells
Project description:The potential mechanism were successfully illustrated through detecting different expression of microRNAs in between proinflammatory high density lipprotein (pHDL), nomal high density lipprotein (nHDL) and control group, to study whether microRNAs play important roles in the endothelial dysfunction caused by pHDL.
Project description:Retinal gene expression was assessed from postnatal day (P) 8 old low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (Lrp5) knockout mice with a Illumina mouse-WG6 expression BeadChip.
Project description:Very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) receptor (VLDLR), a member of the low-density lipoprotein receptor family, is responsible for VLDL uptake in peripheral tissues. We reported that significant increase in hepatic VLDLR levels following protein restriction in male mice does not contribute to hepatic fat accumulation, indicating that VLDLR may have hitherto unknown functions. Here, we used RNA-sequencing analysis of liver samples to analysis the effects of protein restriction on hepatic VLDLR in male and female mice.