Project description:Customized Nanostring PanCancer Progression Panel performed on FFPE tumor tissue derived from treatment naive metastatic colorectal cancer patients included into the randomized phase 2 PanaMa trial.
Project description:Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the deadliest infectious disorders in the world. To effectively TB manage, an essential step is to gain insight into the lineage of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains and the distribution of drug resistance. Although the Campania region is declared a cluster area for the infection, to contribute to the effort to understand TB evolution and transmission, still poorly known, we have generated a dataset of 159 genomes of MTB strains, from Campania region collected during 2018-2021, obtained from the analysis of whole genome sequence data. The results show that the most frequent MTB lineage is the 4 according for 129 strains (81.11%). Regarding drug resistance, 139 strains (87.4%) were classified as multi susceptible, while the remaining 20 (12.58%) showed drug resistance. Among the drug-resistance strains, 8 were isoniazid-resistant MTB (HR-MTB), 7 were resistant only to one antibiotic (3 were resistant only to ethambutol and 3 isolate to streptomycin while one isolate showed resistance to fluoroquinolones), 4 multidrug-resistant MTB, while only one was classified as pre-extensively drug-resistant MTB (pre-XDR). This dataset expands the existing available knowledge on drug resistance and evolution of MTB, contributing to further TB-related genomics studies to improve the management of TB infection.
Project description:We used RNA sequencing to comprehensively map the expression of coding and non-coding RNAs in primary human alveolar epithelial type II cells (AECIIs), alveolar macrophages (AMs), human lung tissue, and the epithelial cell line A549 during infection with IAV strain H3N2 Panama
Project description:This is a four dimensionsal ordinary differential equation mathematical model that explores the contribution of PI3P during Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) phagocytosis. The model was built in an effort to understand the mechanisms by which Mtb eliminates phagosome-lysosome fusion during the hosts enactment of anti-microbial pathways.
Project description:Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) relies on a homeostasis of macrophages and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). The small heat shock protein, Mtb Hsp16.3 (also known as latency-associated antigen), plays an important role in Mtb persistence within macrophages. However, the mechanism of LTBI remains elusive. The aim of this study was to delineate LTBI-related miRNA expression in U937 macrophages expressing Mtb Hsp16.3 protein. This study intends to explore the potential function of miRNAs in the interaction of macrophages with Mtb Hsp16.3 and provide insights for investigating the role of macrophage homeostasis in LTBI.
Project description:The purpose of this study was to identify Mtb- and hsa-encoded miRNAs produced in infected macrophages. RNA from 9 THP-1 samples (3 were uninfected, 3 were infected with Mtb H37Rv for 3 days and 3 were infected with Mtb H37Rv for 6 days) was sequenced and miRNAs were detected.
Project description:<p>Regulatory T cells (Tregs) expand during Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection and suppress T cell mediated control. Whether Mtb actively contributes to this process is unclear. Here, using a genome-wide mutant library, we show that expression of Mtb Rv1272c, an ATP-binding cassette transporter, increased under hypoxic condition, promotes Mtb survival in vivo by increasing lecithin import, followed by the production and release of linoleic acid. Linoleic acid released by infected macrophages promoted surface trafficking of the immune checkpoint molecule CTLA-4 in Tregs via the Ca²⁺ transporter ATP2a3. This in turn inhibited macrophage reactive oxygen species production and promoted Mtb survival inside macrophages. Rv1272c-induecd linoleic acid further promoted Mtb immune evasion via increasing CTLA-4 surface trafficking on Tregs in vivo. [AU please mention in vivo work on virulence as well] Mechanistically, linoleic acid interacts with ATP2a3 in Tregs and promotes mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane formation. This facilitates ER to mitochondrial Ca2+ transfer, depletion of Ca2+ in the ER, and triggers store-operated calcium entry, thus elevating cytosolic Ca2+ levels to increase Ca2+-dependent CTLA-4 surface trafficking in Tregs. These findings reveal that Mtb can use a metabolite to manipulate host responses and promote its intracellular survival.</p>
Project description:The cytokine IL-10 antagonizes pathways that control Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. Nevertheless, the impact of IL-10 during Mtb infection has been difficult to decipher because loss of function studies in animal models have yielded only mild phenotypes. We have discovered that the transcription factor Bhlhe40 is required to repress Il10 expression during Mtb infection. Loss of Bhlhe40 in mice results in higher Il10 expression, higher bacterial burden, and early susceptibility similar to that observed in mice lacking IFN-g. Deletion of Il10 in Bhlhe40-/- mice reverses these phenotypes. Bhlhe40 deletion in T cells or CD11c+ cells is sufficient to cause susceptibility to Mtb. Bhlhe40 represents the first transcription factor found to be essential during Mtb infection to specifically regulate Il10 expression, revealing the importance of strict control of IL-10 production by innate and adaptive immune cells during infection. Our findings uncover a previously elusive but significant role for IL-10 in Mtb pathogenesis.
Project description:Respiratory ATP-synthesis is at present the only known mechanism for ATP synthesis in Mtb. This makes Mtb particularly vulnerable to inhibition of respiratory ATP synthase inhibitors such as TMC207, a novel compound for treatment of tuberculosis. We now provide first evidence that Mtb possesses a pathway that is fermentative in nature that could compensate lack of respiratory ATP synthesis. We identified acetate as a fermentation product in Mtb. Production of acetate was mediated by phosphotransacetylase (Pta) and acetate kinase (AckA). In acetate fermenting Mtb cultures, ATP levels remained stable despite inhibition of respiratory ATP synthase. Deletion of the PtaAckA pathway in Mtb decreased ATP content and impaired survival. This study provides evidence that in Mtb substrate level phosphorylation can compensate lack of oxidative phosphorylation, and thus facilitates survival of Mtb in the absence of respiration. Acetate fermentation contributes to adaptation to respiration-limiting conditions, and plays an important role in the emerging field of fermentative metabolism of Mtb. We performed DNA microarray analysis to validate the reduction of oxygen concentration by comparing aerobic and hypoxic cultures. RNA was prepared from Mtb after two days of cultivation in aerobic and in hypoxic cultures. At each condition, Mtb were cultured in medium supplemented with glycerol and glucose. Labelled cDNA from three independent experiments was subjected to array analysis.