Project description:This RNA-seq experiment profiles peripheral blood mononuclear cells from AmaXhosa children aged 12–36 months with clinically diagnosed moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis and matched healthy controls living in rural or urban South African settings. The main goal is to capture systemic immune transcriptional programs associated with early-life atopic dermatitis while accounting for the strong contextual influence of environment. By comparing disease status across rural/urban strata, the dataset is designed to distinguish disease-linked expression patterns from location-associated immune signatures, and to identify gene sets reflecting pathways plausibly involved in atopic inflammation, barrier/immune regulation, and related mechanisms. The resulting transcriptomic signatures are intended for downstream integration with cytokine and antibody measurements and environmental exposure data to support mechanistic interpretation and endotype definition.
Project description:Global transcriptome analyses provide an excellent basis for the identification and definition of biomarkers with high relevance in infection processes, therapeutic intervention and protective immunity. The measurement applies three different state of the art transcriptomic technologies for global expression profiling to vaccine development. Different microarray platforms in conjunct to next generation sequencing (NGS) will build the basis for comparative approaches, such as up-down classification and correlation coefficients. This measurement is based on Agilent microarrays and a clinical trial phase Ib study with M. bovis BCG vaccination. • Surrogate measurement using whole human blood • 4 time points: d0 (naïve, pre-immunization) and d14, d28,d56, d168 post m. bovis BCG immunization • Responses of PPD positive study groups • Group size of approximately 6 individuals European network of vaccine research and development (TRANSVAC)
Project description:Phylogenetic analysis of Mycobacterium bovis using WGS isolated from DNA extracted from wild-type in the North-East part of South Africa.
Project description:Global transcriptome analyses provide an excellent basis for the identification and definition of biomarkers with high relevance in infection processes, therapeutic intervention and protective immunity. The measurement applies three different state of the art transcriptomic technologies for global expression profiling to vaccine development. Different microarray platforms in conjunct to next generation sequencing (NGS) will build the basis for comparative approaches, such as up-down classification and correlation coefficients. This measurement is based on Agilent microarrays and a clinical trial phase Ib study with M. bovis BCG vaccination. M-bM-^@M-" Surrogate measurement using whole human blood M-bM-^@M-" 4 time points: d0 (naM-CM-/ve, pre-immunization) and d14, d28,d56, d168 post m. bovis BCG immunization M-bM-^@M-" Responses of PPD positive study groups M-bM-^@M-" Group size of approximately 6 individuals European network of vaccine research and development (TRANSVAC) Microarray experiments were performed as single-color hybridizations using Agilent Technologies whole human genome 4x44K microarrays
Project description:Forty-six percent of the world's population resides in rural areas, the majority of whom belong to vulnerable and low-income groups. They mainly use cheap solid fuels for cooking and heating, which release a large amount of PM2.5 and cause adverse effects to human health. PM2.5 exhibits urban-rural differences in its health risk to the respiratory system. However, the majority of research on this issue has focused on respiratory diseases induced by atmospheric PM2.5 in urban areas, while rural areas have been ignored for a long time, especially the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases. This is not helpful for promoting environmental equity to aid low-income and vulnerable groups under PM2.5 pollution. Thus, this study focuses on rural atmospheric PM2.5 in terms of its chemical components, toxicological effects, respiratory disease types, and pathogenesis, represented by PM2.5 from rural areas in the Sichuan Basin, China (Rural SC-PM2.5). In this study, organic carbon is the most significant component of Rural SC-PM2.5. Rural SC-PM2.5 significantly induces cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, and inflammatory response. Based on multiomics, bioinformatics, and molecular biology, Rural SC-PM2.5 inhibits ribonucleotide reductase regulatory subunit M2 (RRM2) to disrupt the cell cycle, impede DNA replication, and ultimately inhibit lung cell proliferation. Furthermore, this study supplements and supports the epidemic investigation. Through an analysis of the transcriptome and human disease database, it is found that Rural SC-PM2.5 may mainly involve pulmonary hypertension, sarcoidosis, and interstitial lung diseases; in particular, congenital diseases may be ignored by epidemiological surveys in rural areas, including tracheoesophageal fistula, submucous cleft of the hard palate, and congenital hypoplasia of the lung. This study contributes to a greater scientific understanding of the health risks posed by rural PM2.5, elucidates the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases, clarifies the types of respiratory diseases, and promotes environmental equity.
Project description:The Afrikaner population of South Africa are the descendants of European colonists who started to colonize the Cape of Good Hope in the 1600s. In the early days of the colony, mixed unions between European males and non-European females gave rise to admixed children who later became incorporated into either the Afrikaner or the “Coloured" populations of South Africa. Differences in ancestry, social class, culture, sex ratio and geographic structure led to distinct characteristic admixture patterns in the Afrikaner and Coloured populations. The Afrikaner population has a predominant European composition, whereas the Coloured population has more diverse ancestries. Genealogical records previously estimated the contribution of non-Europeans into the Afrikaners to be between 5.5%-7.2%. NB two individuals withdrew consent so this data contains only 75 individuals as compared to the 77 cited in the article.