Project description:HLA-DPA1-related SNP rs9277336 is linked to increased PAH risk and binds ACTN4 in an allele-specific fashion. HLA-DPA1 transcript is decreased in PAH lung endothelial cells and controlled by ACTN4. ACTN4 differential binding may cause HLA-DPA1-mediated immune dysfunction. The purpose of this specific experiment is to determine the downstream effects of ACTN4 and HLA-DPA1 downregulation, specifically looking at overlaps between the two conditions.
Project description:Genome wide association studies of schizophrenia encompassing the major histocompatibility locus (MHC) were highly significant following genome wide correction. This broad region implicates many genes including the MHC complex class II. Within this interval we examined the expression of two MHC II genes (HLA-DPA1 and HLA-DRB1) in brain from individual subjects with schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and controls by differential gene expression methods. A third MHC II mRNA, CD74, was studied outside of the MHC II locus, as it interacts within the same immune complex. HLA-DPA1 and CD74 were both reduced in hippocampus, amygdala, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex regions in SZ and BD compared to controls by specific qPCR assay. We found several novel HLA-DPA1 mRNA variants spanning HLA-DPA1 exons 2-3-4 as suggested by an exon microarray study. The intronic rs9277341 SNP was a significant cis expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) that was associated with the total expression of HLA-DPA1 in five brain regions. A biomarker study of MHC II mRNAs was conducted in SZ, BD, MDD, and control lymphoblastic cell lines (LCL) by qPCR assay of 87 subjects. There was significantly decreased expression of HLA-DPA1 and CD74 in BD, and trends for reductions in SZ in LCLs. The discovery of multiple splicing variants in brain for HLA-DPA1 is important as the HLA-DPA1 gene is highly conserved, there are no reported splicing variants, and the functions in brain are unknown. Future work on the function and localization of MHC Class II proteins in brain will help to understand the role of alterations in neuropsychiatric disorders. The HLA-DPA1 eQTL is located within a large linkage disequilibrium block that has an irrefutable association with schizophrenia. Future tests in a larger cohort are needed to determine the significance of this eQTL association with schizophrenia. Our findings support the long held hypothesis that alterations in immune function are associated with the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders.
Project description:Genome wide association studies of schizophrenia encompassing the major histocompatibility locus (MHC) were highly significant following genome wide correction. This broad region implicates many genes including the MHC complex class II. Within this interval we examined the expression of two MHC II genes (HLA-DPA1 and HLA-DRB1) in brain from individual subjects with schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and controls by differential gene expression methods. A third MHC II mRNA, CD74, was studied outside of the MHC II locus, as it interacts within the same immune complex. HLA-DPA1 and CD74 were both reduced in hippocampus, amygdala, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex regions in SZ and BD compared to controls by specific qPCR assay. We found several novel HLA-DPA1 mRNA variants spanning HLA-DPA1 exons 2-3-4 as suggested by an exon microarray study. The intronic rs9277341 SNP was a significant cis expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) that was associated with the total expression of HLA-DPA1 in five brain regions. A biomarker study of MHC II mRNAs was conducted in SZ, BD, MDD, and control lymphoblastic cell lines (LCL) by qPCR assay of 87 subjects. There was significantly decreased expression of HLA-DPA1 and CD74 in BD, and trends for reductions in SZ in LCLs. The discovery of multiple splicing variants in brain for HLA-DPA1 is important as the HLA-DPA1 gene is highly conserved, there are no reported splicing variants, and the functions in brain are unknown. Future work on the function and localization of MHC Class II proteins in brain will help to understand the role of alterations in neuropsychiatric disorders. The HLA-DPA1 eQTL is located within a large linkage disequilibrium block that has an irrefutable association with schizophrenia. Future tests in a larger cohort are needed to determine the significance of this eQTL association with schizophrenia. Our findings support the long held hypothesis that alterations in immune function are associated with the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. There were 20 anterior cingulate postmortem brain samples that were extracted for total RNA, and analyzed using Affymetrix Exon Array (bipolar disorder subjects n = 9, controls n = 11).
Project description:Laboratory evolution experiments of yeast cells impaired for microtubule dynamics. The sequencing was done at two time-points, early and late, to identify compensatory mutations. For details see Macaluso et al, Cell Reports, 2025.
Project description:Hepatic fibrosis is a dynamic process characterized by the net accumulation of extracellular matrix resulting from chronic liver injury such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. During the pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis, activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) causes transdifferentiation of quiescent cells into proliferative and fibrogenic myofibroblasts. In the present study, we developed a novel RORα-selective ligand, ODH-08, based on the modification of JC1-40, a previously reported N-methylthiourea analog. Administration of ODH-08 to Western diet (WD)-fed mice improved the signs of hepatic fibrosis: decreased hepatic collagen deposition and suppression of the expression of fibrogenic markers. ODH-08 inhibits the TGF1-induced fibrogenic activation of HSCs through suppression of the TGFβ1–SMAD signaling pathway, which represents a novel mechanism for the antifibrogenic effect of RORα. Thus, ODH-08 appears to be a promising antifibrotic agent to treat hepatic fibrosis. We performed a microarray analysis in the liver tissue of ODH-08-treated WD-fed mice to anlyse differentially expressed genes under ODH-08 administration. The control group was vehicle-treated WD-fed mice.
Project description:Indian rhesus macaques are arguably the most reliable animal models in AIDS research. In this species the MHC class I allele Mamu-B*08, among others, is associated with elite control of SIV replication. A similar scenario is observed in humans where the expression of HLA-B*27 or HLA-B*57 has been linked to slow or no progression to AIDS after HIV infection. Despite having large differences in their primary structure, it has been reported that HLA-B*27 and Mamu-B*08 display peptides with sequence similarity. To fine-map the Mamu-B*08 binding motif and assess its similarities with that of HLA-B*27 we affinity purified the peptidomes bound to these MHC class I molecules and analyzed them by LC-MS/MS identifying several thousands of endogenous ligands. Sequence analysis of both sets of peptides revealed a degree of similarity in their binding motifs, especially at peptide position 2 (P2) where arginine was present in the vast majority of ligands of both allotypes. In addition, several differences emerged from this analysis: (i) ligands displayed by Mamu-B*08 tended to be shorter and to have lower molecular weight, (ii) Mamu-B*08 showed a higher preference for glutamine at P2 as a suboptimal binding motif and (iii) the second major anchor position, found at P-omega, was much more restrictive in Mamu-B*08. In this regard, HLA-B*27 bound efficiently peptides with aliphatic, aromatic (including tyrosine) and basic C-terminal residues while Mamu-B*08 preferred peptides with leucine and phenylalanine in this position. These results deepen our understanding of the molecular basis of the presentation of peptides by Mamu-B*08 and can contribute to the detection of novel SIV epitopes restricted by this allotype.
Project description:We investigated the microRNAs profiles upon nasal epithelial HNECs stimulation by P1 after treatment with or in absence of P1 for 6 hours, comparatively by microRNA array analysis. Three untreated and treated paired samples from three independent experiments were analyzed by GeneChip miRNA 4.0 arrays (Affymetrix, Thermo Fisher) containing probes for 2578 human mature microRNAs and 2025 pre-mature microRNAs
Project description:Chip-Seq on HepG2-human (fragmentation date:2015-08-12 For data usage terms and conditions, please refer to http://www.genome.gov/27528022 and http://www.genome.gov/Pages/Research/ENCODE/ENCODE_Data_Use_Policy_for_External_Users_03-07-14.pdf