Project description:Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP), particularly the K64 serotype, poses a severe clinical threat due to its high virulence and multidrug resistance. In this study, we investigated the gene expression profiles of host lung tissues to understand the pathogenesis of K64-CRKP infection and the therapeutic mechanism of Dep44, a capsule-degrading depolymerase. An acute pneumonia mouse model was established via intranasal infection with K64-CRKP. We performed high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) on lung tissues from four experimental groups: the negative control group (healthy mice), the positive control group (K64-CRKP infected model), the treatment group (infected mice treated with Dep44), and the drug control group (healthy mice treated with Dep44). The analysis aims to elucidate the host immune response to K64-CRKP infection and evaluate how Dep44 treatment modulates these transcriptomic changes to exert its therapeutic effect.
Project description:The identification of changes in transcriptional regulation during priming and differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells towards the endoderm lineage. Specific populations of ES cells, either primed or committed to endoderm, were isolated and subjected to global nuclear run on sequencing (GRO-Seq). The hHex-Venus (HV) reporter ES cell line, HVJu5.1 (Canham et al., 2010) was used to isolate HV- and HV+ ES cells. Primed ES cells were identified based on the expression of the HV marker in addition to the cell surface marker of undifferentiated ES cells, SSEA-1, (the lower and upper 25% of SSEA-1+, HV expressing cells). When challenged to differentiate, HV- ES cells are primed towards an epiblast fate, while HV+ ES cells are primed towards primitive endoderm. However, these populations are considered primed, rather than committed, as they will readily interconvert when re-introduced into standard ES cell culture conditions. ES cells were grown in self-renewing conditions (GMEM, LIF, 10% FCS, plated on gelatin coated dishes). Endoderm was obtained by differentiating ES cells in medium without the cytokine LIF for 5 days. The HV+, SSEA-1- differentiated fraction was then sorted and represents an early stage in endoderm differentiation.
Project description:Since the first reports of hepatitis of unknown aetiology occurring in UK children, over 1000 cases have been reported worldwide, including 268 cases in the UK, with the majority younger than 6 years old. Using genomic, proteomic and immunohistochemical methods, we undertook extensive investigation of 28 cases and 136 control subjects. In five cases who underwent liver transplantation, we detected high levels of adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) in the explanted livers. AAV2 was also detected at high levels in blood from 10/11 non-transplanted cases. Low levels of Adenovirus (HAdV) and Human Herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B), both of which enable AAV2 lytic replication, were also found in the five explanted livers and blood from 15/17 and 6/9 respectively, of the 23 non-transplant cases tested. In contrast, AAV2 was detected at low titre in 6/100 whole bloods from child controls from cohorts with presence or absence of hepatitis and/or adenovirus infection. Our data show an association of AAV2 at high titre in blood or liver tissue, with unexplained hepatitis in children infected in the recent HAdV-F41 outbreak. We were unable to find evidence by electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry or proteomics of HAdV or AAV2 viral particles or proteins in explanted livers, suggesting that hepatic pathology is not due to direct lytic infection by either virus. The potential that AAV2, although not previously associated with disease, may, together with HAdV-F41 and/or HHV-6, be causally implicated in the outbreak of unexplained hepatitis, requires further investigation.