Project description:Firefighters are routinely exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during fire suppression activities, molecular biomarkers reflecting such exposure remain underexplored. Thus, we explored an integrated exposure assessment framework linking PAH contamination on turnout gear and skin to changes in microRNA (miRNA) expression in skin and blood biospecimens.
Project description:Skin biopsy specimens of skin lesions were profiled for miRNA expression. In this study, we indentified miRNA species that were differentially expressed in the skin lesions of either the lepromatous or tuberculoid forms of leprosy. One miRNA species, hsa-mir-21, found in the lepromatous lesions was capable of downregulating the vitamin D-dependent antimicrobial pathway.
Project description:Fibroblasts were isolated from healthy skin, donors were young, middlege and old. We used Affymetrix miRNA microarrays to detail the global expression of miRNAs.
Project description:miRNA expression was compared in skin from control newborn mice and littermate mice ectopically expressing the potent secreted WNT inhibitor Dickkopf 1 (DKK1) in the epidermis. DKK1 completely suppresses hair follicle development. Multiple miRNAs were identified that reproducibly produced signals above background in both types of skin sample. Several miRNAs were identified for which hybridization signals were on average more than 2.5 fold higher in control samples than in Dkk1-expressing samples, suggesting these may be upregulated in hair follicles, and/or are direct or indirect targets of WNT inhibition in the skin. Keywords: miRNA expression array, transgenic mouse, skin, WNT
Project description:Fibroblasts were isolated from healthy skin, donors were young, middlege and old. We used Affymetrix miRNA microarrays to detail the global expression of miRNAs. Primary fibroblasts were isolated from healthy skin, donnors were young, middlege and old and kept in culture for a short time in order to avoid scenescence.
Project description:Skin biopsy specimens of skin lesions were profiled for miRNA expression. In this study, we indentified miRNA species that were differentially expressed in the skin lesions of either the lepromatous or tuberculoid forms of leprosy. One miRNA species, hsa-mir-21, found in the lepromatous lesions was capable of downregulating the vitamin D-dependent antimicrobial pathway. Scalpel or punch skin biopsy specimens were obtained after informed consent from patients with tuberculoid leprosy and patients with lepromatous leprosy at the time of diagnosis. Specimens were embedded in OCT medium, snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at 80°C until sectioning.
Project description:To better understand the relationship between peripheral blood- and brain-based epigenetic activity, we conducted a pilot study on captive baboons (Papio hamadryas) to investigate correlations between miRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and 14 different cortical and subcortical brain regions, represented by two study groups comprised of 4 and 6 animals. Using next-generation sequencing, we identified 362 miRNAs expressed at ≥10 read counts in 80% or more of the brain samples analyzed. Nominally significant pairwise correlations (one-sided P<0.05) between peripheral blood and mean brain expression levels of individual miRNAs were observed for 39 and 44 miRNAs in each group. When miRNA expression levels were averaged across animals within the groups, pairwise correlations between PBMCs and individual brain regions are all highly significant (P<2.2x10^-16), although correlations between brain regions are markedly stronger (rs=0.86-0.99) than those between blood and brain (rs=0.47-0.57). Principal component analysis revealed differentiation in miRNA expression between peripheral blood and the brain regions for the first component (accounting for ~75% of variance). Linear mixed effects modeling attributed most of the variance in expression to differences between miRNAs (>70%), with non-significant 7.5% and 13.1% assigned to differences between blood and brain-based samples in the two study groups. Hierarchical UPGMA clustering revealed two major co-expression branches that are evident in both groups, with one comprised of miRNAs hyper-expressed in blood relative to the brain samples, exhibiting an enrichment of miRNAs expressed in immune cells (CD14+, CD15+, CD19+, CD3+, and CD56+ leukocytes) among the top blood-brain correlates. In the other major branch, hypo-expression in the blood samples was observed, with enrichment for miRNAs associated with Alzheimer’s Disease among its top correlates. Although some differentiation was observed between tissue types, these preliminary findings reveal wider correlated patterns between blood- and brain-expressed miRNAs, suggesting the utility of blood-based miRNA profiling for investigating by proxy the epigenetic underpinnings of neurological and neuroinflammatory processes in the brain.
Project description:To screen for potential miRNA that may contribute to the pathomechanisms of ATS miRNA expression profiling using the Affymetrix GeneChip® miRNA 3.0 Array comparing the miRNA expression changes of skin fibroblasts of three ATS patients with those of three healthy individuals