Project description:Metagenome data from soil samples were collected at 0 to 10cm deep from 2 avocado orchards in Channybearup, Western Australia, in 2024. Amplicon sequence variant (ASV) tables were constructed based on the DADA2 pipeline with default parameters.
Project description:Intraluminal obstruction produces chronic airway epithelial hypoxia. We investigated how chronic airway epithelial hypoxia and inflammatory stimuli interact in human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cultures and resected human bronchiectatic lungs to produce the diseased epithelial environment characteristic of muco-obstructive diseases. HBE cultures were exposed to normoxia or hypoxia (1% O₂) for 4 days, and concurrently treated with supernatants from cystic fibrosis (CF) lung-derived mucopurulent material (SMM) or PBS for 5 days. Bulk RNA-sequencing was perfomed. Results: Hypoxia and SMM regulated largely separate transcriptional programmes regardless of treatment order. PTGS2 (COX2) and CCL20 represented a small number of genes additively upregulated by both hypoxia and SMM. Conclusion: Chronic hypoxia and inflammation regulated distinct genes/pathways that combine to produce complex diseased environments in muco-obstructed airways.
Project description:Intraluminal obstruction produces chronic airway epithelial hypoxia. We investigated how chronic airway epithelial hypoxia and inflammatory stimuli (supernatatants of mucopurulent materials: SMM) interact in human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cultures and resected bronchiectatic lungs to produce the diseased epithelial environment characteristic of muco-obstructive diseases. Results: Hypoxia and supernatants of mucopurulent materials (SMM) regulated largely separate transcriptional programmes regardless of treatment order. PTGS2 and CXCL8 represented a small number of genes additively upregulated by both hypoxia and SMM. HIF1A knockdown and EPAS1 knockdown produced distinct, often opposing, effects on hypoxia-responsive pathways. HIF1A dominated upregulation of glycolytic pathway signalling. EPAS1 regulated genes that increase mucus concentration under hypoxia (e.g., SCNN1G). Conclusion: Chronic hypoxia and inflammation regulated distinct genes/pathways that combine to produce complex diseased environments in muco-obstructed airways. HIF1α and EPAS1 regulated distinct hypoxia-induced transcriptional responses.
Project description:Dietary intake of fruits and vegetables (FV) has been inversely associated with lower risk of ulcerative colitis. A pig model was used to evaluate the impact of feeding FV on the host response to dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis. Methods: Six-week-old pigs were fed a grower diet alone or supplemented with lyophilized FV equivalent to the half (half-FV) or full (full-FV) daily levels recommended for humans by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). Pigs were fed a 1) grower diet alone (negative control), 2) grower diet and orally treated with 4% DSS for 10 days to induce colitis (positive control), 3) half-FV diet treated with 4% DSS or 4) full-FV diet treated with 4% DSS. Pigs were monitored for the development of clinical signs of colitis. Proximal colon (PC) contents and mucosa (PCM) were collected for gut metagenome, tissue transcriptome and histopathological analysis. Results: Pigs fed the full-FV diet did not exhibit diarrhea, showed less fecal occult blood (FOB), PCM crypt hyperplasia but with no differential expressed genes (DEG) or changes in PC microbiome diversity (p < 0.05). Pigs within the half-FV group exhibited increased group FOB and DEG associated with tissue remodeling, crypt and goblet cell hyperplasia in the PCM and no changes in PC microbiome diversity and two pigs exhibiting diarrhea (p < 0.05). Pigs within the DSS positive control group exhibited a reduced DEG involved with intestinal immune response and PC microbiome diversity with altered metagenome, increased group PCM erosion and FOB with persistent diarrhea in one pig (p < 0.05) Conclusions: Overall, our results showed that pigs fed a three-week full-FV supplemented diet, were resistant to DSS-induced colitis with a differential dose-dependent protective effect on host intestinal tissue and gut metagenome when exposed to an inflammatory challenge.
Project description:Decellularized ECM (dECM) hydrogels derived from human lungs can provide valuable insight into patient-specific and lung pathophysiology. Herein, we present the approach and some initial results that highlight the unique characteristics of this dECM hydrogel platform and its benefits for a variety of potential future studies and applications.