Project description:Objective: Apolipoprotein E (Apo E) is a multifunctional protein, originally described in the context of lipoprotein metabolism and cardiovascular disease. More recently, anti-inflammatory functions of ApoE have been documented. ApoE was studied in the context of several inflammatory disorders, but its role in the pathogenesis of acute organ rejection is unknown. In this study, we test the hypothesis that ApoE attenuates acute renal allograft rejection. Materials and methods: The Dark Agouti (DA) to Lewis (Lew) and the Brown Norway (BN) to Lew rat strain combinations were used to investigate fatal acute rejection. In addition, Fischer 344 (F344) kidneys were transplanted to Lew rats to study reversible acute rejection. Isograft recipients and untreated Lew rats were used as controls. ApoE mRNA expression was quantified in intravascular leukocytes accumulating in the blood vessels of renal grafts and in graft tissue. Apo E protein levels were assessed in blood plasma. To test the protective potential of ApoE, recipients of BN kidneys were treated with ApoE-mimetic peptide. Results: Intravascular graft leukocytes and renal tissue obtained from animals undergoing reversible acute rejection expressed increased levels of ApoE mRNA, whereas during fatal rejection, ApoE expression remained unchanged in the BN to Lew rat strain combination or was significantly reduced when DA rats were used as donors of the kidney. On the protein level, no changes in ApoE were seen in plasma. However, we do not know if local leukocytic ApoE expression results in increased ApoE concentrations inside graft blood vessels. Peptide treatment of allograft recipients reversed fatal rejection and significantly improved animal survival. Conclusions: ApoE plays a protective role in acute organ rejection. Further studies are needed to understand the exact mechanism how ApoE reverses acute rejection. dual-color balanced dye-swap design with 4 biological replicates, hybridized on 4 arrays
Project description:Objective: Apolipoprotein E (Apo E) is a multifunctional protein, originally described in the context of lipoprotein metabolism and cardiovascular disease. More recently, anti-inflammatory functions of ApoE have been documented. ApoE was studied in the context of several inflammatory disorders, but its role in the pathogenesis of acute organ rejection is unknown. In this study, we test the hypothesis that ApoE attenuates acute renal allograft rejection. Materials and methods: The Dark Agouti (DA) to Lewis (Lew) and the Brown Norway (BN) to Lew rat strain combinations were used to investigate fatal acute rejection. In addition, Fischer 344 (F344) kidneys were transplanted to Lew rats to study reversible acute rejection. Isograft recipients and untreated Lew rats were used as controls. ApoE mRNA expression was quantified in intravascular leukocytes accumulating in the blood vessels of renal grafts and in graft tissue. Apo E protein levels were assessed in blood plasma. To test the protective potential of ApoE, recipients of BN kidneys were treated with ApoE-mimetic peptide. Results: Intravascular graft leukocytes and renal tissue obtained from animals undergoing reversible acute rejection expressed increased levels of ApoE mRNA, whereas during fatal rejection, ApoE expression remained unchanged in the BN to Lew rat strain combination or was significantly reduced when DA rats were used as donors of the kidney. On the protein level, no changes in ApoE were seen in plasma. However, we do not know if local leukocytic ApoE expression results in increased ApoE concentrations inside graft blood vessels. Peptide treatment of allograft recipients reversed fatal rejection and significantly improved animal survival. Conclusions: ApoE plays a protective role in acute organ rejection. Further studies are needed to understand the exact mechanism how ApoE reverses acute rejection.
Project description:Translational characterization of hepatic miR-301a as a biomarker for acute rejection in experimental and clinical liver transplantation
Project description:Knee osteoarthritis (KOA), as a degenerative multifactorial disease, affects the quality of life and mental health of patients, and also brings a huge socioeconomic burden. Treating synovitis have shown promise as anti-inflammatory therapeutics in mitigating OA symptoms and disease progression. Here, by analysing synovial single-cell sequencing (scRNA-seq) data from KOA, we found that synovial fibroblasts (FLS) in OA synovium showed a distinct pro-inflammatory phenotype. We collected synovial tissue from patients with clinical OA as well as from healthy donors, and histological examination was consistent with findings in scRNA-seq. Inspired by recent cross-tissue fibroblast lineage studies, we identified by sequencing that healthy FLS in synovial tissues share transcriptome-level similarities with dermal fibroblasts (DFb). Subsequently, we revealed the local as well as systemic distribution of intra-articular injected DFbs by constructing/extracting two types of rat fibroblasts (luciferase DFbs as well as GFP DFbs). The results demonstrate that DFbs can be locally retained in the synovium for up to three weeks following targeted engrafting on it. And intra-articular injection does not result in DFbs migration to vital organs or the occurrence of histological changes in these organs. A rat model of KOA was constructed by anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) in order to study the therapeutic effect of DFbs on KOA. After injection, the rats showed improvement in painful gait. In addition, histological as well as imaging results showed reduced synovitis and improvement in articular cartilage. Finally we verified the protective effect of DFbs on cytokine-stimulated chondrocytes in a co-culture system.
Project description:Compromised renal function after renal allograft transplantation often results in anemia in the recipient. Molecular mechanisms leading to anemia during acute rejection are not fully understood; inadequate erythropoietin production and iron deficiency have been reported to be the main contributors. To increase our understanding of the molecular events underlying anemia in acute rejection, we analyzed the gene expression profiles of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from four pediatric renal allograft recipients with acute rejection and concurrent anemia, using DNA microarrays containing 9000 human cDNA clones (representing 7469 unique genes). In these anemic rejecting patients, an 'erythropoiesis cluster' of 11 down-regulated genes was identified, involved in hemoglobin transcription and synthesis, iron and folate binding and transport. Additionally, some alloimmune response genes were simultaneously down-regulated. An independent data set of 36 PBL samples, some with acute rejection and some with concurrence of acute rejection and anemia, were analyzed to support a possible association between acute rejection and anemia. In conclusion, analysis using DNA microarrays has identified a cluster of genes related to hemoglobin synthesis and/or erythropoeisis that was altered in kidneys with renal allograft rejection compared with normal kidneys. The possible relationship between alterations in the expression of this cluster, reduced renal function, the alloimmune process itself, and other influences on the renal transplant awaits further analysis.