Project description:Nutrigenomics analysis was used to investigate the molecular responses to dietary Cu deficiency independently and in combination with 30% (w/w) sucrose in a mature rat model of NAFLD. Low Cu significantly decreased hepatic and serum Cu, and induced NAFLD-like histopathology, mild steatosis, up-regulated transcripts in inflammation and hepatic stellate cell activation, and significantly increased oxidative stress. Rats fed low Cu together with 30% sucrose also developed insulin resistance, increased ATP citrate lyase and FASN expression, and greater oxidative stress. High sucrose with adequate Cu also promoted inflammation and fibrosis, but not steatosis. This study indicates that low dietary Cu and sucrose consumption are singular and synergistic dietary factors in promotion of NAFLD and NASH that act independently of obesity or severe steatosis, likely by promoting oxidative stress and activation of inflammation and fibrosis. Mature (6 months old) male Wistar Rats that had been allowed ad libitum access to Mazuri rodent pellets were used in the study. Twenty-four rats were divided into four groups and fed for 12 weeks with diets based on the Purified AIN76A formulation, modified for target sucrose and Cu content (Custom Animal Diets, Bangor, NJ). Sucrose and copper content in diets were as follows: ‘A’ CuD/30%- Cu deficient (<0.3 mg Cu/kg)/30% sucrose, ‘B’ CuA/30%- Cu adequate (125 mg/kg)/30% sucrose, ‘C’ CuD/10%- <0.3 mg/kg Cu/10% sucrose, and ‘D’ CuA (125 mg/kg Cu)/10% sucrose (control). Starch and dextrin were used to equalize carbohydrates.
Project description:Expression data from adult male Sprague Dawley rat liver, investigating how pomegranate skin extract prevents non alcoholic fatty liver diseases
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:In order to establish a rat embryonic stem cell transcriptome, mRNA from rESC cell line DAc8, the first male germline competent rat ESC line to be described and the first to be used to generate a knockout rat model was characterized using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis.