Project description:Angiotensin II (Ang II)-mediated vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) dysfunction plays a critical role in cardiovascular diseases. However, the gene expression in this process is unclear. We used Rat Affymetrix gene array to profile Ang II-regulated gene in RVSMC and evaluated their role in VSMC dysfunction. Examined 4 samples of Rat VSMC in triplicate. Control (without Ang II treatment) and 3 samples treated with Ang II for 6h, 12h, and 24h. Compared the changes in gene expression in Ang II treated samples relative to control samples.
Project description:Angiotensin II (Ang II)-mediated vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) dysfunction plays a critical role in cardiovascular diseases. However, the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in this process is unclear. We used small RNA deep sequencing to profile Ang II-regulated miRNAs in rat VSMC and evaluated their role in VSMC dysfunction. Sequencing results revealed several Ang II-responsive miRNAs and bioinformatics analysis showed that their predicted targets can modulate biological processes relevant to cardiovascular diseases. Examined 4 samples of Rat VSMC. Control (without Ang II treatment) and 3 samples treated with Ang II for 1h, 3h, and 24h. Compared the changes in gene expression in Ang II treated samples relative to control samples.
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.