Project description:T cells play a critical role in liver immunity and take part both in the initiation and in the resolution of intrahepatic inflammation. The liver contains conventional CD4 T cells, and Natural Killer T (NKT) cells that express an invariant Vα14 T cell receptor that recognizes glycolipid/CD1d antigen complexes (iNKTs) and play a role in immune surveillance and immune homeostasis. ImmPRes includes a TMT based dataset characterising the proteomes of ex-vivo liver derived CD4+ T cells along with invariant NKT (iNKT) cells
Project description:Cellular binary fate decisions require the progeny to silence genes associated with the alternative fate. The major subsets of alpha:beta T cells have been extensively studied as a model system for fate decisions. While the transcription factor RUNX3 is required for the initiation of Cd4 silencing in CD8 T cell progenitors, it is not required to maintain the silencing of Cd4 and other helper T lineage genes. The other runt domain containing protein, RUNX1, silences Cd4 in an earlier T cell progenitor, but this silencing is reversed whereas the gene silencing after RUNX3 expression is not reverse. Therefore, we hypothesized that RUNX3 and not RUNX1 recruits other factors that maintains the silencing of helper T lineage genes in CD8 T cells. To this end, we performed a proteomics screen of RUNX1 and RUNX3 to determine candidate silencing factors.
Project description:Introgressed variants from other species can be an important source of genetic variation because they may arise rapidly, can include multiple mutations on a single haplotype, and have often been pretested by selection in the species of origin. Although introgressed alleles are generally deleterious, several studies have reported introgression as the source of adaptive alleles-including the rodenticide-resistant variant of Vkorc1 that introgressed from Mus spretus into European populations of Mus musculus domesticus. Here, we conducted bidirectional genome scans to characterize introgressed regions into one wild population of M. spretus from Spain and three wild populations of M. m. domesticus from France, Germany, and Iran. Despite the fact that these species show considerable intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation, introgression was observed in all individuals, including in the M. musculus reference genome (GRCm38). Mus spretus individuals had a greater proportion of introgression compared with M. m. domesticus, and within M. m. domesticus, the proportion of introgression decreased with geographic distance from the area of sympatry. Introgression was observed on all autosomes for both species, but not on the X-chromosome in M. m. domesticus, consistent with known X-linked hybrid sterility and inviability genes that have been mapped to the M. spretus X-chromosome. Tract lengths were generally short with a few outliers of up to 2.7 Mb. Interestingly, the longest introgressed tracts were in olfactory receptor regions, and introgressed tracts were significantly enriched for olfactory receptor genes in both species, suggesting that introgression may be a source of functional novelty even between species with high barriers to gene flow.
Project description:To characterize the genetic basis of hybrid male sterility in detail, we used a systems genetics approach, integrating mapping of gene expression traits with sterility phenotypes and QTL. We measured genome-wide testis expression in 305 male F2s from a cross between wild-derived inbred strains of M. musculus musculus and M. m. domesticus. We identified several thousand cis- and trans-acting QTL contributing to expression variation (eQTL). Many trans eQTL cluster into eleven ‘hotspots,’ seven of which co-localize with QTL for sterility phenotypes identified in the cross. The number and clustering of trans eQTL - but not cis eQTL - were substantially lower when mapping was restricted to a ‘fertile’ subset of mice, providing evidence that trans eQTL hotspots are related to sterility. Functional annotation of transcripts with eQTL provides insights into the biological processes disrupted by sterility loci and guides prioritization of candidate genes. Using a conditional mapping approach, we identified eQTL dependent on interactions between loci, revealing a complex system of epistasis. Our results illuminate established patterns, including the role of the X chromosome in hybrid sterility.
Project description:The importance of unanchored Ub in innate immunity has been shown only for a limited number of unanchored Ub-interactors. We investigated what additional cellular factors interact with unanchored Ub and whether unanchored Ub plays a broader role in innate immunity. To identify unanchored Ub-interacting factors from murine lungs, we used His-tagged recombinant poly-Ub chains as bait. These chains were mixed with lung tissue lysates and protein complexes were isolated with Ni-NTA beads. Sample elutions were subjected to mass spectrometry (LC-MSMS) analysis.
Project description:<p>Lung ischemia-reperfusion injury (LIRI) is a serious complication in critical clinical situations. Despite its importance, the specific role of type II natural killer T (NKT) cells in LIRI remains unclear. In this study, we establish a LIRI mouse model and demonstrate that sulfatide-reactive type II NKT cells promote M2 polarization of alveolar macrophages (AMs) and alleviate LIRI through AMs-mediated mechanisms. This protective effect is absent in Jα18-/- mice, indicating the essential role of invariant NKT (iNKT) cells. Further analysis shows that interleukin-10 (IL-10) secreted by iNKT cells upregulates AT-rich interaction domain 3A (Arid3a) in macrophages, which then promotes the transcription of DNA damage inducible transcript 4 (DDIT4). This cascade enhances M2 polarization of macrophages, potentially contributing to lung protection and alleviating LIRI. These findings suggest that NKT cells may offer a therapeutic target for LIRI in the future.</p>