Project description:In order to analyse the Nucleus Basalis of Meynert proteome in a large-scale format, we used a multi-dimensional fractionation approach which combines isolation of anatomically-defined nuclei, and protein/peptide chromatographic fractionation strategies coupled to mass spectrometry.
Project description:The nucleus basalis, also known as the nucleus basalis of Meynert (nbM), which is considered to be one of the major cholinergic output of basal forebrain, have been found to dynamically modulate activity in the cortex. Dysfunction of nucleus basalis-cortical cholinergic circuit led to cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Down syndrome (DS). Human nucleus basalis cholinergic neurons derived from human pluripotent stem cells provide powerful tools to study cholinergic neurons-associated diseases and cell therapy. Previous studies reported the generation of 2D human basal forebrain cholinergic neurons which failed to recapitulate the spatial organization, cellular diversity, and crosstalk between different regions. Therefore, a better model to recapitulate human nucleus basalis and cholinergic projections in nbM-cortical is desired. Here we developed a approach for differentiating human pluripotent stem cells into nucleus basalis of Meynert organoids (hnbMOs). We reconstructed hnbM-cortex cholinergic projection by transplanting hnbMOs into immunodeficiency mice to construct chimeric brains and coculturing with human fetal brain. Then we fused hnbMOs with cerebral cortex organoids (hCOs) to form hnbMO-hCO assembloids. We validate the structural and functional connectivity of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons to the cortex in assembloids. An assembloid-chimeric brain was constructed innovatively by transplanting corresponding organoids in the cortex and nbM region to establish a complete human cholinergic projection system. Futhermore, we identified the defects in projection of cholinergic neurons at the morphological and transcriptomic level in Down syndrome patient iPSC-derived assembloids as well as Down syndrome fetal brain tissue. Our work establishes new approach for the study of neurological disorders associated with nbM and nbM-cortical cholinergic neuron circuit.
Project description:The human endometrium is a highly regenerative tissue that undergoes cyclical proliferation, differentiation and shedding each month. The upper functionalis layer of the endometrium is shed in response to circulating levels of estrogen and progesterone, while the lower basalis layer remains. Clonogenic epithelial stem/progenitor cells likely responsible for regenerating endometrial epithelium have been identified in pre-menopausal (Pre-M) and post-menopausal (Post-M) endometrium and may reside in the basalis layer. We undertook a transcriptional profiling of purified epithelial cells from full-thickness Pre-M and Post-M endometrium to identify differentially expressed genes. The hypothesis tested in the present study was that Post-M endometrial epithelial gene profile would be similar to the quiescent basalis epithelium of Pre-M endometrium. We found striking differential gene expression of many Wnt family members between Pre-M and Post-M and other stem cell network genes. Comparative analysis of our endometrial epithelial gene expression profiles to that of endometrial epithelial cells in remodelling endometrium also provides new evidence showing that Post-M endometrial epithelium has a similar gene signature to that of basalis epithelium of menstrual endometrium.
Project description:The human endometrium is a highly regenerative tissue that undergoes cyclical proliferation, differentiation and shedding each month. The upper functionalis layer of the endometrium is shed in response to circulating levels of estrogen and progesterone, while the lower basalis layer remains. Clonogenic epithelial stem/progenitor cells likely responsible for regenerating endometrial epithelium have been identified in pre-menopausal (Pre-M) and post-menopausal (Post-M) endometrium and may reside in the basalis layer. We undertook a transcriptional profiling of purified epithelial cells from full-thickness Pre-M and Post-M endometrium to identify differentially expressed genes. The hypothesis tested in the present study was that Post-M endometrial epithelial gene profile would be similar to the quiescent basalis epithelium of Pre-M endometrium. We found striking differential gene expression of many Wnt family members between Pre-M and Post-M and other stem cell network genes. Comparative analysis of our endometrial epithelial gene expression profiles to that of endometrial epithelial cells in remodelling endometrium also provides new evidence showing that Post-M endometrial epithelium has a similar gene signature to that of basalis epithelium of menstrual endometrium. Human endometrial tissue was obtained from 8 pre-menopausal and 3 post-menopausal women undergoing hysterectomy for various benign gynaecologic conditions. Endometrial tissue was digested and isolated using combination of DNase and collagenase. Anti-human EpCAM antibody-coated magnetic Dynabeads was used to positively select total epithelial cells from the digested single cell suspensions. Total RNA was extracted from the purified endometrial epithelial cells and hybridised to Illumina Sentrix HT12 beadchip. Resulting data was compared between pre-menopausal and post-menopausal samples.
Project description:Purpose: The goal of this study is to compare endothelial small RNA transcriptome to identify the target of OASL under basal or stimulated conditions by utilizing miRNA-seq. Methods: Endothelial miRNA profilies of siCTL or siOASL transfected HUVECs were generated by illumina sequencing method, in duplicate. After sequencing, the raw sequence reads are filtered based on quality. The adapter sequences are also trimmed off the raw sequence reads. rRNA removed reads are sequentially aligned to reference genome (GRCh38) and miRNA prediction is performed by miRDeep2. Results: We identified known miRNA in species (miRDeep2) in the HUVECs transfected with siCTL or siOASL. The expression profile of mature miRNA is used to analyze differentially expressed miRNA(DE miRNA). Conclusions: Our study represents the first analysis of endothelial miRNA profiles affected by OASL knockdown with biologic replicates.