Project description:Human OA patients subject to total knee replacement (TKR) were randomly selected and treated either LNA043 or placebo via intra-articular injection at 2hrs, 7days and 21days before surgery. The cartilage tissue were collected. Total RNA were extraced from both damaged and undamaged looking part of the tissue, and underwent gene expression profiling performed using next-generation sequencing on a Illumina platform.
Project description:Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death worldwide, and inhibition of the hepatically secreted protein ANGPTL3 has emerged as an effective treatment for lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), the cardinal risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). In this study, we examine the effects of complete genetic deficiency of ANGPTL3 on the hepatocyte transcriptome using a HepG2 cell culture model with the ANGPTL3 locus "knocked out" (KO) via CRISPR-Cas9.
Project description:Meckel's and condylar cartilages are key to mandible development. In achondroplasia, the most common form of genetic dwarfism, abnormalities of these cartilages lead to micrognathia, with significant functional repercussions for affected individuals. Using cartilage laser-microdissection and RNA-seq analyses, we analyzed the genes expressed in these cartilages in a mouse model mimicking achondroplasia and compared the transcriptome of Meckel’s and condylar cartilages from E16.5 embryos of control and Fgfr3Y367C/+ mice. Over 600 genes were differentially expressed. Our data suggest that dysregulation of several pathways due to Fgfr3 gain-of function mutation constitutes an important underlying mechanism in craniofacial defects observed in achondroplasia.
Project description:Even though the functions of ANGPTL3 in the circulation are relatively well characterized, many mechanistic questions regarding the molecular consequences of ANGPTL3 loss-of-function and protection against cardiovascular disease remain unanswered. To help understant the molecular mechanisms exerted by ANGPTL3 deficiency, we studied the alterations of ANGPTL3 loss-of-function in hepatocytes and plasma lipid molecular species profiles.
Project description:Lupus nephritis (LN), a severe complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is driven by immune complex deposition and inflammatory renal injury. This study uncovers a novel mechanism in which podocyte-derived angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) exacerbates LN pathogenesis through macrophage scavenger receptor 1 (MSR1)-mediated activation. Protein interaction screening revealed direct binding between ANGPTL3 and MSR1, a macrophage-enriched receptor. Clinical analyses demonstrated elevated glomerular expression of ANGPTL3 and MSR1 in LN patients, correlating with reduced renal function and histopathological damage. In vitro, ANGPTL3-overexpressing podocytes activated macrophages in an MSR1-dependent manner. RNA sequencing of ANGPTL3-stimulated bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) identified robust activation of interferon signaling pathways, with key genes (Tnip3, Isg20). Silencing Msr1 abolished these effects, suppressing interferon-related gene expression. In the pristane-induced lupus model, ANGPTL3 and MSR1 co-localized with infiltrating macrophages in injured glomeruli, mirroring human LN pathology. These findings establish the ANGPTL3-MSRI axis as a critical driver of macrophage activation and interferon signaling in LN, highlighting ANGPTL3 as a promising therapeutic target to mitigate immune-mediated renal injury in SLE.
Project description:Purpose: The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of ANGPTL3 inhibition on liver transcriptomes in LDLR KO mice. Methods: Mice were treated once weekly for 3 weeks with 25mg/kg control mAb or ANGPTL3 mAb. Livers were harvested 6 days after the last mAb treatment. Results: ANGPTL3 inhibition had no major impact on hepatic gene expression.
Project description:Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) carries out the lipolytic processing of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRL) along the luminal surface of capillaries. LPL activity is regulated by angiopoietin-like proteins (ANGPTL3, ANGPTL4, and ANGPTL8), which control the delivery of TRL-derived lipid nutrients to tissues in a temporal and spatial fashion. This regulation mediates the partitioning of lipid delivery to storage and metabolic tissues according to nutritional status. A complex between ANGPTL3 and ANGPTL8 (ANGPTL3/8) inhibits LPL activity in oxidative tissues, but its mode-of-action has remained unknown. Here, we used biophysical techniques to define how ANGPTL3/8 and ANGPTL3 interact with LPL and how they drive LPL inactivation. We demonstrate, by mass photometry, that ANGPTL3/8 is a heterotrimer with a 2:1 stoichiometry between ANGPTL3 and ANGPTL8 and that ANGPTL3 is a homotrimer. Hydrogen–deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) studies revealed that both ANGPTL3/8 and ANGPTL3 use the proximal portion of their N-terminal α-helices to interact with sequences surrounding the catalytic pocket in LPL. That binding event triggers unfolding of LPL’s α/β- hydrolase domain and irreversible loss of LPL catalytic activity. The binding of LPL to its endothelial transporter protein (GPIHBP1) or to heparan-sulfate proteoglycans protects LPL from inactivation by unfolding, particularly against the unfolding triggered by ANGPTL3. Pulse-labelling HDX-MS studies revealed that ANGPTL3/8 and ANGPTL3 catalyze LPL unfolding in an ATP-independent fashion, which categorize these LPL inhibitors as atypical unfoldases. The catalytic nature of LPL unfolding by ANGPTL3/8 explains why low plasma concentrations of ANGPTL3/8 are effective in inhibiting a molar excess of LPL in capillaries.