Project description:The onset of menopause is accompanied by a dramatic increase in reported symptoms of vaginal dryness, soreness, irritation or itching, pain with intercourse and bleeding after intercourse. Collectively these affect 25-50% of women of post-menopausal age and significantly impact their quality of life. To examine how gene expression differs between these groups, surface vaginal epithelial cells were collected from postmenopausal women suffering from vaginal dryness and appropriate controls not suffering from dryness. Affymetrix GeneChip Human 1.0 ST microarrays were performed on RNA isolated from ten participants. Suitable RNA was extracted from ten participants which were classified into two groups, the dryness and control groups, based on diagnosis of dryness by a nurse during gynecoligical examination.
Project description:The onset of menopause is accompanied by a dramatic increase in reported symptoms of vaginal dryness, soreness, irritation or itching, pain with intercourse and bleeding after intercourse. Collectively these affect 25-50% of women of post-menopausal age and significantly impact their quality of life. To examine how gene expression differs between these groups, surface vaginal epithelial cells were collected from postmenopausal women suffering from vaginal dryness and appropriate controls not suffering from dryness. Affymetrix GeneChip Human 1.0 ST microarrays were performed on RNA isolated from ten participants.
Project description:Background: Vaginal birth causes injury to the pelvic floor and may lead to urinary incontinence. Cell therapy has been proposed to assist in functional recovery. Objective: To assess if intra-arterial injection of mesoangioblasts (MABs) or Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)-overexpressed MABs, improves urethral and vaginal function recovery after simulated vaginal delivery (SVD). Results: All stem-cell injected rats had external urethral sphincteric and vaginal function recovery within 14d, as compared to half of controls. Functional recovery was paralleled by improved muscle regeneration and microvascularization. Recovery was not different between autologous and allogenic MABs. MABsallo-VEGF accelerated functional recovery and increased GAP-43 expression at 7d. We detected early on in the recovery major transcriptional changes in both MABsallo and MABsallo-VEGF. MABSallo upregulated transcripts that encode proteins involved in myogenesis and dendrite development, and downregulated pro-inflammatory processes MABsallo-VEGF upregulated transcripts that encode proteins involved neuron and dendrite development and downregulates genes involved in hypoxia and oxidative stress. 7d after injury, Later MABsallo-VEGF showed a decrease in oxidative and inflammatory response compared to MABSallo treated urethras. These pathways are also downregulated in animals that have recovered at 7d, compared to non-recovered animals. Conclusion: Intra-arterial injection of MABsallo-VEGF enhances neuroregeneration and accelerates functional urethral and vaginal recovery after simulated vaginal delivery. Injection of stem cells induces faster recovery of urethral and vaginal function; cells overexpressing a factor increasing blood vessel formation, were even more effective.
Project description:During sexual transmission of HIV-1 from male to female partners, the vagina is the initial site of contact with HIV infected semen. The mechanism of HIV traversing the CD4 negative multi-layered stratified squamous epithelial barrier of the vagina to infect sub-epithelial susceptible immune cells, is hitherto unknown. HIV gp120 binds to several host proteins on vaginal epithelial cells. To gain an insight into the physiologic changes that may occur in vaginal epithelial cells in response to interactions with HIV gp120, and obtain an understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which HIV breaches the vaginal epithelium, a global snap shot of gene expression profiles in the vaginal epithelial cell line Vk2/E6E7, treated with HIV gp120 was determined. The vaginal epithelial cell line Vk2/E6E7 was treated with HIV gp120 (83nM) for 24 hr, and Agilent one colour, microarrays were performed.
Project description:During sexual transmission of HIV-1 from male to female partners, the vagina is the initial site of contact with HIV infected semen. The mechanism of HIV traversing the CD4 negative multi-layered stratified squamous epithelial barrier of the vagina to infect sub-epithelial susceptible immune cells, is hitherto unknown. HIV gp120 binds to several host proteins on vaginal epithelial cells. To gain an insight into the physiologic changes that may occur in vaginal epithelial cells in response to interactions with HIV gp120, and obtain an understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which HIV breaches the vaginal epithelium, a global snap shot of gene expression profiles in the vaginal epithelial cell line Vk2/E6E7, treated with HIV gp120 was determined. The vaginal epithelial cell line Vk2/E6E7 was treated with HIV gp120 (83nM) for 24 hr, and Agilent one colour, microarrays were performed. Agilent one-color experiment,Organism: Human ,Agilent-Custom Whole Genome Human 8x60k designed by Genotypic Technology Pvt. Ltd. (AMADID: 027114), Labeling kit: Agilent Quick-Amp labeling Kit (p/n5190-0442)
Project description:Pre-exposure chemoprophylaxis using antiretroviral agents is a promising strategy for the prevention of sexual HIV transmission in women. Molecular transporters in the human vaginal tract may play a pivotal role in determining drug disposition and, consequently, pharmacodynamic outcomes in these efforts. Little is known, however, on the expression of these transporters in vaginal tissues, representing a critical knowledge gap. Our study analyzed the genome-wide transcriptome in 44 vaginal tissue samples from 6 reproductive-age women undergoing gynecologic surgeries. The genome-wide transcriptome in 44 vaginal tissue samples from 6 reproductive-age women (20-56 years old) undergoing gynecologic surgeries was measured.
Project description:In this study, using genetic cell lineage tracing, vaginal organoids, targeted gene deletion and single cell sequencing approaches; we revealed a unique population of vaginal epithelial stem cells and provided evidence that canonical Wnt/b-catenin signaling is required for the proliferation and differentiation of these stem cells.