While lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the US, we have a limited understanding of the earliest molecular events preceding the onset of disease. Prior work has demonstrated that cigarette smoke creates a molecular “field of injury” throughout the airway epithelium and that there are distinct alterations in the airway transcriptome among smokers who have lung cancer. Molecular characterization of this airway “field of injury” in current and former smokers with premalignant lesions (PMLs) could provide novel insights into the earliest molecular events associated with lung carcinogenesis and identify relatively accessible biomarkers to guide lung cancer detection and early intervention. Using mRNA sequencing (mRNA-Seq), we profiled 82 cytologically normal bronchial airway epithelial cells collected during autofluorescence bronchoscopy from high-risk smokers with and without bronchial PMLs, 75 of which were used in downstream analyses. We identified 280 genes differentially expressed in the “field of injury” between subjects with (n=50) and without (n=25) PMLs (FDR<0.002), 81 of which were up-regulated in subjects with PMLs. Oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), the electron transport chain (ETC), and mitochondrial protein transport pathways were strongly enriched among these up-regulated genes (FDR<0.05). We next demonstrated that OXPHOS activation is shared between the “field” and the PMLs with increased oxygen consumption and increased staining for mitochondrial markers in biopsies of PMLs from patients as well as an animal model of lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) premalignancy. The 280-gene signature also has a significant concordant relationship to gene expression changes identified in PMLs adjacent to lung SCC tumors, in lung SCC tumors, and in the cytologically normal airway of individuals with lung cancer (FDR<0.05). These findings suggest that these expression changes are reflective of early cancer-associated changes occurring throughout the respiratory tract, and that pathways such as OXPHOS may be targets for chemoprevention. We subsequently developed an airway gene expression biomarker that predicts the presence of PMLs (AUC=0.92, n=17 samples in test set) and show that changes in the biomarker score are associated with progression and regression of PMLs in an independent cohort (AUC=0.75, n=51 samples). The biomarker results indicate that molecular alterations in the field of injury are dynamic with progression or regression of PMLs, suggesting that these changes may be leveraged to stratify high-risk smokers with progressive disease into early intervention trials and monitor disease progression or recurrence. Overall design: 82 mRNA-Seq samples from 25 smokers without PMLs, 50 smokers with PMLs, and 7 smokers with metaplasia.
Detecting the Presence and Progression of Premalignant Lung Lesions via Airway Gene Expression.
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View SamplesWhile lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the US, we have a limited understanding of the earliest molecular events preceding the onset of disease. Prior work has demonstrated that cigarette smoke creates a molecular “field of injury” throughout the airway epithelium and that there are distinct alterations in the airway transcriptome among smokers who have lung cancer. Molecular characterization of this airway “field of injury” in current and former smokers with premalignant lesions (PMLs) could provide novel insights into the earliest molecular events associated with lung carcinogenesis and identify relatively accessible biomarkers to guide lung cancer detection and early intervention. Using mRNA sequencing (mRNA-Seq), we profiled cytologically normal bronchial airway epithelial cells collected during autofluorescence bronchoscopy from high-risk smokers (n=75) with and without bronchial PMLs. We identified 280 genes differentially expressed in the “field of injury” between subjects with (n=50) and without (n=25) PMLs (FDR<0.002), 81 of which were up-regulated in subjects with PMLs. Oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), the electron transport chain (ETC), and mitochondrial protein transport pathways were strongly enriched among these up-regulated genes (FDR<0.05). We next demonstrated that OXPHOS activation is shared between the “field” and the PMLs with increased oxygen consumption and increased staining for mitochondrial markers in biopsies of PMLs from patients as well as an animal model of lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) premalignancy. The 280-gene signature also has a significant concordant relationship to gene expression changes identified in PMLs adjacent to lung SCC tumors, in lung SCC tumors, and in the cytologically normal airway of individuals with lung cancer (FDR<0.05). These findings suggest that these expression changes are reflective of early cancer-associated changes occurring throughout the respiratory tract, and that pathways such as OXPHOS may be targets for chemoprevention. We subsequently developed an airway gene expression biomarker that predicts the presence of PMLs (AUC=0.92, n=17 samples in test set) and show that changes in the biomarker score are associated with progression and regression of PMLs in an independent cohort (AUC=0.75, n=51 samples). The biomarker results indicate that molecular alterations in the field of injury are dynamic with progression or regression of PMLs, suggesting that these changes may be leveraged to stratify high-risk smokers with progressive disease into early intervention trials and monitor disease progression or recurrence. Overall design: 51 mRNA-Seq samples from 23 subjects obtained via bronchscopy (18 subjects with 2 procedures, 5 subjects with 3 procedures).
Detecting the Presence and Progression of Premalignant Lung Lesions via Airway Gene Expression.
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View SamplesPublication Title: DNA methylation alters transcriptional rates of differentially expressed genes and contributes to pathophysiology in mice fed a high fat diet. It is now well established that an intrauterine environment altered by overnutrition or malnutrition can change gene expression patterns through epigenetic mechanisms that may persist through generations. However, it is less clear if overnutrition alters epigenetic control of gene expression in adults, or if whether such mechanisms contribute to the pathology of obesity. Here we test the hypothesis that exposure to a high fat diet alters hepatic DNA methylation and gene expression patterns, and explore the contribution of such changes to the pathophysiology of overnutrition. RNA-seq and targeted high-throughput bisulfite DNA sequencing were used to undertake a systematic analysis of the hepatic response to a high fat diet. A subset of genes was found whose expression levels were altered in concert with DNA methylation changes. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation of RNA polymerase, we determined that hypermethylation correlated with decreased transcription of two of the genes, Phlda1 and Onecut1. A subnetwork of these genes and their nearest neighbors was generated from an existing Bayesian gene network that contained numerous hepatic regulatory genes involved in lipid and body weight homeostasis. Hepatic-specific depletion of Phlda1 in mice decreased the genes in the subnetwork, and led to increased oil droplet size in standard chow-fed mice, an early indicator of steatosis, validating the contribution of this gene to the phenotype. Overall design: 14 mice fed either a high fat/high sucrose (n=7) or low fat/low sucrose (n=7) diet.
DNA methylation alters transcriptional rates of differentially expressed genes and contributes to pathophysiology in mice fed a high fat diet.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesDietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) act as potent natural hypolipidemics and are linked to many health benefits in humans and in animal models. Mice fed long-term a high fat diet, in which medium-chain alpha linoleic acid (ALA) was partially replaced by long-chain docosahexaenoic (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic (EPA) fatty acids, showed reduced accumulation of body fat and prevention of insulin resistance, besides increased mitochondrial beta-oxidation in white adipose tissue and decreased plasma lipids. ALA, EPA and DHA all belong to PUFA of n-3 series. The intestine is a gatekeeper organ for ingested lipids. To examine the potential contribution of the intestine in the beneficial effects of EPA and DHA, this study assessed gene expression changes using whole genome microarray analysis on small intestinal scrapings. The main biological process affected was lipid metabolism. Fatty acid uptake, peroxisomal and mitochondrial beta-oxidation, and omega-oxidation of fatty acids were all increased. Quantitative real time PCR and intestinal fatty acid oxidation measurements ([14C(U)]-palmitate) confirmed significant gene expression differences in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, no major changes in the expression of lipid metabolism genes were observed in colonic scrapings. In conclusion, we show that marine n-3 fatty acids regulate small intestinal gene expression patterns. Since this organ contributes significantly to whole organism energy use, this adaptation of the small intestine may contribute to the complex and observed beneficial physiological effects of these natural compounds under conditions that will normally lead to development of obesity and diabetes.
Induction of lipid oxidation by polyunsaturated fatty acids of marine origin in small intestine of mice fed a high-fat diet.
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View SamplesGene expression profiles generated from skeletal muscle biopsies taken from participants of the HERITAGE family study. Participants completed an endurance training regime in which a skeletal muscle biopsy was taken prior to the start and after the final session of the program. Biopsies were used to generate Affymetrix gene expression microarrays.
The Role of Eif6 in Skeletal Muscle Homeostasis Revealed by Endurance Training Co-expression Networks.
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View SamplesRationale: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of acute lower respiratory tract infections and hospitalizations in infants worldwide. Known risk factors, however, incompletely explain the variability of RSV disease severity among children. We postulate that severity of RSV infection is influenced in part by modulation of the host immune response by the local microbial ecosystem at the time of infection. Objectives: To define whether different nasopharyngeal microbiota profiles are associated with distinct host transcriptome profiles and severity in children with RSV infection. Methods: We analyzed the nasopharyngeal microbiota profiles of young children with mild and severe RSV disease and healthy matched controls by 16S-rRNA sequencing. In parallel, we analyzed whole blood gene expression profiles to study the relationship between microbial community composition, the RSV-induced host transcriptional response and clinical disease severity. Measurements and Main results: We identified five nasopharyngeal microbiota profiles characterized by enrichment of H. influenzae, Streptococcus, Corynebacterium, Moraxella or S. aureus. RSV infection and RSV hospitalization were positively associated with H. influenzae and Streptococcus, and negatively associated with S. aureus abundance, independent of age. The host response to RSV was defined by overexpression of interferon-related genes, and this was independent of the microbiota composition. On the other hand, transcriptome profiles of RSV infected children with H. influenzae and Streptococcus-dominated microbiota were characterized by greater overexpression of genes linked to toll-like receptor-signaling and neutrophil activation and were more frequently hospitalized Conclusions: Our data suggest an immunomodulatory role for the resident nasopharyngeal microbial community early in RSV infection, potentially affecting RSV disease severity.
Nasopharyngeal Microbiota, Host Transcriptome, and Disease Severity in Children with Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection.
Sex, Specimen part, Disease, Race
View SamplesA cardinal symptom of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is the disruption of circadian patterns. Yet, to date, there is no direct evidence of circadian clock dysregulation in the brains of MDD patients. Circadian rhythmicity of gene expression has been observed in animals and peripheral human tissues, but its presence and variability in the human brain was difficult to characterize. Here we applied time-of-death analysis to gene expression data from high-quality postmortem brains, examining 24-hour cyclic patterns in six cortical and limbic regions of 55 subjects with no history of psychiatric or neurological illnesses ('Controls') and 34 MDD patients. Our dataset covered ~12,000 transcripts in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (AnCg), hippocampus (HC), amygdala (AMY), nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and cerebellum (CB). Several hundred transcripts in each region showed 24-hour cyclic patterns in Controls, and >100 transcripts exhibited consistent rhythmicity and phase-synchrony across regions. Among the top ranked rhythmic genes were the canonical clock genes BMAL1(ARNTL), PER1-2-3, NR1D1(REV-ERB), DBP, BHLHE40(DEC1), and BHLHE41(DEC2). The phasing of known circadian genes was consistent with data derived from other diurnal mammals. Cyclic patterns were much weaker in MDD brains, due to shifted peak timing and potentially disrupted phase relationships between individual circadian genes. This is the first transcriptome-wide analysis of cyclic patterns in the human brain and demonstrates a rhythmic rise and fall of gene expression in regions outside of the suprachiasmatic nucleus in control subjects. The description of its breakdown in MDD suggest novel molecular targets for treatment of mood disorders.
Circadian patterns of gene expression in the human brain and disruption in major depressive disorder.
Subject
View SamplesRNA-seq profiling was conducted on clinically-annotated human post-mortem brain tissues Overall design: We measured the transcriptome in 281 clinically-annotated human post-mortem brain tissues
Post-mortem molecular profiling of three psychiatric disorders.
Sex, Specimen part, Race, Subject
View SamplesAccumulating evidence suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction underlies the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ). We performed large-scale DNA microarray analysis of postmortem brains of patients with BD or SZ, and examined expression patterns of mitochondria-related genes. We found a global down-regulation of mitochondrial genes, such as those encoding respiratory chain components, in BD and SZ samples, even after the effect of sample pH was controlled. However, this was likely due to the effects of medication. Medication-free patients with BD showed tendency of up-regulation of subset of mitochondrial genes. Our findings support the mitochondrial dysfunction hypothesis of BD and SZ pathologies. However, it may be the expression changes of a small fraction of mitochondrial genes rather than the global down-regulation of mitochondrial genes. Our findings warrant further study of the molecular mechanisms underlying mitochondrial dysfunction in BD and SZ.
Altered expression of mitochondria-related genes in postmortem brains of patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, as revealed by large-scale DNA microarray analysis.
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View SamplesA variety of neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, major depressive disorder, dyslexia and autism, are differentially prevalent between females and males. To better understand the possible molecular basis for the sex-biased nature of neurological disorders, we measured both mRNA and protein in the hippocampus of female and male mice at 1, 2, and 4 months of age with RNA-sequencing and mass-spectrometry respectively. Differential expression analyses identify 2699 genes that are differentially expressed between animals of different ages. 198 transcripts are differentially expressed between females and males at one or more ages. The number of transcripts that are differentially expressed between females and males is greater in adult animals than in younger animals. Additionally, we identify 69 transcripts that show complex and sex-specific patterns of temporal regulation across all ages, 8 of which are heat-shock proteins. We also find a modest correlation between levels of mRNA and protein in the mouse hippocampus (Rho = 0.53). This study adds to the substantial body of evidence for transcriptomic regulation in the hippocampus during postnatal development. Additionally, this analysis reveals sex differences in the transcriptome of the developing mouse hippocampus, and further clarifies the need to include both female and male mice in longitudinal studies involving molecular changes in the hippocampus. Overall design: Hippocampal mRNA from 1, 2, and 4 month old male and female B6 mice were analyzed by RNA sequencing of 5 biological replicates using an Illumina HiSeq 2500
Sex differences in the molecular signature of the developing mouse hippocampus.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
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