To identify novel Nurr1 target genes we have used microarrays strategies in rat midbrain primary cultures, enriched in dopaminergic neurons, by the action of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF, 20ng/ml) and Sonic hedgedog (SHH), following upregulation of Nurr1 expression by depolarization.To this aim we have treated the cultures after 9 days in vitro for 2h with high KCl and collected 30 min or 2 h after the end of depolarization (2h + 30 min or 2h + 2h). With this experimental protocol we have identify a putative Nurr1 regulator and Nurr1 target
Bdnf gene is a downstream target of Nurr1 transcription factor in rat midbrain neurons in vitro.
Specimen part
View SamplesDirect cell reprogramming has enabled the direct conversion of skin fibroblasts into functional neurons and oligodendrocytes using a minimal set of cell lineage-specific transcription factors. This approach has substantial advantages since it is rapid and simple, generating the cell type of interest in a single step. However, it remains unknown whether this technology can be applied for directly reprogramming skin cells into astrocytes, the third neural lineage. Astrocytes play crucial roles in neuronal homeostasis and their dysfunctions contribute to the origin and progression of multiple human diseases. Herein, we carried out a screening using several transcription factors involved in defining the astroglial cell fate and identified NFIA, NFIB and SOX9 to be sufficient to convert with high efficiency embryonic and post-natal mouse fibroblasts into astrocytes (iAstrocytes). We proved both by gene expression profiling and functional tests that iAstrocytes are comparable to native brain astrocytes. This protocol can be then employed to generate functional iAstrocytes for a wide range of experimental applications.
Direct conversion of fibroblasts into functional astrocytes by defined transcription factors.
Specimen part
View SamplesTransdifferentiation of fibroblasts into induced Neuronal cells (iNs) by neuronal-specific transcription factors Brn2, Myt1l and Ascl1 is a paradigmatic example of inter-lineage conversion across epigenetically distant cells. Despite tremendous progress on the transcriptional hierarchy underlying transdifferentiation, the enablers of the concomitant epigenome resetting remain to be elucidated. Here we investigated the role of KMT2A and KMT2B, two histone H3 lysine 4 methylases with cardinal roles in development, through individual and combined inactivation. We found that Kmt2b, whose human homologue's mutations cause dystonia, is selectively required for iN conversion through the suppression of the alternative myocyte program and the induction of neuronal maturation genes. Overall design: In order to study the role of KMT2A and KMT2B during transdifferentiation, we employed conditional mouse strains carrying: i) the exon 2 of Kmt2a and/or Kmt2b flanked by LoxP sites; ii) the knock-in of the YFP-coding gene into one Rosa26 allele, downstream of a LoxP-flanked transcription termination cassette (STOP cassette); and iii) the gene coding for the tamoxifen-inducible version of Cre recombinase knocked into the second Rosa26 allele (Glaser et al., 2006; Kranz et al., 2010; Testa et al., 2004). MEFs were derived from Kmt2a (and/or Kmt2b)fl/fl Cre+ YFP+ embryos and from Kmt2a+/+Kmt2b+/+ Cre+ YFP+ or Kmt2afl/+ Cre+ YFP+ for Kmt2a conditional KO (cKO) as controls (Figure 1A), and were subjected to transdifferentiation. After 13 days of BAM treatment, cells were FACS sorted for PSA-NCAM expression, and the transcriptome of positive and negative cells were independently profiled.
KMT2B Is Selectively Required for Neuronal Transdifferentiation, and Its Loss Exposes Dystonia Candidate Genes.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesLineage-specific transcription factors, which drive cellular identity during embryogenesis, have been shown to convert cell fate when express ectopically in heterologous cells. Herein, we screened the key molecular factors governing the dopaminergic neuronal specification during brain development for their ability to generate similar neurons directly from mouse and human fibroblasts. Remarkably, we found a minimal set of three factors Mash1, Nurr1 and Lmx1a/b able to elicit such cellular reprogramming. Molecular and transcriptome studies showed reprogrammed DA neurons to faithfully recapitulate gene expression of their brain homolog cells while lacking expression of other catecholaminergic neuronal types. Induced neurons showed spontaneous electrical activity organized in regular spikes consistent with the pacemaker activity featured by brain DA neurons. The three factors were able to elicit DA neuronal conversion in human fibroblasts from prenatal or adult fibroblasts of healthy donors and a Parkinsons disease patient. Generation of DA induced neurons from somatic cells might have significant implications in studies of neural development, disease in vitro modeling and cell replacement therapies.
Direct generation of functional dopaminergic neurons from mouse and human fibroblasts.
Specimen part
View SamplesTransplantation of GABAergic interneurons (INs) can sustain long-standing benefits in animal models of epilepsy and other neurological disorders. In a therapeutic perspective, a renewable source of functional GABAergic INs is needed. Here, we identified five factors (Foxg1, Sox2, Ascl1, Dlx5 and Lhx6) able to convert fibroblasts directly into induced GABAergic INs (iGABA-INs), displaying the molecular signature of telencephalic INs. The selected factors recapitulate in fibroblasts the activation of transcriptional networks required for the specification of GABAergic fate during telencephalon development. iGABA-INs exhibited progressively maturing firing patterns comparable to those of cortical INs, had synaptic currents and released GABA. Importantly, upon grafting in the hippocampus, iGABA-INs survived, matured and their optogenetic stimulation triggered GABAergic transmission and inhibited the activity of connected granule cells. The five factors also converted human cells into functional GABAergic neurons. These properties define iGABA-INs as a promising tool for disease modeling and cell-based therapeutic approaches. Overall design: Comparison of iGABA-INs transcriptional profile with those of starting fibroblasts and GAD67-GFP+ cortical interneurons.
Rapid Conversion of Fibroblasts into Functional Forebrain GABAergic Interneurons by Direct Genetic Reprogramming.
Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View SamplesUnraveling complexity of DNA methylome is essential to decipher DNA methylation mechanism in life. However, this has been subjected to technological constraints to balance between cost and accurate measurement of the DNA methylation level. In this study, by innovatively introducing C-hydroxylmethylated adapters, we have developed MeDIP-Bisulfite sequencing (MB-seq), which could obtain DNA methylome of repertoire CpGs at single-base resolution. We found MB-seq only costs 10% of MethylC-seq, but covers 85% of total CpGs in human genome. Unlike absolute methylation levels determined by MethylC-seq and RRBS, MB-seq presented relative methylation levels that are linearly inflated. This has enlightened us to develop a MB-seq corresponding correction method for methylation level based on ridge regression, which integrates the data of MB-seq and RRBS to predict the methylation level of total 28.2 million CpGs on human genome with high accuracy (Pearson correlation coefficient, PCC=0.90). Moreover, by employing MB-seq, we generated the DNA methylome of an ovarian epithelial cell line (T29) and its oncogenic counterpart (T29H), respectively. After ridge regression, we identified 131,790 differential methylation regions (DMRs) with high accuracy between T29 and T29H, far more than 7,567 obtained from RRBS. Taken together, our result demonstrated that the MB-seq combined with ridge regression is a wide applicable approach for profiling of DNA methylome. Overall design: Total RNAs were extracted from T29 and T29H with RNeasy Mini Kit (QIAGEN, Germany). RNA quality was quality-controlled by Bioanalyser 2100 (RNA nano kits, Agilent). mRNA-Seq libraries were generated from total RNA with polyA+ selection of mRNA using the TruSeq RNA Sample Prep Kit v2 (Illumina, San Diego, CA), and then subjected to transcriptome sequencing on the Illumina Hiseq 2000
MBRidge: an accurate and cost-effective method for profiling DNA methylome at single-base resolution.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesBy using NGS-derived retinal transcriptome profiling (RNA-seq) to compare the gene expression profiling between 4 differently treated NPC cells Overall design: Examination of different gene expression in EBV-miRNA-BART1/3/7 lentivirus and their control infected nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.
Epstein-Barr virus-encoded microRNA BART1 induces tumour metastasis by regulating PTEN-dependent pathways in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View SamplesAnalysis of GPR120 which play roles for the fatty acid sensor in adipose tissue. Results provide insight into the transcriptional effects caused by the loss of the GPR120 proteins and provide further insight into their functions.
Dysfunction of lipid sensor GPR120 leads to obesity in both mouse and human.
Specimen part, Treatment, Subject
View SamplesRelative expression levels of mRNAs in chicken cecal epithelia experimentally infected with Eimeria tenella were measured at 4.5 days post-infection. Two weeks old chickens were uninfected (negative control) or were orally inoculated with sporulated oocysts of Eimeria tenella. Cecal epithelia samples were collected from >12 birds in infected or uninfected group at 4.5 d following infections, in which samples from 4 birds were pooled together to form a total 3 biological replicates in each group. Parasite merozoites were also collected from four infected chickens at 5 d after infections. Uninfected control samples, merozoites and infection group samples were selected for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.
Transcriptome analysis in chicken cecal epithelia upon infection by Eimeria tenella in vivo.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesAffymetrix Human Gene 2.0 ST microarray (ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) was used to select differentially expressed genes.
BRD2 induces drug resistance through activation of the RasGRP1/Ras/ERK signaling pathway in adult T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma.
Sex, Age
View Samples