This project is based on the hygiene hypothesis that exposure to TB provides a protective mechanism against asthma through specific cytokines and the balance of Th1, Th2 cells. Additionally, expression changes are examined in patients with and without atopy in combination with asthma and PPD status. Expression levels were evaluated in CD4+ cells isolated from peripheral blood of 30 patients. Each patient was evaluated on the entire U133 Affymetrix GeneChip set.
A module-based analytical strategy to identify novel disease-associated genes shows an inhibitory role for interleukin 7 Receptor in allergic inflammation.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesIn order to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying individual variation in sensitivity to ethanol we profiled the prefrontal cortex transcriptomes of two inbred strains that exhibit divergent responses to acute ethanol, the C57BL6/J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2) strains, as well as 27 members of the BXD recombinant inbred panel, which was derived from a B6 x D2 cross. With this dataset we were able to identify several gene co-expression networks that were robustly altered by acute ethanol across the BXD panel. These ethanol-responsive gene-enriched networks were heavily populated by genes regulating synaptic transmission and neuroplasticity, and showed strong genetic linkage to discreet chromosomal loci. Network-based measurements of node importance identified several hub genes as established regulators of ethanol response phenotypes, while other hubs represent novel candidate modulators of ethanol responses.
Genetic dissection of acute ethanol responsive gene networks in prefrontal cortex: functional and mechanistic implications.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesThe immune system plays a pivotal role in susceptibility to and progression of a variety of diseases. Due to its strong genetic basis, heritable differences in immune function may contribute to differential disease susceptibility between individuals. Genetic reference populations, such as the BXD (C57BL/6J X DBA/2J) panel of recombinant inbred (RI) mouse strains, provide a unique model through which to integrate baseline phenotypes in healthy individuals with heritable risk for disease because of the ability to combine data collected from these populations across multiple studies and time. We performed basic immunophenotyping (e.g. percentage of circulating B and T lymphocytes and CD4+ and CD8+ T cell subpopulations) in peripheral blood of healthy mice from 41 BXD RI strains to define the phenotypic variation in this model system and to characterize the genetic architecture that unlerlies these traits. Significant QTL models that explained the majority (50-77%) of phenotypic variance were derived for each trait and for the T:B cell and CD4+:CD8+ ratios. Combining QTL mapping with spleen gene expression data uncovered two quantitative trait transcripts (QTTs), Ptprk and Acp1, that which are candidates for heritable differences in the relative abundance of helper and cytotoxic T cells. These data will be valuable in extracting genetic correlates of the immune system in the BXD panel. In addition, they will be a useful resource in prospective, phenotype-driven model selection to test hypotheses about differential disease or environmental susceptibility between individuals with baseline differences in the composition of the immune system.
Identifying genetic loci and spleen gene coexpression networks underlying immunophenotypes in BXD recombinant inbred mice.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesPuberty unmasks or accelerates nephropathies, including the nephropathy of diabetes mellitus (DM). A number of cellular systems implicated in the kidney disease of DM interweave, forming an interdependent functional web. We performed focused microarray analysis to test the hypothesis that one or more genes in the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-) signaling system would be differentially regulated in male rats depending on the age of onset of DM.
Prepubertal onset of diabetes prevents expression of renal cortical connective tissue growth factor.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesSeasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) is a complex disease that is caused by many interacting genes and environmental factors. It is also an excellent model disease for clinical studies; it is common, it is seasonal, and since it takes place in the nasal cavity it can be studied in vivo non-invasively. Furthermore, the key disease cell, the Th2 cell is known. We study SAR using allergen-challenged CD4+ cells from allergic patients.
Highly interconnected genes in disease-specific networks are enriched for disease-associated polymorphisms.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesThe mammary gland is a highly dynamic organ that mainly develops during puberty. Based on morphology and proliferation analysis, mammary stem cells (MaSCs) are thought to be close to or reside in the terminal end buds (TEBs) during pubertal development. However, exclusive stem cell markers are lacking, and therefore the true identity of MaSCs, including their location, multiplicity, dynamics and fate during branching morphogenesis, has yet to be defined. To gain more insights into the molecular identity and heterogeneity of the MaSC pool, we performed single cell transcriptome sequencing of mammary epithelial cells micro-dissected from ducts and TEBs during puberty. These data show that the behaviour of MaSCs cannot be directly linked to a single expression profile. Instead, morphogenesis of the mammary epithelium relies upon a heterogeneous population of MaSCs that functions long-term as a single equipotent pool of stem cells. Overall design: Ducts and terminal end buds were micro-dissected from the 4th and the 5th murine mammary gland at 5 weeks-of-age, dissociated into single cells, and FACS sorted. Single-cell transcriptomics was performed on live cells using an automated version of CEL-seq2 on live, FACS sorted cells. The StemID algorithm was used to identify clusters of cells corresponding to basal and luminal cells types derived from ducts and terminal end buds.
Identity and dynamics of mammary stem cells during branching morphogenesis.
Cell line, Subject
View SamplesDetailed analysis of disease-affected tissue provides insight into molecular mechanisms contributing to pathogenesis. Substantia nigra, striatum and cortex are functionally connected with increasing degrees
Systems-based analyses of brain regions functionally impacted in Parkinson's disease reveals underlying causal mechanisms.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Disease, Disease stage
View SamplesProgesterone promotes differentiation coupled to proliferation and pro-survival in the breast, but inhibits estrogen-driven growth in the reproductive tract and ovaries. Herein, it is demonstrated, using progesterone receptor (PR) isoform-specific ovarian cancer model systems, that PR-A and PR-B promote distinct gene expression profiles that differ from PR-driven genes in breast cancer cells. In ovarian cancer models, PR-A primarily regulates genes independently of progestin, while PR-B is the dominant ligand-dependent isoform. Notably, FOXO1 and the PR/FOXO1 target-gene p21 (CDKN1A) are repressed by PR-A, but induced by PR-B. In the presence of progestin, PR-B, but not PR-A, robustly induced cellular senescence via FOXO1-dependent induction of p21 and p15 (CDKN2B). Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays performed on PR-isoform specific cells demonstrated that while each isoform is recruited to the same PRE-containing region of the p21 promoter in response to progestin, only PR-B elicits active chromatin marks. Overexpression of constitutively active FOXO1 in PR-A-expressing cells conferred robust ligand-dependent upregulation of the PR-B target genes GZMA, IGFBP1, and p21, and induced cellular senescence. In the presence of endogenous active FOXO1, PR-A was phosphorylated on Ser294 and transactivated PR-B at PR-B target genes; these events were blocked by the FOXO1 inhibitor (AS1842856). PR isoform-specific regulation of the FOXO1/p21 axis recapitulated in human primary ovarian tumor explants treated with progestin; loss of progestin sensitivity correlated with high AKT activity.
Active FOXO1 Is a Key Determinant of Isoform-Specific Progesterone Receptor Transactivation and Senescence Programming.
Treatment, Time
View SamplesProgesterone receptors (PRs) are critical context-dependent transcription factors required for normal uterine (PR-A) and mammary gland (PR-B) development. Progesterone is proliferative in the breast, where PR-target genes include paracrine factors that mediate mammary stem cell self-renewal. In the context of altered signal transduction that typifies breast tumorigenesis, dysregulated (i.e. hyper-phosphorylated) PRs likely contribute to tumor progression by promoting cancer cell pro-survival and proliferation. Notably, in breast cancer cells, progestin-bound PRs induce rapid MAPK activation leading to selective regulation of growth-promoting genes by phosphorylated PR species. Functional domains within PR that interact with c-Src and estrogen receptors (ER) have been identified as indirect routes to MAPK activation. Herein, we describe a common docking (CD) domain located within the PR-B N-terminus, a motif first described in MAPKs that facilitates direct interactions between MAPKs and MEK1 or MAPK-phosphatases (MKPs). Mutation of negatively-charged amino acids, previously determined to be critical for CD domain function in MAPKs, within PR-B (mCD PR) did not alter MEK-binding or progestin-induced rapid signaling (i.e. MAPK activation) and PR transcriptional activity as measured by PRE-luciferase (reporter) assays. Microarray gene-expression analysis revealed that endogenous genes regulated by wt PR, but not mCD PR, are involved in critical cellular pathways regulating growth, proliferation, survival, and cancer. mCD PR failed to undergo ligand-induced phosphorylation on Ser81, a ck2-dependent site required for progestin-regulation of select growth-promoting genes (BIRC3, HSD112, HbEGF). Progestin-induced PR Ser81 phosphorylation mapped to CD domain-dependent binding of PR-B to MKP3, but did not require phosphatase activity. Receptors containing either mutant CD domains (mCD PR) or point mutations of Ser81 (S79/81A PR) failed to upregulate STAT5 and Wnt1, key PR-target gene products that act as critical mediators of mammary stem cell expansion. Inhibition of JAK/STAT signaling blocked progestin-induced STAT5 and Wnt1 expression. ChIP assays demonstrated that wt, but not phospho-mutant (S79/81A), PR-B was co-recruited to a PRE-containing enhancer region of the Wnt1 gene along with MKP3, ck2 and STAT5. Our studies reveal a novel scaffolding action of MKP3 mediated by interaction with the PR CD domain and required for ck2-dependent PR Ser81 phosphorylation. Co-regulation of select target genes by phospho-Ser81 PR and phospho-STAT5 is likely a global mechanism required for the activation of growth promoting programs active during normal mammary gland development and relevant to mechanisms of breast cancer progression.
A Common Docking Domain in Progesterone Receptor-B links DUSP6 and CK2 signaling to proliferative transcriptional programs in breast cancer cells.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesThe progesterone receptor specific gene targets were investigated in ovarian and breast cancer cell lines where FOXO1 was found to be a primary factor that cooperates with PR to activate cellular senescence genes (including p21) specifically in ovarian cells.
Active FOXO1 Is a Key Determinant of Isoform-Specific Progesterone Receptor Transactivation and Senescence Programming.
Treatment, Time
View Samples