Androgens are essential for sexual development and reproduction. However, androgen regulation in health and disease is poorly understood. Previously, we showed that human adrenocortical H295R cells grown under starvation conditions acquire a hyperandrogenic steroid profile with changes in steroid metabolizing enzymes HSD3B2 and CYP17A1 essential for androgen production. Furthermore, we have shown that metformin inhibits androgen production of steroidogenic H295R cells and inhibits complex I activity of the respriatory chain. Therefore, to search for underlying mechanisms regulting androgen production and to understand the basic biology of androgens, we have characterized the gene expression profile of H295R cells grown under normal growth conditions, serum starvation (hyperandrogenic) growth conditions as well as after metformin treatment (hypoandrogenic).
Retinoic acid receptor beta and angiopoietin-like protein 1 are involved in the regulation of human androgen biosynthesis.
Cell line
View SamplesOxidative stress can arise when in vitro propagated plants developed under low light conditions are exposed to high light during transfer to ex vitro conditions. In such a situation, among the many potential stresses to which the transferred plant can be exposed, oxidative stress is commonly experienced, most likely brought about by absorption of light energy in excess of that required for very low levels of photosynthetic metabolism. In vitro propagated grapevine when transferred to ex vitro conditions with a 4 fold increase in PPFD shows an initial inhibition of PET accompanied by an accumulation of H2O2, suggesting a signal for the upregulation in gene expression and antioxidant enzyme activity, which peaked at 48h after transfer of in vitro grapevine to ex vitro growing conditions.
Comparative transcriptomic profiling of Vitis vinifera under high light using a custom-made array and the Affymetrix GeneChip.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesThe importance of regulatory T cells (Treg) for immune tolerance is well recognized, yet the signaling molecules influencing their suppressive activity are relatively poorly understood. We identified the cytoplasmic tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 as a novel endogenous brake and modifier of the suppressive ability of Treg cells; consistent with this notion, loss of SHP-1 expression strongly augments the ability of Treg cells to suppress inflammation in a mouse model. Specific harmacological inhibition of SHP-1 enzymatic activity via the cancer drug sodium stibogluconate (SSG) potently augmented Treg cell suppressor activity both in vivo and ex vivo.
The protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 modulates the suppressive activity of regulatory T cells.
Specimen part
View SamplesForced expression of activated beta-catenin in mouse dermal fibroblasts is sufficient to cause spontaneous, progressive skin fibrosis in vivo. We generated triple-transgenic HoxB6CreERT/+; R26-YFP/+; Catnb?ex3/+ "activated beta-catenin" mice and double-transgenic HoxB6CreERT/+; R26-YFP/+ littermate control mice. We induced Cre activity (resulting in expression of activated beta-catenin in triple-transgenic mutant fetuses) by administering tamoxifen to the pregnant dam at embryonic day 16.5. The activated beta-catenin mice developed fibrotic skin, characterized by elevated collagen deposition and increased fibroblast proliferation. We performed RNA-sequencing to profile gene expression in the dermis of control and activated beta-catenin mutant mice with established skin fibrosis at 3 weeks of age. Overall design: Gene expression profiles were determined by paired-end sequencing (Illumina HiSeq 2500) of total RNA from the dermis of 3 activated beta-catenin and 3 littermate control mice at 3 weeks of age.
Sustained β-catenin activity in dermal fibroblasts promotes fibrosis by up-regulating expression of extracellular matrix protein-coding genes.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesNotch signaling plays both oncogenic and tumor suppressor roles, depending on cell type. In contrast to T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), where Notch activation promotes leukemogenesis, induction of Notch signaling in B-ALL leads to growth arrest and apoptosis. The Notch target Hairy/Enhancer of Split1 (HES1) is sufficient to reproduce this tumor suppressor phenotype in B-ALL, however the mechanism is not yet known. Here we report that HES1 regulates pro-apoptotic signals via the novel interacting protein Poly ADP-Ribose Polymerase1 (PARP1) in a cell type-specific manner. The interaction of HES1 with PARP1 inhibits HES1 function, induces PARP1 activation and results in PARP1 cleavage in B-ALL. HES1-induced PARP1 activation leads to self-ADP ribosylation of PARP1, consumption of NAD+, diminished ATP levels, and translocation of the Apoptosis Inducing Factor (AIF) from mitochondria to the nucleus, resulting in apoptosis in B-ALL, but not T-ALL. Importantly, induction of Notch signaling via the Notch agonist peptide DSL can reproduce these events and leads to BALL apoptosis. The novel interaction of HES1 and PARP1 in B-ALL modulates the function of the HES1 transcriptional complex and signals through PARP1 to induce apoptosis. This mechanism reveals a cell type-specific pro-apoptotic pathway which may lead to Notch agonist-based cancer therapeutics.
Notch/HES1-mediated PARP1 activation: a cell type-specific mechanism for tumor suppression.
Specimen part
View SamplesIn this study, we used RNA-sequencing to profile the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) transcriptome in lesional skin from psoriasis patients before (PP) and after treatment (PT) with adalimumab and in normal skin from healthy individuals (NN). For this we sequenced total RNA from 18 psoriasis patients (before and after treatment) and 16 healthy controls. We created our own reference set of long non-coding RNAs by merging three long non-coding RNA reference data sets. The combined reference had 67,157 lncRNA transcripts with no overlaps. We identified differential expression of 971 lncRNAs between PP and NN, 157 between PP and PT, and 377 between PT and NN. Based on differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs between PP and NN, we identified a molecular lncRNA signature that distinguishes psoriatic skin from healthy skin . Overall design: We recruited 18 psoriatic patients in our study. We took 5 mm punch biopsies from the edge of a psoriatic plaque before treatment and after one month of treatment with adalimumab. The mean improvement in the PASI over this time period was 53.1%. We obtained sixteen normal skin samples (N=16) from healthy control surgical discard specimens.
Landscape of Long Noncoding RNAs in Psoriatic and Healthy Skin.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesPurpose: Age-related degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of blindness in developed countries. The molecular pathogenesis of early events in AMD is poorly understood. We investigated differential gene expression in samples of human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)/choroid from early AMD and control maculas using exon-based arrays. Methods: Gene expression levels in nine early AMD and nine control human donor eyes were assessed using Affymetrix Human Exon ST 1.0 arrays. Two controls did not pass quality control and were removed. Differentially expressed genes were annotated using DAVID, and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed on RPE-specific and endothelium-associated gene sets. CFH genotype was also assessed and differential expression was analyzed with respect to high AMD risk (YH/HH) and low AMD risk (YY) genotypes. Results: Seventy-five genes were identified as differentially expressed (raw p-value < 0.01; >50% fold change, mean log2 expression level in AMD or control median of all average gene expression values); however, no genes were significant (adj. p-value < 0.01) after correction for multiple hypothesis testing. Of 52 genes with decreased expression in AMD (fold change < 0.5; raw p-value < 0.01), 18 genes were identified by DAVID analysis as associated with vision or neurological processes. GSEA of RPE-associated and endothelium-associated genes revealed a significant decrease in genes typically expressed by endothelial cells in the early AMD group compared to controls, consistent with previous histologic and proteomic studies. Analysis with respect to CFH genotype indicated decreased expression of ADAMTS9 in eyes with high-risk genotypes (fold change = -2.61; raw p-value = 0.0008). Conclusions: GSEA results suggest that RPE transcripts are preserved or elevated in early AMD, concomitant with loss of endothelial cell marker expression. These results are consistent with the notion that choroidal endothelial cell dropout occurs early in the pathogenesis of AMD.
Altered gene expression in dry age-related macular degeneration suggests early loss of choroidal endothelial cells.
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View SamplesLiver-specific depletion of HDAC3 leads to liver steatosis (fatty liver), suggesting disregulation of lipid metabolism. This is correlated with changes in lipid metabolic gene expression.
A circadian rhythm orchestrated by histone deacetylase 3 controls hepatic lipid metabolism.
Sex, Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesGene expression changes in the heart of MCH3-KO mouse (HDAC3 f/f, Muscle Creatine Kinase-Cre) versus control WT mouse (HDAC3 f/f).
Diet-induced lethality due to deletion of the Hdac3 gene in heart and skeletal muscle.
Specimen part
View SamplesT-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an immature hematopoietic malignancy driven mainly by oncogenic activation of NOTCH1 signaling. In this study we abrogated the expression of JMJD3 (KDM6B) and UTX (KDM6A) H3K27me3 demethylases in human T-ALL lines and assayed for genome-wide expression changes using RNA sequencing. This piece of data was further integrated to ChIP-Sequencing analysis of H3K27me3 from the same treatment as well as H3K27me3 and JMJD3 genome-wide analysis from treatment of T-ALL lines with the GSKJ4 inhibitor. These results, coupled to genomic analysis of primary samples for the genomic status of the UTX gene in T-ALL, helped us to identify a hitherto unknown role of JMJD3as an oncogenice facilitator in leukemia whereas UTX seems to play a tumor suppressor role. Overall design: Whole RNA was extracted from 1-5 million T-ALL (lines) cells or primary cells using the RNAeasy kit (Qiagen) according to the manufacturer’s protocol. Poly-A+ (magnetic oligodT-containing beads (Invitrogen)) or Ribominus RNA was used for library preparation. cDNA preparation and strand-specific library construction was performed using the dUTP method. Libraries were sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq 2000 using 50bp single-read method. Differential gene expression analysis was performed for each matched knockdown vs control pairs, separately in each biological or technical replicate in each of two cell lines (CUTLL1, CEM). Three types of comparisons were tested: (a) JMJD3 knockdown vs Renilla, (b) JMJD3 knockdown vs UTX knockdown, and (c) UTX knockdown vs Renilla. Analysis was performed using both DEGseq and Cufflinks packages leading to very similar conclusions.
Contrasting roles of histone 3 lysine 27 demethylases in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
No sample metadata fields
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