The goal of our study was to evaluate at the systems-level, the effect of sex hormones on thymic epithelial cells (TECs). To this end, we sequenced the transcriptome of cortical and medullary TECs (cTECs and mTECs) from three groups of 6 month-old mice: males, females and males castrated at four weeks of age. In parallel, we analyzed variations in the size of TEC subsets in those three groups between 1 and 12 months of age. We report that sex hormones have pervasive effects on the transcriptome of TECs: the number of differentially expressed genes was 1,440 in cTECs and 1,783 in mTECs. Sexual dimorphism was particularly conspicuous in cTECs. Male cTECs displayed low proliferation rates that correlated with low expression of Foxn1 and its main targets. Furthermore, male cTECs expressed relatively low levels of genes instrumental in thymocyte expansion (e.g., Dll4) and positive selection (Psmb11 and Ctsl). Nevertheless, cTECs were more abundant in males than females. Accumulation of cTECs in males correlated with differential expression of genes regulating cell survival and cell differentiation. Unexpectedly, we observed that female and male sex hormones repressed promiscuous gene expression in mTECs. Since sex hormones did not affect the expression of Aire per se, they must impinge on the activity of unidentified regulator(s) of promiscuous gene expression in mTECs. The sexual dimorphism of TECs highlighted here may be mechanistically linked to the well-recognized sex differences in susceptibility to infections and autoimmune diseases. Overall design: Cortical and medullary thymic epithelial cells from 6 month-old male, female and castrated male mice were sequenced in 3 replicates (but only 2 replicates for castrated male mTECs).
Thymic Mesenchymal Cells Have a Distinct Transcriptomic Profile.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThymocytes were extracted from a pool of three 8-12 week old C57BL-6 female mice. Cells were separated from stroma by gently crushing the thymi in between 2 microslides. RNA from thymocytes was extracted using the Trizol reagent and protocol, and analysed using the Illumina HiSeq 2000. Overall design: Transcriptomic analysis of a single replicate of thymocytes from a pool of three 8-12 week old C57BL-6 female mice, using the Illumina HiSeq 2000
Thymic Mesenchymal Cells Have a Distinct Transcriptomic Profile.
Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View SamplesGene expression patterns of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) colonic specimens were analyzed using whole-genome microarrays. Healthy control samples were included in order to detect gene expression changes associated with CD or UC. CD and UC samples were also compared in order to identify the molecular mechanisms that distinguish both fenotypes of inflammatory bowel disease.
Identification of novel predictor classifiers for inflammatory bowel disease by gene expression profiling.
Sex, Disease
View SamplesEfficient growth cone regeneration requires protein synthesis in the adult mammalian brain and spinal cord. Recent evidence suggests that the local availability of protein synthesis machinery in adult mammalian axons may be an indicator of their regenerative capacity. Here we investigated the local protein synthesis capacity in matured cortical axons, which have poor regenerative capacity, yet are critical for recovery following injury due to traumatic brain injury and stroke. This work is the first to biochemically isolate and identify mRNA from mammalian cortical axons, making use of a unique microfluidic platform to isolate axons free of other cellular debris. We first sought to identify mRNA in nave axons that makes up the pool of mRNA available for translation initiated following axotomy. Next, we investigated changes in the mRNA population localized to axons 2 days following axotomy and growth cone regeneration.
Axonal mRNA in uninjured and regenerating cortical mammalian axons.
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View SamplesPlant cell surface receptors sense microbial pathogens by recognizing microbial structures called pathogen or microbe-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs/MAMPs). There are two major types of plant pattern recognition receptors: 1. Leucine-rich repeat receptor proteins (LRR-RP) and LRR receptor kinases (LRR-RK) and 2. Plant receptor proteins and receptor kinases carrying ectopic lysin motifs (LysM-RP and LysM-RK). In this study, Arabidopsis thaliana responses to three different MAMPs, flg22, nlp20, chitin (C6), via their corresponding receptor types, FLS2 (LRR-RK), RLP23 (LRR-RP), CERK1 (LysM-RK) were compared. Our RNA-seq results indicate that a core set of defense-related genes can be activated through perception of different MAMPs. However, there are also notable differences in the transcriptional changes in response to the various elicitors; flg22 causes broader transcriptome changes than nlp20 and C6, and C6 does not cause late transcriptome changes. Overall design: Arabodopsis seedings were treated with water, flg22, nlp20, or C6 and collected after 1h, 6h and 24h. One sample before treatment was also collected. 4 biological repecates were performed.
Comparing Arabidopsis receptor kinase and receptor protein-mediated immune signaling reveals BIK1-dependent differences.
Subject, Time
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Cytokeratin-19 positivity is acquired along cancer progression and does not predict cell origin in rat hepatocarcinogenesis.
Specimen part
View SamplesAnalysis of early changes in the R-H model of carcinogenesis in order to investigate the relationship between oval cell proliferation and preneoplastic foci
Cytokeratin-19 positivity is acquired along cancer progression and does not predict cell origin in rat hepatocarcinogenesis.
Specimen part
View SamplesAnalysis of early changes in the R-H model of carcinogenesis in order to investigate the relationship between oval cell proliferation and preneoplastic foci
Cytokeratin-19 positivity is acquired along cancer progression and does not predict cell origin in rat hepatocarcinogenesis.
Specimen part
View SamplesEnvironmental enrichment has been shown to induce wholescale alterations to the gene expression profile of experimental animals
The impact of environmental enrichment on the murine inflammatory immune response.
Sex, Age
View SamplesPurpose: In all vertebrates, the thymus is necessary and sufficient for production of classic adaptive T cells. The key components of the thymus are cortical and medullary thymic epithelial cells (cTECs and mTECs). Despite the capital role of TECs, our understanding of TEC biology is quite rudimentary. For instance, we ignore what might be the extent of divergence in the functional program of these two TECs populations. It also remains unclear why the number of TECs decreases rapidly with age, thereby leading to progressive thymic insufficiency. Methods: Systems level understanding of cell function begins with gene expression profiling, and the transcriptome is currently the only ''-ome'' that can be reliably tackled in its entirety in freshly harvested primary cells. In order to gain novel insights into TEC biology, we therefore decided to analyse the whole transcriptome of cTECs, mTECs and skin epithelial cells. We elected to analyse gene expression using RNA-seq rather microarrays because RNA-seq has higher sensitivity and dynamic range coupled to lower technical variations. Results: Our deep sequencing approach provides a unique perspective into the transcriptome of TECs. Consistent with their ability to express ectopic genes, we found that mTECs expressed more genes than other cell populations. Out of a total of 15,069 genes expressed in TECs, 25% were differentially expressed by at least 5-fold in cTECs vs. mTECs. Genes expressed at higher levels in cTECs than mTECs regulate numerous cell functions including cell differentiation, cell movement and microtubule dynamics. Almost all positive regulators of the cell cycle were overexpressed in skin ECs relative to TECs. Conclusions: Our RNA-seq data provide novel insights into the transcriptional landscape of TECs, highlight substantial divergences in the transcriptome of TEC subsets and suggest that cell cycle progression is differentially regulated in TECS and skinECs. We believe that our work will therefore represent a valuable resource and will be of great interest to readers working in biological sciences, particularly in the areas of immunology and systems biology. Overall design: The mRNA profiles of cTEC, mTEC (from 14 thymi of 7-days old C57BL/6 mice) and skinEC (from the trunk and dorsum of seven newborn mice) were generated by RNA-sequencing using Illumina HiSeq2000.
Transcriptome sequencing of neonatal thymic epithelial cells.
Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
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