A fundamental challenge in the post-genome era is to understand and annotate the consequences of genetic variation, particularly within the context of human tissues. We describe a set of integrated experiments designed to investigate the effects of common genetic variability on DNA methylation, mRNA expression and microRNA (miRNA) expression in four distinct human brain regions. We show that brain tissues may be readily distinguished based on methylation status or expression profile. We find an abundance of genetic cis regulation mRNA expression and show for the first time abundant quantitative trait loci for DNA CpG methylation. We observe that the largest magnitude effects occur across distinct brain regions. We believe these data, which we have made publicly available, will be useful in understanding the biological effects of genetic variation.
Abundant quantitative trait loci exist for DNA methylation and gene expression in human brain.
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View SamplesNeuroprotective therapies for retinal degeneration may be used to rescue retinal cells and preserve vision. Hypoxic preconditioning stabilizes the transcription factor HIF-1 in the retina and strongly protects photoreceptors in an animal model of light-induced retinal degeneration.
Analysis of the retinal gene expression profile after hypoxic preconditioning identifies candidate genes for neuroprotection.
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View SamplesAlveolar soft-part sarcoma (ASPS) is an extremely rare, highly vascular soft tissue sarcoma affecting predominantly adolescents and young adults. In an attempt to gain insight into the pathobiology of this enigmatic tumor, we performed the first genome-wide gene expression profiling study.
Gene expression profiling of alveolar soft-part sarcoma (ASPS).
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View SamplesThe infant leukemia-associated gene, Ott1(Rbm15), has broad regulatory effects within the murine hematopoiesis. However, germline Ott1 deletion results in fetal demise prior to E10.5, indicating additional developmental requirements for Ott1. The spen gene family, to which Ott1 belongs, has a transcriptional activation/repression domain and RNA recognition motifs, and in Drosophila has a significant role in the development of the head and thorax. Early Ott1-deficient embryos show growth retardation and incomplete closure of the notochord. Further analysis demonstrated placental defects in the spongiotrophoblast and syncytiotrophoblast layers, resulting in an arrest of vascular branching morphogenesis. Rescue of the placental defect using a conditional allele with a trophoblast-sparing cre transgene allowed embryos to form a normal placenta and survive gestation. This result shows that the process of vascular branching morphogenesis in Ott1-deficient animals is regulated by the trophoblast compartment rather than the fetal vasculature. Mice surviving to term manifested hyposplenia and abnormal cardiac development. Analysis of global gene expression of Ott1-deficient embryonic hearts shows enrichment of hypoxia-related genes and significant alteration of several candidate genes critical for cardiac development. Thus, Ott1-dependent pathways in addition to being implicated in leukemogenesis, may also be important in the pathogenesis of placental insufficiency and cardiac malformations.
Ott1 (Rbm15) is essential for placental vascular branching morphogenesis and embryonic development of the heart and spleen.
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View SamplesThe infant leukemia-associated gene, Ott1 (Rbm15), has broad regulatory effects on embryonic development and hematopoiesis. Embryonic deletion of Ott1 results in defects to the placenta, spleen and heart. Conditional deletion within the adult hematopoietic compartment demonstrates a requirement in pre-B development and inhibitory roles in myeloid progenitor and megakaryocyte populations. Ott1-deleted bone marrow has an expansion of the Lin- Sca-1+ c-Kit+ (LSK) population which includes the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) population. Functional HSC testing through competitive repopulation of irradiated recipients demonstrated however, a severe defect in Ott1-deficient HSCs, despite adequate numbers of immunophenotypically identified long term HSCs. Although mice deleted in situ for Ott1 are able to maintain hematopoiesis in steady state over a normal lifetime, but when subjected to proliferative stress, the HSC population loses the self-renewing, G0 fraction and undergoes bone marrow failure.
Hematopoietic stem cells lacking Ott1 display aspects associated with aging and are unable to maintain quiescence during proliferative stress.
Specimen part
View SamplesC/EBP (CCAAT enhancer binding protein) is a transcription factor that plays a crucial role in survival and transformation of ALK+ anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). The aim of this study was to identify the downstream targets of C/EBP responsible for ALK-mediated oncogenesis. C/EBP was knocked down in ALK+ ALCL cell lines with a C/EBP-shRNA, followed by gene expression profiling (GEP). GEP analysis revealed a reproducible signature of genes that were significantly regulated by C/EBP. Classification into biological categories revealed overrepresentation of genes involved in the immune response, apoptosis and cell proliferation. Transcriptional regulation by C/EBP was found in 6 of 11 (BCL2A1, G0S2, TRIB1, S100A9, DDX21 and DDIT4) genes investigated by chromatin immunoprecipitation. We demonstrated that BCL2A1, G0S2 and DDX21 play a crucial role in survival and proliferation of ALK+ ALCL cells. DDX21, a gene involved in rRNA biogenesis, was found differentially overexpressed in primary ALK+ ALCL cases. All three candidate genes were validated in primary ALCL cases by either immunohistochemistry or RT-qPCR. In conclusion, we identified and validated several key C/EBP-regulated genes with major impact on survival and cell growth in ALK+ ALCL, supporting the central role of C/EBP in ALK-mediated oncogenesis.
Identification of C/EBPβ target genes in ALK+ anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) by gene expression profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation.
Sex, Cell line
View SamplesAssessing the impact of HIV-1 infection on trancriptional program of quiescent CD4 T lymphocytes. Such cells were made susceptible to HIV-1 by dowmodulating SAMHD1 restriction factor using VLP-Vpx without any activation signal.
CD32a is a marker of a CD4 T-cell HIV reservoir harbouring replication-competent proviruses.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesRod-derived Cone Viability Factor (RdCVF, alias nxnl1) is a retina-specific protein identified for its therapeutic potential in supporting cone survival during retinal degeneration.
The disruption of the rod-derived cone viability gene leads to photoreceptor dysfunction and susceptibility to oxidative stress.
Disease, Disease stage
View SamplesDiminishing potential to replace damaged tissues is a hallmark for ageing of somatic stem cells, but the mechanisms leading to ageing remain elusive. We present a proteome-wide atlas of age-associated alterations in human haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HPCs) along with five other cell types that constitute the bone marrow niche. For each, the abundance of a large fraction of the ~12,000 proteins identified was assessed in a cohort of healthy human subjects from different age. As the HPCs became older, pathways in central carbon metabolism exhibited features reminiscent of the Warburg effect where glycolytic intermediates are rerouted towards anabolism. Simultaneously, altered abundance of early regulators of HPC differentiation revealed a reduced functionality and a bias towards myeloid differentiation at the expense of lymphoid development. Ageing caused significant alterations in the bone marrow niche too, such as functionality of the pathways involved in HPC homing and lineage differentiation. The data represents a valuable resource for further in-depth mechanistic analyses, and for validation of knowledge gained from animal models. Overall design: RNA-seq samples extracted from human bone marrow, from 6 cell populations (HPC, LYM, MON, ERP, GRA, MSC). Technical replicates are included for each donor and cell type. Technical replicates were produced by making independent libraries from the same RNA.
Glycogen accumulation, central carbon metabolism, and aging of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesRNAPII pausing/termination shortly after initiation is a hallmark of gene regulation. However, the molecular mechanisms involved are still to be uncovered. Here, we show that NELF interacts with Integrator complex subunits (INTScom) forming a stable complex with RNPII and Spt5. The interaction between NELF and INTScom subunits is RNA and DNA independent. Using both HIV-1 promoter and genome wide analyses, we demonstrate that Integrator subunits specifically control NELF-mediated RNAPII pause/release at coding genes. The strength of RNAPII pausing is determined by the nature of the NELF-associated complex. Interestingly, in addition to controlling RNAPII pause release INTS11 catalytic subunit of the INTScom is required for the synthesis of full length mRNA. Finally, INTScom-target genes are enriched in HIV-1 TAR/ NELF-binding element and in a 3'box sequence required for snRNA biogenesis. Revealing these unexpected functions of INTScom in regulating RNAPII pausing/release and completion of mRNA synthesis of NELF-target genes will contribute to our understanding of the gene expression cycle. Overall design: Genome-wide expression in HeLa cells in the absence of Integrator 11, or NELF or mock (control) depleted by strand-specific RNASeq (Illumina)
Integrator complex regulates NELF-mediated RNA polymerase II pause/release and processivity at coding genes.
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