Over the last years, evidence has grown that exposure to air pollution, in addition to impairing lung function and health in individuals of all age, can be linked to negative effects in newborn when present during pregnancy. Data suggests that intrauterine exposure of fetuses (exposure of the mother to air pollution during pregnancy) in fact exerts a negative impact on lung development. However, the means by which exposure during pregnancy affects lung development, have not been studied in depth yet. In this study, we investigated alterations of the transcriptome of the developing lung in a mouse model of gestational and early-life postnatal exposure to urban PM2.5 (from Sao Paulo, Brazil).
Pre- and postnatal exposure of mice to concentrated urban PM<sub>2.5</sub> decreases the number of alveoli and leads to altered lung function at an early stage of life.
Specimen part
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
MRPL53, a New Candidate Gene for Orofacial Clefting, Identified Using an eQTL Approach.
Sex, Specimen part, Disease, Disease stage
View SamplesTranscriptome analysis of hindlimb muscles from dystrophic mice
Comparative transcriptome analysis of muscular dystrophy models Large(myd), Dmd(mdx)/Large(myd) and Dmd(mdx): what makes them different?
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesA valuable approach to understand how individual and population genetic differences can predispose to disease is to assess the impact of genetic variants on cellular functions (e.g., gene expression) of cell and tissue types related to pathological states. To understand the genetic basis of nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) susceptibility, a complex and highly prevalent congenital malformation, we searched for genetic variants with a regulatory role in a disease-related tissue, the lip muscle (orbicularis oris muscle [OOM]), of affected individuals. From 46 OOM samples, which are frequently discarded during routine corrective surgeries on patients with orofacial clefts, we derived mesenchymal stem cells and correlated the individual genetic variants with gene expression from these cultured cells. Through this strategy, we detected significant cis-eQTLs (i.e., DNA variants affecting gene expression) and selected a few candidates to conduct an association study in a large Brazilian cohort (624 patients and 668 controls). This resulted in the discovery of a novel susceptibility locus for NSCL/P, rs1063588, the best eQTL for the MRPL53 gene, where evidence for association was mostly driven by the Native American ancestry component of our Brazilian sample. MRPL53 (2p13.1) encodes a 39S protein subunit of mitochondrial ribosomes and interacts with MYC, a transcription factor required for normal facial morphogenesis. Our study illustrates not only the importance of sampling admixed populations but also the relevance of measuring the functional effects of genetic variants over gene expression to dissect the complexity of disease phenotypes.
MRPL53, a New Candidate Gene for Orofacial Clefting, Identified Using an eQTL Approach.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesTranscriptome analysis of monocytes directly exposed to cell-to-cell contact with Natural Killer (NK) cells or separated by a transwell membrane and their subsequent monocyte-derived dendritic cells.
No associated publication
Sex, Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesAntiplatelet therapy is the most important treatment to reduce the risk of developing recurrent thrombosis, and to prevent progression to a complete occlusion of coronary arterial disease (CAD) patients after percutaneous coronary intervention
No associated publication
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesTranscriptome analysis of hindlimb muscles from dystrophic mice.
The mdx Mutation in the 129/Sv Background Results in a Milder Phenotype: Transcriptome Comparative Analysis Searching for the Protective Factors.
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View SamplesEpithelial tumors can progress from a benign tissue overgrowth (hyperplasia) to a malignant neoplastic tumor, which is characterized by an increase in motility and invasiveness. The Cohen laboratory has developed an epithelial tumor model in which overexpression of the epidermal growth factor receptor gene (EGFR) leads to benign tissue hyperplasia. When combined with other cooperating factors, EGFR overexpression can lead to neoplasia and malignant metastasis.
Warburg Effect Metabolism Drives Neoplasia in a Drosophila Genetic Model of Epithelial Cancer.
Specimen part, Time
View SamplesMedulloblastoma is a highly aggressive pediatric brain tumor, in which expression of the pluripotency factor OCT4 has been recently correlated with poor patient survival. However, the contribution of OCT4 transcript variants to tumor aggressiveness is still poorly understood. In this study, we found that transcripts encoding OCT4A, but not OCT4B or OCT4B1, were significantly correlated with LIN28A expression, which encodes another well-known pluripotency factor. LIN28A was found to specifically bind OCT4A transcripts and interact with poly(A) binding protein and RNA helicase A in polysomal fractions of medulloblastoma cells, favoring increased OCT4A protein levels in these cells. Medulloblastoma cells stably overexpressing OCT4A displayed significantly enhanced clonogenic activity, tumorsphere generation and invasion capability, as well as increased tumorigenicity. In an orthotopic metastatic model of medulloblastoma, OCT4A overexpressing cells generated more developed, aggressive and infiltrative tumors, with tumor-bearing mice attaining advanced metastatic disease and shorter survival rates. Pro-oncogenic effects of OCT4A were found to be expression-level dependent and accompanied by distinct subchromosomal aberrations and differential expression of newly discovered, still poorly characterized, non-coding RNAs. Altogether, our findings support the relevance of pluripotency-related factors in the aggravation of medulloblastoma traits classically associated with poor clinical outcome, and underscore the prognostic and therapeutic value of OCT4A in this challenging type of pediatric brain cancer.
No associated publication
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesNon-syndromic cleft lip/palate (NSCL/P) is a complex, frequent congenital malformation, determined by the interplay between genetic and environmental factors during embryonic development. Previous findings have appointed an aetiological overlap between NSCL/P and cancer, and alterations in similar biological pathways may underpin both conditions. Here, using a combination of transcriptomic profiling and functional approaches, we report that NSCL/P dental pulp stem cells exhibit dysregulation of a co-expressed gene network mainly associated with DNA double-strand break repair and cell cycle control (p = 2.88x10-2 5.02x10-9). This network included important genes for these cellular processes, such as BRCA1, RAD51, and MSH2, which are predicted to be regulated by transcription factor E2F1. Functional assays support these findings, revealing that NSCL/P cells accumulate DNA double-strand breaks upon exposure to H2O2. Furthermore, we show that E2f1, Brca1 and Rad51 involved in DNA repair are co-expressed in the developing embryonic orofacial primordia, and may act as a molecular hub playing a role in lip and palate morphogenesis. In conclusion, we show that cellular defences against DNA damage may take part in the pathogenesis of NSCL/P, in accordance with the hypothesis of aetiological overlap between this malformation and cancer. These results provide more information regarding the aetiology of NSCL/P and have the potential tocan potentially assist incontribute to the development of future preventive strategies.
Susceptibility to DNA damage as a molecular mechanism for non-syndromic cleft lip and palate.
Sex, Specimen part
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