Functional genomics of human bronchial epithelial cells directly interacting with conidiospores of Aspergillus fumigatus

ABSTRACT: The cells of the airway epithelium play critical roles in host defense to inhaled irritants, and in asthma pathogenesis. These cells are constantly exposed to conidiospores of the ubiquitous mould Aspergillus fumigatus, which are small enough to reach the alveoli. This exposure is asymptomatic in most individuals but can be associated with a spectrum of diseases ranging from asthma and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis to aspergilloma and invasive aspergillosis. Airway epithelial cells have been shown to internalize A. fumigatus conidiospores in vitro, but the implications of this process for pathogenesis remain unclear. We have developed a cell culture model for this interaction using the 16HBE cell line and a transgenic A. fumigatus strain expressing green fluorescent protein. Using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), cells directly interacting with conidiospores and cells not associated with any conidiospores were sorted into separate samples. Transcriptional profiling of these samples using Agilent Whole Human Genome microarrays revealed significant changes in gene expression in response to interaction with conidiospores. The identification of biologically relevant responses validates this methodology, and motivates further work to characterize the interactions between A. fumigatus conidiospores and primary airway epithelial cells of normal and asthmatic origins. Four independent samples of 16HBE cells incubated with GFP-expressing Aspergillus fumigatus conidiospores for 6 hours were analyzed by flow cytometry and divided into negative and positive samples based on the presence of a GFP signal, representing cells with no direct contact with conidiospores and cells directly interacting with conidiospores, respectively. Gene expression was analyzed in these 8 samples using Agilent Whole Human Genome microarrays, with a one-colour experiemntal design.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

SUBMITTER: Pol Gomez 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-16627 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress