Project description:This study investigated the effect of the compound concentration of Flusilazole on gene expression responses in Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation Cultures. Flusilazole is used in agriculture as a fungicide, but has developmental toxic effects. To study the effects of its concentration on development, we exposed Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation Cultures to six concentrations and a control. Gene expression responses after 24h exposure were compared to untreated samples at 0, 24 and 48 h using microarray gene expression profiling.
Project description:The reciprocal interaction between cancer cells and the tissue-specific stroma is critical for primary and metastatic tumor growth progression. Prostate cancer cells colonize preferentially bone (osteotropism), where they alter the physiological balance between osteoblast-mediated bone formation and osteoclast-mediated bone resorption, and elicit prevalently an osteoblastic response (osteoinduction). The molecular cues provided by osteoblasts for the survival and growth of bone metastatic prostate cancer cells are largely unknown. We exploited the sufficient divergence between human and mouse RNA sequences together with redefinition of highly species-specific gene arrays by computer-aided and experimental exclusion of cross-hybridizing oligonucleotide probes. This strategy allowed the dissection of the stroma (mouse) from the cancer cell (human) transcriptome in bone metastasis xenograft models of human osteoinductive prostate cancer cells (VCaP and C4-2B). As a result, we generated the osteoblastic bone metastasis-associated stroma transcriptome (OB-BMST). Subtraction of genes shared by inflammation, wound healing and desmoplastic responses, and by the tissue type-independent stroma responses to a variety of non-osteotropic and osteotropic primary cancers generated a curated gene signature (“Core” OB-BMST) putatively representing the bone marrow/bone-specific stroma response to prostate cancer-induced, osteoblastic bone metastasis. The expression pattern of three representative Core OB-BMST genes (PTN, EPHA3 and FSCN1) seems to confirm the bone specificity of this response. A robust induction of genes involved in osteogenesis and angiogenesis dominates both the OB-BMST and Core OB-BMST. This translates in an amplification of hematopoietic and, remarkably, prostate epithelial stem cell niche components that may function as a self-reinforcing bone metastatic niche providing a growth support specific for osteoinductive prostate cancer cells. The induction of this combinatorial stem cell niche is a novel mechanism that may also explain cancer cell osteotropism and local interference with hematopoiesis (myelophthisis). Accordingly, these stem cell niche components may represent innovative therapeutic targets and/or serum biomarkers in osteoblastic bone metastasis. Keywords: cancer, transcription-profile, bone, metastasis, stroma 3 samples of VCaP xenografted mouse bones (VCaP xenografts 1/2/3), 3 samples of C4-2B xenografted mouse bones (C4-2B xenografts 1/2/3), 2 samples of Ep156T xenografted mouse bones (Ep156T xenografts 1/2), 2 samples of sham-operated mouse bones (sham-operated bones 1/2) and 3 samples of intact mouse bones (intact bones 1/2/3) were profiled on Affymetrix Mouse Genome 430A 2.0 Arrays. Sample code: MVX stands for VCaP xenografts, MBM for Intact bone samples, MCX for C4-2B xenografts and MNX for Sham-operated bones samples
Project description:Plants capture solar energy and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) through photosynthesis, which is the primary component of crop yield, and needs to be increased considerably to meet the growing global demand for food. Environmental stresses, which are increasing with climate change, adversely affect photosynthetic carbon metabolism (PCM) and limit yield of cereals such as rice (Oryza sativa) that feeds half the world. To study the regulation of photosynthesis, we developed a rice gene regulatory network and identified a transcription factor HYR (HIGHER YIELD RICE) associated to PCM, which on expression in rice enhances photosynthesis under multiple environmental conditions, determining a morpho-physiological program leading to higher grain yield (GY) under normal, drought and high temperature stress conditions. We show HYR is a master regulator, directly activating photosynthesis genes, cascades of transcription factors and other downstream genes involved in PCM and yield stability under drought and high temperature environmental stress conditions. To assess the role of increased HYR expression in rice, whole-genome microarrays were used to generate gene expression profiles of rice cultivar Nipponbare transformed with an overexpression construct of the HYR gene (Loc_Os03g02650) under control of the CaMV 35S promoter, along with control wild-type (WT) lines. Two biological replicate samples each from the HYR and WT-control lines were profiled using rice whole-genome microarrays.
Project description:Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is an important clinical problem. Here we used a genomics approach to establish the critical drug-induced toxicity pathways that act in synergy with the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor M-oM-^AM-! (TNFM-oM-^AM-!) to cause cell death of liver HepG2 cells. Transcriptomics of the cell injury stress response pathways initiated by two hepatoxicants, diclofenac and carbamazepine, revealed the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress/translational initiation signaling and Nrf2 antioxidant signaling as two major affected pathways, which was similar to that observed for the majority of ~80 DILI compounds in primary human hepatocytes. The ER stress was primarily related to PERK and ATF4 activation and subsequent expression of CHOP, which was all independent of TNFM-NM-1 signaling. Identical ATF4 dependent transcriptional programs were observed in primary human hepatocytes as well as primary precision cut human liver slices. Targeted RNA interference studies revealed that while ER stress signaling through IRE1M-NM-1 and ATF6 acted cytoprotective, activation of the ER stress protein kinase PERK and subsequent expression of CHOP was pivotal for the onset of drug/TNF-induced apoptosis. While inhibition of the Nrf2-dependent adaptive oxidative stress response enhanced the drug/TNF cytotoxicity, Nrf2 signaling did not affect CHOP expression. Both hepatotoxic drugs enhanced expression of the translational initiation factor EIF4A1, which was essential for CHOP expression and drug/TNFM-oM-^AM-!-mediated cell killing. Our data support a model in which enhanced drug-induced translation initiates PERK-mediated CHOP signaling in an EIF4A1 dependent manner, thereby sensitizing towards caspase-8-dependent TNF induced apoptosis. 4 biological replicates of Diclofenac and 6 biological replicates of vehicle. 46 hours after isolation, cells were exposed to either 300 M-BM-5M DCF or the solvent DMSO for 24 hours.