Project description:This project used snRNA-seq and Molecular Cartography (single cell spatial transcriptomics) to investigate the relation between morphology and molecular identity in human brain organoids.
Project description:Endothelial cells store von Willebrand factor (VWF) in rod-shaped secretory organelles, called Weibel-Palade bodies (WPBs). WPB exocytosis is coordinated by a complex network of Rab GTPases, Rab-effectors and SNARE proteins. We have previously identified STXBP1 as the link between the Rab27A-Slp4-a complex on WPBs and the SNARE proteins syntaxin-2 and -3. In this study we investigate the function of syntaxin-3 in VWF secretion. In human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and in blood outgrowth endothelial cells (BOECs) from healthy controls endogenous syntaxin-3 immunolocalized to WPBs. A detailed analysis of BOECs isolated from a patient with variant microvillus inclusion disease (MVID), carrying a homozygous mutation in STX3 (STX3-/-), showed a loss of syntaxin-3 protein and absence of WPB-associated syntaxin-3 immunoreactivity. Ultrastructural analysis revealed no detectable differences in morphology or prevalence of immature or mature WPBs in control versus STX3-/- BOECs. VWF multimer analysis showed normal patterns in plasma of the MVID patient, and media from STX3-/- BOECs, together indicating WPB formation and maturation are unaffected by absence of syntaxin-3. However, a clear defect in Ca2+ and cAMP-mediated VWF secretion was found in the STX3-/- BOECs. Co-immunoprecipitation studies showed that syntaxin-3 associates with the WPB SNAREs SNAP23 and VAMP8. Our data reveal syntaxin-3 as a novel WPB-associated SNARE controlling VWF secretion and highlight the complex regulation of WPB exocytosis by multiple SNARE complexes.
Project description:Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived kidney organoids have potential for disease modelling and regenerative medicine purposes. However, they lack a functional vasculature and remain immature in in vitro culture. Here, we transplanted kidney organoids at day 7+12 of differentiation in the coelomic cavity of chicken embryos and then compared them to their respective untransplanted controls at d7+13 and d7+20 using scRNAseq and imaging modalities. We demonstrate vascularization and enhanced maturation of transplanted kidney organoids.
Project description:We superimposed array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) data onto existing expression array profiles (GSE3892) to sift out the pivotal genes underlying the pathogenesis of a well defined series of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL). 280 gained and over-expressed genes were identified, located on chromosomes 1q, 3q, 7, 12p12, 18q and 21q. At the most frequently gained region the oncogene MDMX/MDM4 was concurrently over-expressed, which is a critical regulator of p53 function. In regions of frequent chromosomal loss, 36 genes were concurrently down-regulated, restricted to 6q and 15p. These putative tumor suppressor genes included PERP, MAP3K5, CCNDBP1 and β2M, and loss of 6q was associated with poor clinical outcome. Genes identified and chromosomal regions validated in an independent series of DLBCL patients. Overall design fields: Copy number profiles (array CGH) of a series of 42 Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patient samples were analyzed a) for frequency of aberrations and b) for impact on gene expression. No duplicate samples or dye-swaps were analyzed. a) Statistical analysis of Array CGH data Calling: Areas of gains and losses and their frequencies throughout the dataset were determined from the Bluefuse ratios within the statistical package â??CGHcallâ?? (van de Wiel et al., 2007). Briefly, after smoothing outliers and median normalization, â??DNAcopyâ?? segmentation (Olshen et al., 2004) was applied within CGHcall, after which a call was assigned to each position on the genome. Within CGHcall the probabilities of the calls were determined per chromosomal arm, and a cellularity correction of 0.75 was applied to each sample because tumor cellularity in all DLBCL is estimated to be maximal 75%, taking into account all stromal, endothelial en infiltrating lymphocytes. After calling, we applied â??CGHregionsâ?? (van de Wiel and van Wieringen 2007) to determine regions of consecutive clones with highly similar calls for all samples. This dimension reduction further increases robustness and statistical power for downstream statistical analyses. Called data were used for all downstream analyses. b) Integration with expression data To integrate called array CGH data with expression array data, the array CGH and expression integration tool, ACE-it (van Wieringen et al., 2006), was used. For ACE-it analysis chromosomal amplifications were included in the gains. ACE-it uses the one-sided Wilcoxon rank sum to test which chromosomal aberrations recurrently affect RNA expression and adjust p-values for multiple testing. Only those clones were taken into account which had at least 20% (9) of the samples in one of the other calling states (gain or loss). Only genes were considered relevant with a false discovery rate of <0.1. References - Olshen AB, Venkatraman ES, Lucito R, Wigler M (2004) Circular binary segmentation for the analysis of array-based DNA copy number data. Biostatistics 5: 557-72. - van de Wiel MA, Kim KI, Vosse SJ, van Wieringen WN, Wilting SM, Ylstra B (2007) CGHcall: calling aberrations for array CGH tumor profiles. Bioinformatics 23: 892-4. - van de Wiel MA, van Wieringen WN. CGHregions: dimension reduction for array CGH data with minimal information loss. Cancer Informatics. In press 2007. - van Wieringen WN, Belien JA, Vosse SJ, Achame EM, Ylstra B (2006) ACE-it: a tool for genome-wide integration of gene dosage and RNA expression data. Bioinformatics 22: 1919-20.
Project description:Previously, we reported that a combination of a collagen alpha-1(I) natural occurring peptide (NOP) AGPP(-OH)GEAGKP(-OH)GEQGVP(-OH)GDLGAP(-OH)GP (AGP) and serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has the potential to detect colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). The combined method needs to be adapted to increase the sensitivity and specificity before it can be implemented in the clinic. This mass spectrometry study aimed to identify additional collagen NOPs in urine to further increase the sensitivity and specificity of our previously published method and search for the most discriminating NOP panel. The new assay was developed based on urine samples from 100 healthy controls and 100 patients suffering from CRLM. Two additional NOPs were identified: GPPGEAGK(-OH)P(-OH)GEQGVP(-OH)GDLGAP(-OH)GP (GPP) originating from collagen alpha-1(I) and GNDGARGSDGQPGPP(-OH)GP(-OH)P(-OH)GTAGFP(-OH)GSP(-OH)GAK(-OH)GEVGP (GND) originating from collagen alpha-1(III). A molecular model combining NOPs (AGP, GPP, and GND) and CEA was generated. Molecules that did not contribute to the diagnostic power of the model were removed, resulting in a model only consisting of GND and CEA. In this model, 86% sensitivity and 84% specificity in the discovery set, and 92% sensitivity and 90% specificity in the validation set were reached. These percentages are significantly higher than the current model based on AGP and CEA (p=0.032). The performance of the new model is better than the currently used techniques in the clinic (e.g. CT-scan, ultrasound, serum CEA), which have a sensitivity between 57-70% and a specificity between 90-96%.
Project description:Previously, we reported that a combination of a collagen alpha-1(I) natural occurring peptide (NOP) AGPP(-OH)GEAGKP(-OH)GEQGVP(-OH)GDLGAP(-OH)GP (AGP) and serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has the potential to detect colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). The combined method needs to be adapted to increase the sensitivity and specificity before it can be implemented in the clinic. This mass spectrometry study aimed to identify additional collagen NOPs in urine to further increase the sensitivity and specificity of our previously published method and search for the most discriminating NOP panel. The new assay was developed based on urine samples from 100 healthy controls and 100 patients suffering from CRLM. Two additional NOPs were identified: GPPGEAGK(-OH)P(-OH)GEQGVP(-OH)GDLGAP(-OH)GP (GPP) originating from collagen alpha-1(I) and GNDGARGSDGQPGPP(-OH)GP(-OH)P(-OH)GTAGFP(-OH)GSP(-OH)GAK(-OH)GEVGP (GND) originating from collagen alpha-1(III). A molecular model combining NOPs (AGP, GPP, and GND) and CEA was generated. Molecules that did not contribute to the diagnostic power of the model were removed, resulting in a model only consisting of GND and CEA. In this model, 86% sensitivity and 84% specificity in the discovery set, and 92% sensitivity and 90% specificity in the validation set were reached. These percentages are significantly higher than the current model based on AGP and CEA (p=0.032). The performance of the new model is better than the currently used techniques in the clinic (e.g. CT-scan, ultrasound, serum CEA), which have a sensitivity between 57-70% and a specificity between 90-96%.
Project description:Comparison of L. lactis NZ9000 ?lmrR versus L. lactis NZ9000 wild type Keywords: Transcription profiling Comparison between strain lacking transcriptional regulator LmrR of major Lactococcal mdr transporter LmrCD, and wild type parental strain.
Project description:Background: The molecular pathogenesis of small intestinal adenocarcinomas (SBA) is not well understood. Defining its molecular pathogenesis may lead us to better clinical interventions. Aim: to identify the molecular changes characteristic of SBA. Methods: Forty-eight SBA (thirty-three non coeliac disease (CD)-related and 15 CD-related) were characterized for chromosomal aberrations, by high resolution array comparative hybridization (aCGH), microsatellite status (MSI) and APC promoter methylation and mutation status. Furthermore, molecular alterations found in CD-related SBA were compared to non-CD related SBA. Results: Chromosomal changes were observed in 77% of the SBA. The most frequently (>10%) DNA copy number changes found were gains on 5p15.33-5p12, 7p22.3-7q11.21, 7q21.2-7q21.3, 7q22.1-7q34, 7q36.1, 7q36.3, 8q11.21-8q24.3, 9q34.11-9q34.3, 13q11-13q34, 16p13.3, 16p11.2, 19q13.2 and 20p13-20q13.33 and losses of 4p13-4q35.2, 5q15-5q21.1 and 21p11.2-21q22.11. Seven highly amplified regions on 6p21.1, 7q21.1, 8p23.1, 11p13, 16p11.2, 17q12-q21.1 and 19q13.2 were also identified. CD-related and non CD-related SBA displayed similar chromosomal aberrations. Promoter hypermethylation of the APC gene was found in 48% non CD-related and 73% CD-related SBA. No nonsense mutations were found. Last, 10% of the non CD-related SBA were MSI, whereas 43% of the CD-related SBA were MSI. Conclusions: Our study characterized specific chromosomal aberrations and amplifications involved in SBA pathogenesis. At the chromosomal level, CD-related and non CD-related SBA do not differ. The involvement of the MMR system in the pathogenesis of the CD-related SBA was larger than what has been observed in no CD-related SBA. No nonsense mutations were found in SBA, but frequent promoter methylation in CD-related SBA. Forty-eight SBA (thirty-three non coeliac disease (CD)-related and 15 CD-related) were characterized for chromosomal aberrations against a Human pool, by high resolution array comparative hybridization (aCGH),
Project description:An oligo array based high-resolution analysis of copy number alterations in 171 primary breast tumors of relatively small size and low NPI, and 49 breast cancer cell-lines. Objectives of the study were to study the molecular taxonomy and the genomic aberration patterns in a breast cancer cohort representative of breast cancer demographics. Keywords: array comparative genomic hybridisation 171 primary breast tumors from Nottingham City Hospital and 49 breast cancer cell-lines were hybridised with male DNA as reference.
Project description:eCLIP was performed for ENO1 in HeLa cells, following the protocol described by Van Nostrand et al. (2016). Libraries for six immunoprecipitation and size-matched input controls were produced. In addition, libraries were produced for two no-crosslinking controls. The libraries were sequenced using paired-end sequencing (PE125) on an Illumina HiSeq2000 platform.