Project description:Human embryonic stem cells were differentiated to early Pax6 positive neural epithelial progenitor cells and were differentiated further in neurospheres. On indicated days (hESC: n=3, day 0: n=3, day 5 n=3, day 15: n=2, day 22: n=1 and day 25: n=1) cells were extracted, mRNA prepared and hybridized in triplicates to Illumina Sentrix HumanHT-12 BeadChip gene arrays. More experimental detail is available under Hoelting et al., Archives of Toxicology.
Project description:Systemic inflammation is reported to be associated with neutrophilic airway inflammation in asthma, this study aimed to examine the molecular mechanisms of the neutrophilia that is associated with systemic inflammation, and hypothesized that asthma patients with systemic inflammation have a group of genes that are differentially expressed and are assciated with airway inflammation. 50 asthma patients were recruited and grouped as asthmatics with systemic inflammation (n=18) and asthamtics without systemic inflammation (n=16) accroding to the levels of serum CRP and IL-6. RNA was extracted from induced sputum and was reverse-transcribed into cDNA. Gene profiling was performed using Illumina Sentrix HumanRef-8 Version 2 Expression BeadChips, and genes that were differentially expressed between asthmatics with systemic inflammation and asthmatics without systemic inflammation were compared and valided using qPCR.
Project description:This study identifies differentially expression genes in the sputum of people with eosinophilic, neutrophilic and paucigranulocytic asthma. A selection of markers identified using this microarray were further validated using qPCR on a wider sample set. Gene expression profiles were generated from induced sputum samples from 47 asthma patients and were grouped by the inflammatory phenotype assigned using sputum cell counts into neutrophilic asthma (n=12), eosinophilic asthma (n=17) and paucigranulocytic asthma (n=18). RNA was extracted, amplified and hybridised to Illumina Sentrix HumanRef-8 Version 2 Expression BeadChips, and genes that were differentially expressed between asthma inflammatory phenotypes were compared.
Project description:In schistosomiasis japonica, the egg-induced granulomatous response and the development of extensive hepatic fibrosis is the main pathology. Information regarding the specific mechanisms associated with granuloma regression and the subsequent recovery events in the host liver are still limited. In this study, a murine model of schistosomiasis japonica was used to characterise the multicellular pathways occurring during liver regeneration. Schistosoma japonicum-infected C57BL/6 mice were administered with the drug praziquantel (PZQ), on a daily basis for five consecutive days to eliminate all adult parasites. The pathological changes of PZQ-treated groups after 3, 6 and 7 weeks post PZQ treatment were examined, along with the assessment of cellular infiltration to the liver. PZQ treatment significantly reduced the degree of splenomegaly, granuloma density and the collagen deposition of liver fibrosis. The infiltration of inflammatory cells, including neutrophils, eosinophils and macrophages to the liver were as well significantly decreased. Transcriptomic analysis revealed the significant up-regulation of fatty acid metabolism genes and the identification of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPAR-α) as the upstream regulator during the process of liver recovery. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) signalling pathway that is involved primarily in the regulation of hepatic enzymes responsible for xenobiotic metabolism was as well differentially up-regulated. These findings indicate that schistosome egg-induced fibrogenesis process is reversible, and provide a better understanding of the regression mechanisms associated with hepatic schistosomiasis. These results hold important implications for the future alleviation of this and other fibrotic diseases of clinical significance. C57BL/6 murine model infected with S. japonicum were treated orally with Praziquantel (PZQ) after 7 weeks post infection to examine the hepatic regression process following drug treatment. These PZQ-treated, non PZQ-treated and uninfected mice were then euthanised at 10, 13, and 14 weeks p.i. Livers were collected from each mice, and subjected to total RNA isolation and gene expression analysis. Microarray analysis of this study was performed using samples derived from 3 individual mice per group/time-point.
Project description:Gene expression profiles were generated with Illumina arrays for untreated human mesenchymal stem cells and also Argonaute1 bound mRNAs in the same cells. In addition gene expression profiles were generated for the human embryo cell line H1 before and after differentiation along the neural lineage. NOTE: assays for human embryonic stem cells before and after differentiation were added in July 2014 and data files for the mesenchymal stem cells were updated.
Project description:There has been increasing interest in the quantification and characterization of messages and proteins at the synapse, due to its importance in neurodegenerative disease, most notably Alzheimer’s disease. Here, we report the transcriptomic and proteomic changes that occur in synaptosomes from frontal cortices of Sod2 null mice. Constitutively null Sod2 mice were differentially dosed with the synthetic catalytic antioxidant EUK-189, which can extend the lifespan of these mice, as well as uncover or prevent neurodegeneration due to endogenous oxidative stress. This approach facilitated insight into quantification of trafficked messages and proteins to the synaptosome. We used two complementary methods to investigate the nature of the synaptosome under oxidative stress; either whole genome gene expression microarrays or mass spectrometry-based proteomics using isobaric tagging for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) of proteins. We have characterized the relative enrichments of gene ontologies at both gene and protein expression that occur due to mitochondrial oxidative stress in the synaptosome, which may lead to new avenues of investigation in understanding the regulation of the synaptic function in normal and diseased states. As a result of using these approaches, we report for the first time an activation of the mTOR pathway in synaptosomes isolated from Sod2 null mice, confirmed by an upregulation of the phosphorylation of 4E-BP1. mRNA was extracted from synaptosome samples of individual mice from each genotype/treatment group (N=9-11 per group/treatment). 200ng of the purified total RNA was then amplified one round using Ambion’s Illumina RNA Amplification Kit, to prepare cRNA for labeling and hybridization to Illumina’s MouseRef-8 v2.0 expression bead chips as per the manufacturers instructions (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA).
Project description:OBJECTIVES: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is unique in its pathology where inflammation commences at the entheses before progressing to an osteoproliferative phenotype generating excessive bone formation that can result in joint fusion. The underlying mechanisms of this progression are poorly understood. Using the proteoglycan-induced spondylitis mouse (PGISp) model which displays spondylitis and eventual joint fusion following an initial inflammatory stimulus, we have characterised the structural and molecular changes that underlie disease progression METHODS: PGISp mice were characterised 12 weeks after initiation of inflammation using expression profiling. RESULTS: Microarray profiling showed genes involved in inflammation and immune-regulation were altered. Further, a number of genes specifically involved in bone regulation including other members of the Wnt pathway were also dysregulated. CONCLUSION: This study implicates the Wnt pathway as a likely mediator of the mechanism by which inflammation induces bony ankylosis in spondyloarthritis, raising the potential that therapies targeting this pathway may be effective in preventing this process. 4 unaffected spines vs. 4 spines from PGISp-affected mice