Activation of AhR by ITE in DCs induces differential gene expression over time.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: To evaluate the effects of AhR activation in dendritic cells (DCs) over time, DCs isolated from human blood or murine spleens were incubated with the AhR ligand ITE for 6 hours, 18 hours, or 72 hours. Treatment with ITE was found to induce transcriptional programs associated with immunoregulatory/ immunosuppressive mchanisms.
Project description:The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that binds pollutants, therapeutic drugs and endogenous ligands. The AHR is expressed in all breast cancer subtypes and it can switch the aggressiveness of breast cancer cells from low to high depending on the ligand that it binds. Jagged 1 (JAG1) is a NOTCH receptor ligand that is overexpressed in basal-like breast cancer. JAG1 promotes breast cancer progression in part by increasing the migratory and invasive activity of breast cancer cells (BCCs). The regulation of JAG1 by AHR in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 BCCs by two AHR ligands (TCDD and ITE) was investigated in this report. TCDD is the prototype AHR ligand, and ITE is a non-toxic endogenous AHR ligand with anti-cancer activity. Ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) revealed a significant association between TCDD-regulated genes (TRGs) and cell movement. Short interfering RNA (siRNA)-directed knockdown of AHR confirmed TCDD-stimulated decreases in JAG1 required AHR expression. TCDD-induced reductions in JAG1 were inhibited by the AHR antagonist CH-223191. The endogenous non-toxic AHR ligand ITE also reduced JAG1 by activating AHR in BCCs. MDA-MB-231 are basal-like BCCs that are highly migratory and invasive, and these cancer cell attributes were significantly inhibited by ITE. We reduced JAG1 with targeting siRNA, and the outcome mirrored ITE, it suppressed TNBC cell migration and invasive activity. Collectively, these findings are the first showing that ITE is a tumor-suppressing AHR ligand in TNBC cells in part because it reduces JAG1 expression
Project description:Preeclampsia (PE) is a leading cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality and is characterized by a wide spectrum of impaired maternal and fetal vascular function. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR, a ligand-activated transcription factor) plays a critical role in regulating vascular development and function. Endogenous AhR ligands can induce endothelial dysfunction. However, the underlying protein phospho-signaling mechanisms remain unknown. To determine if endogenous AhR ligands dysregulate the phosphoproteomes and proteomes in endothelial cells, primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) (n = 4; 2 cell preparations/cell sex) were cultured in endothelial cell media (ECM). After 16 hr serum starvation, subconfluent cells were treated with 1 µM 2-(1’H-indole-3’-carbonyl)-thiazole-4-carboxylic acid methyl ester (ITE, an endogenous AhR ligand) or DMSO (vehicle) for 4 and 24 hr. The cell proteins were subjected to a bottom-up phosphoproteomic analysis to determine acute and prolonged effects of ITE on protein phosphorylation.
Project description:Preeclampsia (PE) is a hypertensive disorder and a leading cause of maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity during human pregnancy. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a ligand-activated transcription factor, regulates vascular development and function during pregnancy. Here, we report the important role of endogenous AhR ligands in endothelial growth and function during pregnancy using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) as a model. We found that ITE, ([2-(1’H-indole-3’-carbonyl)-thiazole-4-carboxylic acid methyl ester], an endogenous AhR ligand) decreased cell proliferation and monolayer integrity in HUVECs in vitro. ITE also dysregulated transcriptomic profiles of HUVECs in a fetal sex-specific manner. The ITE-dysregulated genes were enriched in biological function and pathways highly relevant to cardiovascular diseases, vascular function, and inflammation responses. We conclude that dysregulation of endogenous AhR ligands may contribute to the PE-impaired endothelial function through fetal sex-specific regulation of endothelial transcriptomes. These AhR ligand-activated genes and pathways might represent promising therapeutic and sex-specific targets for PE-impaired endothelial function.
Project description:To identify aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) dependent transcriptional changes in mouse colon stem cells, we performed RNA sequencing of colon organoids from wildtype and AhR deficient mice stimulated with an high affinity AHR ligand, 5nM FICZ for 4 hours.
Project description:Preeclampsia (PE) is a hypertensive disorder and a leading cause of maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity during human pregnancy. Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a ligand-activated transcription factor, regulates vascular development and function during pregnancy. Here, we report the important role of endogenous AhR ligands in vascular growth and function during pregnancy using a rat model. We found that exposure of pregnant rats to an endogenous AhR ligand (ITE, [2-(1’H-indole-3’-carbonyl)-thiazole-4-carboxylic acid methyl ester]) elevated maternal blood pressure and induced proteinuria, while decreased uteroplacental blood flow and fetal/ placental growth, all of which are hallmarks of PE. ITE also dysregulated transcriptomic profiles of rat placentas in a fetal sex-specific manner. The ITE-dysregulated genes were enriched in biological function and pathways highly relevant to diseases of heart, liver, and kidney, vascular function, and inflammation responses. Collectively, we conclude that dysregulation of endogenous AhR ligands may contribute to the PE-impaired vascular function through fetal sex-specific regulation of immune cell infiltration and transcriptomes. These AhR ligand-activated genes and pathways might represent promising therapeutic and sex-specific targets for PE-impaired vascular function.
Project description:The goal of our study is to determine whether Atg16L1 deficiency leads to differences in the transcriptional profile of CD11c+ Dendritic Cells, ultimately leading to an increased inflammatory phenotype. CD11c+ cell sorted splenic DCs were isolated from 8 week old WT and Atg16L1 hypomorphic mice from spleens of untreated mice and were placed directly into TRIzol LS (Invitrogen). mRNA was isolated, amplified, and hybridized to an Affymetrix GeneChip (MOE430A).
Project description:The transcriptional program of early embryonic development is tightly regulated by a set of well-defined transcription factors that suppress premature expression of differentiation genes and sustain the pluripotent identity. It is generally accepted that this program can be perturbed by environmental factors such as chemical pollutants, however the precise molecular mechanisms remain unknown. The Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AHR) is a widely expressed nuclear receptor that senses environmental stimuli and modulates target gene expression. Here, we show that ectopic activation of AHR during early differentiation disrupts the differentiation program via the chromatin remodeling complex NuRD. The activated AHR/NuRD complex altered the expression of differentiation-specific genes that control the first two developmental decisions without affecting the pluripotency program. These findings identify a novel mechanism that allows environmental stimuli to disrupt embryonic development through AHR signaling.
Project description:The AhR is a ligand activated transcription factor that may be important in normal skin physiology. We compared gene expression profiles between AhR Wt and AhR KO primary mouse keratinocyte cultures. We identified 391 genes that were differentially expressed with a 1.5 fold cutoff and p<.05, and identified the AhR as an important regulator of genes involved in normal epidermal differentiation. AhR Wt primary keratinocyte cultures (n=4) were compared with AhR KO primary keratinocyte cultures (n=3)