Exploratory pharmacogene variation in Ghanaian population
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Genetic variations in drug metabolising enzymes play a role in how individuals respond to drugs. Pharmacogene variation data in the Ghanaian population is limited and this study looks at exploring common variations that exist in our population for commonly used drugs. Samples were validated with PCR-RFLP for accuracy
Project description:Genetic variations in drug metabolising enzymes play a role in how individuals respond to drugs. Pharmacogene variation data in the Ghanaian population is limited and this study looks at exploring common variations that exist in our population for commonly used drugs. In addition, the study also looks at the how variations in cytokines and HLA play a role in HBV pathogenesis. Samples were validated with PCR-RFLP for accuracy
Project description:Flagella-driven motility of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium facilitates host colonization. However, the large extracellular flagellum is also a prime target for the immune system. As consequence, expression of flagella is bistable within a population of Salmonella, resulting in flagellated and non-flagellated subpopulations. This allows the bacteria to maximize fitness in hostile environments. The degenerate EAL-domain protein RflP (formerly YdiV) is responsible for the bistable expression of flagella by directing the flagellar master regulatory complex FlhD4C2 to proteolytic degradation. The environmental cues controlling expression of rflP and thus the bistable flagellar biosynthesis remain ambiguous. Here, we demonstrate that RflP responds to cell envelope stress and alterations of outer membrane integrity. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) truncation mutants of Salmonella Typhimurium exhibited increasing motility defects due to downregulation of flagellar gene expression. Transposon mutagenesis and genetic profiling revealed that σ24 (RpoE) and Rcs phosphorelay-dependent cell envelope stress response systems sense modifications of lipopolysaccharide, low pH activity of the complement system. This subsequently results in activation of RflP expression and degradation of FlhD4C2 via ClpXP. We speculate that diverse hostile environments inside the host might result in cell envelope damage and would thus trigger the repression of resource-costly and immunogenic flagella biosynthesis via activation of the cell envelope stress response.
Project description:To elucidate the aging-associated cellular population dynamics throughout the body, here we present PanSci, a single-cell transcriptome atlas profiling over 20 million cells from 623 mouse tissue samples, encompassing a range of organs across different developmental stages, genders, and genotypes. This comprehensive dataset allowed us to identify more than 3,000 unique cellular states and catalog over 200 distinct aging-associated cell populations experiencing significant depletion or expansion. Our panoramic analysis uncovered four distinct, temporally structured aging-related cell population dynamic waves that are organ- and lineage-specific. Moreover, we investigated aging-associated alterations in immune cell populations, revealing both widespread shifts and organ-specific changes. We further explored the regulatory roles of the immune system on aging and pinpointed specific age-related cell population expansions that are lymphocyte-dependent. The breadth and depth of our 'cell-omics' methodology not only enhance our comprehension of cellular aging but also lay the groundwork for exploring the complex regulatory networks among varied cell types in the context of aging and aging-associated diseases.
Project description:Over the past decade, significant advances have been made to unravel molecular mechanisms of stress response in different ecotoxicological model species. Within this study, we focus on population level transcriptomic responses of a natural population of Daphnia magna Straus, (1820), to heavy metals. We aim to characterize the population level transcriptomic responses, which include standing genetic variation, and improve our understanding on how populations respond to environmental stress at a molecular level. We studied population level responses to two heavy metals, copper and arsenic, and their binary mixture across time. Transcriptomic patterns identified significantly regulated gene families and genes at the population level including cuticle proteins and resilins. Furthermore, some of these differentially regulated gene families, such as cuticle proteins, were also significantly enriched for genetic variations including SNPs and MNPs. In general, genetic variation was observed in specific gene families, many of which are known to be involved in stress response. Overall, our results indicate that molecular stress responses can be identified within natural populations and that linking molecular mechanisms with genetic variation at the population level could contribute significantly to adverse outcome frameworks.
Project description:WKY and LEW strains have been widely studied for their differential susceptibility to experimental glomerulonephritis. In particular these strains show strong variations in the macrophage activation. This dataset measures expression of macrophages in backcross population of WKY DC and LEW rats and includes a few control origninating from the WKY DC strain.
Project description:Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), which is associated with occupational asbestos exposure, is a deadly disease with no effective treatments due mainly to its high resistance to anti-cancer drugs. The molecular mechanisms responsible for its chemotherapeutic resistance are complicated and undefined. However, the presence of side population cells (SP cells) in tumors is a well-accepted explanation for their anti-cancer drug resistance. To identify SP cell-specific gene expression signature, microarray technique has been employed. Our data show differential gene expression profiles between SP and non-SP cells of H2714 mesothelioma cells. SP cells over-expressed genes associated with cancer stem cell (CSC) and drug resistance: DUSP6, SPRY2 and IL6, as well as multi-pathways, including the cancer stem cell-associated pathways Notch and c-Kit. Therefore, we believe that targeting CSC-specific genes and pathways in SP cells may hold the key to the discovery of effective treatments for reversing chemotherapeutic resistance to MPM treatment. 4 samples