Project description:Comparison of severely emphysematous tissue removed at lung volume reduction surgery to that of normal or mildly emphysematous lung tissue resected from smokers with nodules suspicious for lung cancer. Data obtained from the 18 patients with severe emphysema and 12 patients with mild/no emphysema. Research may provide insights into the pathogenetic mechanisms involved in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Keywords: other
Project description:Rationale: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is associated with a complex pulmonary and systemic immune response. Objective: To characterize and relate the lung tissue and circulating blood network immune response in COPD. Methods: Lung tissue and circulating blood samples were simultaneously obtained from COPD patients (current smokers n=28 and former smokers n=16) and controls (current smokers n=9 and non-smokers n=12) undergoing thoracic surgery. We used flow cytometry to assess the immune cell composition, Affymetrix arrays to determine whole lung mRNA expression, and Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) to characterize and compare the pulmonary and systemic immune responses in patients and controls. Results: In lung tissue of current smokers with COPD (vs. non-smokers and former smokers with COPD) we observed a significant increase in the proportion of intermediated phenotype macrophages (Mphage) expressing both M1 and M2 markers, whereas that of M1 Mphage (pro-inflammatory) and CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes were decreased. These changes were not mirrored in circulating blood but WGCNA identified three modules of co-expressed genes that related, respectively to: (1) the total proportion of lung Mphage (extracellular matrix and angiogenesis genes) ; (2) active smoking (T cell and apoptosis related genes); and, (3) severity of airflow limitation (cilium organization genes). Conclusions: In mild/moderate COPD, the main pulmonary immune cell alterations relate to current smoking, involve changes in the proportion of Mphage and T cells and are associated with changes in whole lung tissue transcriptome. These cellular pulmonary changes are not mirrored in the systemic circulation.
Project description:Comparison of severely emphysematous tissue removed at lung volume reduction surgery to that of normal or mildly emphysematous lung tissue resected from smokers with nodules suspicious for lung cancer. Data obtained from the 18 patients with severe emphysema and 12 patients with mild/no emphysema. Research may provide insights into the pathogenetic mechanisms involved in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Project description:Lung tissue of COPD patients and tissue of non-smokers was investigated in transcriptome analysis with regard to differences in RNA expression levels to identify target genes for COPD treatment.
Project description:Exosomal miRNAs have been studied in relation to many diseases. However, there is little to no knowledge regarding the miRNA population of BALF or the lung tissue derived exosomes in COPD and IPF. Considering this, we determined and compared the miRNA profiles of BALF and lung tissue-derived exosomes from healthy non-smokers, healthy smokers, and patients with COPD and IPF. NGS results identified three differentially expressed miRNAs in the BALF, while one in the lung-derived exosomes from COPD patients as compared to healthy non-smokers. Of these, we found three- and five-fold downregulation of miR-122-5p amongst the lung tissue-derived exosomes from COPD patients as compared to healthy non-smokers and smokers, respectively. Interestingly, there were key 55 differentially expressed miRNAs in the lung tissue-derived exosomes of IPF patients compared to non-smoking controls.
Project description:We have previously shown that mice with loss of C-type lectin-like type II (CLEC2), which have lymphatic dysfunction due to the role of CLEC2 in platelets for maintaining separation between the venous and lymphatic system, develop lung tertiary lymphoid organ (TLO) formation and lung injury that resembles an emphysema phenotype of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We now sought to investigate whether and how TLOs in these mice may play a pathogenic role in lung injury that is relevant to human disease. We found that inhibiting TLO formation using an anti-CD20 antibody in CLEC2-deficient mice partially blocked the development of emphysema. TLOs in CLEC2-deficient mice were rich in plasma cells and were a source of a broad array of autoantibodies. Chronic cigarette smoke exposure increased the size and number of lung TLOs in CLEC2-deficient mice, and was associated with increased markers of antigen presentation and maturation, leading to increased autoantibody deposition. Using lung tissue from COPD patients, we found an increase in lymphatic markers in patients with an emphysema phenotype and autoreactive TLOs compared to COPD patients without emphysema that lack prominent TLOs. Taken together, these results demonstrate that emphysema in mice with lymphatic dysfunction can be partially rescued by blocking TLO formation, and that these TLOs are source of autoantibodies that are exacerbated by cigarette smoke. Our work suggests that lymphatic dysfunction in mice may recapitulate some aspects an autoimmune emphysema phenotype that is seen in a subset of patients with COPD.
Project description:Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a respiratory disorder that is the result of extended exposure of the airways to noxious stimuli, principally cigarette smoke (CS). The mechanisms through which COPD evolves are not fully understood though it is believed that the disease process includes a genetic component since not all smokers develop COPD. To investigate the mechanism leading to the development of COPD/emphysema, we performed an experiment in which whole genome gene expression and several COPD-relevant biological endpoints (MMP-9, MMP activity, TIMP-1 and lung weight) were measured in lung tissue after exposure to two doses of CS for various periods of time. A novel and powerful method, known as reverse engineering and forward simulation (REFS(TM)), was employed to identify key molecular drivers by integrating gene expression data and 4 measured COPD-relevant endpoints. An ensemble of molecular networks was generated using REFS(TM). Simulations showed that this ensemble could successfully recover the measured experimental data for gene expression and measured COPD-relevant endpoints. This ensemble of networks was then further employed to simulate thousands of in silico gene knockdown experiments. Based on the in silico gene knockdown, thirty-three molecular key drivers for the above four COPD-relevant endpoints were identified, with the majority of them being enriched in inflammation, emphysema and COPD.
Project description:Although cigarette smoke (CS) is the primary risk factor for COPD, the underlying molecular mechanisms for the significant variability in developing COPD in response to CS are incompletely understood. We performed lung gene expression profiling of two different wild-type murine strains (C57BL/6J, NZW/LacJ) and two genetic models with mutations in COPD GWAS genes (HHIP, FAM13A) after 6 months of chronic CS exposure and compared the results to human COPD lung tissues. We identified gene response patterns that correlate with severity of emphysema in mouse and human lungs. Xenobiotic metabolism and Nrf2-mediated oxidative stress response were commonly regulated molecular response patterns across C57BL/6J, Hhip +/- and Fam13a -/- murine models upon chronic CS exposure and human COPD subjects. The CS resistant Fam13a -/- mouse and NZW/LacJ strain revealed an opposite pattern of gene expression response, suggesting distinct molecular pathways for resistance against emphysema. There were few genes commonly modulated between mouse and humans. Our study suggests gene expression responses to CS may be largely species and model dependent, yet shared pathways could provide biologically significant insights underlying individual susceptibility to CS
Project description:70 miRNAs and 2667 mRNAs were differentially expressed between lung tissue from subjects with COPD and smokers without COPD. miRNA and mRNA expression profiles enriched for biological pathways that may be relevant to the pathogenesis of COPD including the transforming growth factor b, Wnt and focal adhesion pathways. miR-223 and miR-1274a were the most affected miRNAs in subjects with COPD compared with smokers without obstruction. miR-15b was increased in COPD samples compared with smokers without obstruction and localised to both areas of emphysema and fibrosis. miR-15b was differentially expressed within GOLD classes of COPD. Expression of SMAD7, which was validated as a target for miR-15b, was decreased in bronchial epithelial cells in COPD. Lung tissue from smokers with no evidence of obstructive lung disease and smokers with COPD was examined for miRNA and mRNA expression followed by validation. We then examined both miRNA and mRNA expression to enrich for relevant biological pathways