Project description:Epigenetic dysregulation is implicated in the pathogenesis of lupus. We performed a longitudinal analysis to assess changes in DNA methylation in neutrophils collected from 54 lupus patients over 4 years of follow up and across disease activity levels using 229 patient samples.
Project description:Little is known about the lung microbiome dynamics and host-microbiome interactions in relation to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations and in patient subgroups based on smoking status and disease severity. Here we performed a 16S ribosomal RNA survey on sputum microbiome from 16 healthy and 43 COPD subjects. For COPD subjects, a longitudinal sampling was performed from stable state to exacerbations, at two and six weeks post-exacerbations and at six months from first stable visit. Host sputum transcriptome were characterized for a subset of COPD patient samples.
Project description:The aim of the longitudinal analysis was to examine the transcriptional blood profile of active TB patients at the time of recruitment (before drug treatment) and then subsequently at specific time points after drug treatment to determine whether the signature is extinguished with treatment and when. Whole blood collected in tempus tubes from patients with different spectra of TB disease and healthy controls. All patients were sampled prior to the initiation of any antimycobacterial therapy. Active Pulmonary TB: PTB - All patients confirmed by isolation of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis on culture of sputum or bronchoalvelolar lavage fluid. Healthy controls - these were volunteers without exposure to TB who were negative by both tuberculin skin test (<15mm if BCG vaccinated, <6mm if unvaccinated); who were also negative by Interferon-Gamma Release assay(IGRA); specifically Quantiferon Gold In-Tube Assay (Cellestis, Australia). Here the aim of the experiment is to assess the longitudinal effect of antimycobacterial treatment on the active TB signature, during and after treatment. Blood was taken from the active TB patients at baseline, pre-treatment, 2 months after treatment inititation, and 12 months after treatment initiation, which would be after treatment was completed. These samples were then amplified at the same time with samples from healthy controls and hybridised to the same chips to permit an assessment of whether the post treatment samples had similar transcriptional profiles to healthy controls or were distinct. In this dataset: PTB baseline, n = 7; PTB 2 months, n = 7; PTB 12 months, n = 7. BCG+ control baseline, n =12. Experimental variables: Patient group: Active PTB; Healthy controls (all BCG vaccinated). ethnicity - a wide range of ethnic groups is represented. The active PTB group incorporates a range of smear positive and smear negative disease and a spectrum of disease extent/severity. Timepoint: 0 months = baseline pre-treatment;2 months = 2 months after initiation of treatment; 12 months = 12 months after initiation of treatment.
Project description:Genome-wide patterns of DNA methylation were quantified using the Illumina Infinium EPIC array (“EPIC array”) in DNA samples isolated from buccal swabs collected at ages 5, 10 and 18 and whole blood samples collected at age 18 from 118 Monozygotic twin pairs from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study. Comparison of DNA methylation profiles of 233 age 18 blood samples with data on EPIC and Illumina 450K methylation arrays.
Project description:Rapid dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing data to public repositories has enabled widespread study of viral genomes, but studies of longitudinal specimens from infected persons are relatively limited. Analysis of longitudinal specimens enables understanding of how host immune pressures drive viral evolution in vivo. Here we performed sequencing of 49 longitudinal SARS-CoV-2-positive samples from 20 patients in Washington State collected between March and September of 2020. Viral loads declined over time with an average increase in RT-PCR cycle threshold (Ct) of 0.87 per day. We found that there was negligible change in SARS-CoV-2 consensus sequences over time, but identified a number of nonsynonymous variants at low frequencies across the genome. We observed enrichment for a relatively small number of these variants, all of which are now seen in consensus genomes across the globe at low prevalence. In one patient, we saw rapid emergence of various low-level deletion variants at the N-terminal domain of the spike glycoprotein, some of which have previously been shown to be associated with reduced neutralization potency from sera. In a subset of samples that were sequenced using metagenomic methods, differential gene expression analysis showed a downregulation of cytoskeletal genes that was consistent with a loss of ciliated epithelium during infection and recovery. We also identified co-occurrence of bacterial species in samples from multiple hospitalized individuals. These results demonstrate that the intrahost genetic composition of SARS-CoV-2 is dynamic during the course of COVID-19, and highlight the need for continued surveillance and deep sequencing of minor variants.
Project description:This DNA methylation dataset describes epigenomic changes in astrocytes culture in vitro with passaging, in the context of studies examining cellular aging patterns that are conserved in vivo and in vitro. Fetal astrocytes were derived from cerebral cortex. Cells were grown under normoxic conditions and exhaustively passaged until cellular senescence. Longitudinal DNA samples were collected throughout passaging and DNA methylation was measured using the Infinium HumanMethylationEPIC BeadChip. In addition, some samples were sorted by FACS using senescence markers prior to DNA extraction for additional DNA methylation measurements.
Project description:Background: Assessments of airways inflammation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) require semi-invasive procedures and specialized sample processing know-how. In this study we aimed to set up and validate a novel non-invasive processing-free method for RNA sequencing (RNAseq) of spontaneous sputum samples collected from COPD patients. Methods: Spontaneous sputum samples were collected and stabilized, with or without selection of plugs and with or without the use of a stabilizer specifically formulated for downstream diagnostic testing (PrimeStore® Molecular Transport Medium). After 8-day storage at ambient temperature RNA was isolated according to an optimized RNAzol® method. An average percentage of fragments longer than 200 nucleotides (DV200) >30% and an individual yield >50ng were required for progression of samples to sequencing. Finally, to assess if the transcriptome generated would reflect a true endotype of COPD inflammation, the outcome of single-sample gene-set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) was validated using an independent set of processed induced sputum samples Results: RNA extracted from spontaneous sputum using a stabilizer showed an average DV200 higher than 30%. 70% of the samples had a yield >50ng and were submitted to downstream analysis. There was a straightforward correlation in terms of gene expression between samples handled with or without separation of plugs. This was also confirmed by principal component analysis and ssGSEA. The top ten enriched pathways resulting from spontaneous sputum ssGSEA were associated to features of COPD, namely, inflammation, immune responses and oxidative stress; up to 70% of these were in common within the top ten enriched pathways resulting from induced sputum ssGSEA. Conclusion: This analysis confirmed that the typical COPD endotype was represented within spontaneous sputum and supported the current method as a non-invasive processing-free procedure to assess the level of sputum cell inflammation in COPD patients by RNAseq analysis.