Project description:We performed RNA-seq analysis of control, NHR-23-depleted, SPE-44-depleted and NHR-23+SPE-44 depleted adult male animals, to identify genes regulated by NHR-23 and SPE-44.
Project description:The data presented here suggested that sPE is associated with impaired decidualization. Initial experiments involved an in vitro approach. hESCs were isolated from patients who developed sPE in a previous pregnancy or control women who had normal obstetric outcomes. Function was tested by comparing the ability of hESCs in the two groups to decidualize in culture. By morphological criteria and marker expression (PRL and IGFBP1), the cells in the formerly sPE group were decidualization resistant, which was confirmed by microarray analyses showing that they were transcriptionally inert.
Project description:Freshwater environments such as rivers receive effluent discharges from wastewater treatment plants, representing a potential hotspot for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). These effluents also contain low levels of different antimicrobials including biocides and antibiotics such as sulfonamides that can be frequently detected in rivers. The impact of such exposure on ARG prevalence and microbial diversity of riverine environment is unknown, so the aim of this study was to investigate the release of a sub-lethal concentration (<4 g L-1) of the sulfonamide compound sulfamethoxazole (SMX) on the river bacterial microbiome using a microflume system. This system was a semi-natural in-vitro microflume using river water (30 L) and sediment, with circulation to mimic river flow. A combination of ‘omics’ approaches were conducted to study the impact of SMX exposure on the microbiomes within the microflumes. Metaproteomics did not show differences in ARGs expression with SMX exposure in water.
Project description:The copper redhorse (Moxostoma hubbsi) is an endangered fish endemic to Quebec, Canada that is only known to spawn in two locations within the Richelieu River, a waterway draining a significant area of agricultural land. Accordingly, concerns have been raised over the impacts that agricultural pesticide contamination of spawning grounds and nursery habitats within the Richelieu River may have on early life stage copper redhorse. We assessed the effects of contaminants on early life stages of copper redhorse and river redhorse (Moxostoma carinatum), a closely related fish that shares the copper redhorse’s habitat and spawning grounds but is distributed more widely and is not yet listed as endangered. Copper and river redhorse embryos (1000 each) were exposed to either Richelieu River water in an in-situ flow-through system or to laboratory water used as a control. We assessed embryos hatching time, incidence of deformities and survival in copper and river redhorses. We then performed RNA sequencing on copper redhorse larvae to better understand changes due to river water exposure. We identified 341 compounds in the river water that were absent from lab water. Pesticide concentrations in the river peaked following rainfall during the spawning season. Embryos exposed to river water hatched prematurely at 63.0 and 59.2 cumulative degree days (CDD) compared to 65.4 and 69.9 CDD in laboratory water for river and copper redhorse, respectively. Copper redhorse exposed to river water also had a significantly lower survival rate than laboratory water (73% vs. 93%). RNA sequencing of copper redhorse revealed 18 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) following river water exposure. Eight of the upregulated DEGs (cd44, il1b, lamb3, lamc2, tgm5, orm1, saa, acod1) are linked to immune function and injury response and 7 of the downregulated DEGs (cpa2, ctrb, cela2a, ctrl, cpa1, prss1, cel) are involved with digestion and nutrient absorption. This study provided valuable data on the effects of anthropogenic contaminants present in the Richelieu River and increased our knowledge on the individual and mixture effects they have on an endangered fish.
Project description:Proper sample preparation protocols represent a critical step for LC-MS-based proteomic study designs and influence the speed, performance and automation of high-throughput data acquisition. The main objective of this study was to compare two commercial solid phase extraction (SPE)-based sample preparation protocols (comprising SOLAµTM HRP SPE spin plates from Thermo Fisher Scientific and ZIPTIP® C18 pipette tips from Merck Millipore) for analytical performance, reproducibility and analysis speed. The house swine represents a promising animal model for studying human eye diseases including glaucoma and provides excellent requirements for the qualitative and quantitative MS-based comparison in terms of ocular proteomics. In total 6 technical replicates of two protein fractions [extracted with 0.1% dodecyl-ß-maltoside (DDM) or 1% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)] of porcine retinal tissues were subjected to in-gel trypsin digestion and purified with both SPE-based workflows (N=3) prior to LC-MS analysis. On average, 550±70 proteins (1512±199 peptides) and 305±48 proteins (806±144 peptides) were identified from DDM and TFA protein fractions, respectively, after ZIPTIP® purification, and SOLAµTM workflow resulted in the detection of 513±55 proteins (1347±180 peptides) and 300±33 proteins (722±87 peptides), respectively (FDR<1%). Venn diagram analysis revealed an average overlap of 65±2% (DDM fraction) and 69±4% (TFA fraction) in protein identifications between both SPE-based methods. Quantitative analysis of 25 glaucoma-related protein markers also showed no significant differences (P>0.05) regarding protein recovery between both SPE methods. However, only glaucoma-associated marker MECP2 showed a significant (P=0.02) higher abundance in ZIPTIP®-purified replicates in comparison to SOLAµTM-treated study samples. Nevertheless, this result was not confirmed in the verification experiment using in-gel trypsin digestion of recombinant MECP2 (P=0.24). In conclusion, both SPE-based purification methods worked equally well in terms of analytical performance and reproducibility, whereas the analysis speed and the semi automation of the SOLAµTM spin plates workflow is much more convenient in comparison to the ZIPTIP® C18 method.
Project description:Today, many contaminants of emerging concern can be measured in waters across the United States, including the tributaries of the Great Lakes. However, just because the chemicals can be measured does not mean that they necessarily result in harm to fish and other aquatic species. Complicating risk assessment in these waters is the fact that aquatic species are encountering the chemicals as mixtures, which may have additive or synergistic risks that cannot be calculated using single chemical hazard and concentration-response information. We developed an in vitro effects-based screening approach to help us predict potential liver toxicity and cancer in aquatic organisms using water from specific Great Lakes tributaries: St. Louis River (MN), Bad River (WI), Fox River (WI), Manitowoc River (WI), Milwaukee River (WI), Indiana Harbor Canal (IN), St. Joseph River (MI), Grand River (MI), Clinton River (MI), River Rouge (MI), Maumee River (OH), Vermilion River (OH), Cuyahoga River (OH), Genesee River (NY), and Oswego River (NY). We exposed HepG2 cells for 48hrs to medium spiked with either field collected water (final concentration of environmental samples in the exposure medium were 75% of the field-collected water samples) or purified water. Using a deep neural network we clustered our collection sites from each tributary based on water chemistry. We also performed high throughput transcriptomics on the RNA obtained from the HepG2 cells. We used the transcriptomics data with our Bayesian Inferene for Sustance and Chemical Toxicity (BISCT) Bayesian Network for Steatosis to predict the probability of the field samples yielding a gene expression pattern consistent with predicting steatosis as an outcome. Surprisingly, we found that the probability of steatosis did not correspond to the surface water chemistry clustering. Our analysis suggests that chemical signatures are not informative in predicting biological effects. Furthermore, recent reports published after we obtained our samples, suggest that chemical levels in the sediment may be more relevant for predicting potential biological effects in the fish species developing tumors in the Great Lakes basin.
Project description:Development of a modified solid phase extraction (SPE) approach for improved peptide yield and analysis sensitivity with LC-MS based peptidomics of urine.
Project description:In-depth LC-MS-based proteomic profiling of limited samples has been problematic due, in large part, to the inefficiency of sample preparation and attendant sample losses. To address this issue, we developed On-Micro Solid-phase Extraction Tip-based (OmSET) sample preparation for limited biological samples. OmSET is simple, efficient, reproducible, and scalable, and is a widely accessible method for processing ~200 to 10,000 cells. The developed method benefits from minimal sample processing volumes (1-3 μL) and conducting all sample processing steps on-membrane within a single microreactor. Here, we assessed the feasibility of using micro-SPE tips for nanogram-level amounts of tryptic peptides, minimized the number of required sample handling steps and reduced the hands-on time, and evaluated the capability of OmSET for quantitative analysis of low numbers of human monocytes.