Project description:CD47 is a transmembrane glycoprotein that is ubiquitously expressed in different organs and tissues (Barclay and Van den Berg 2014; Liu, et al. 2017). In the human immune system, CD47 interacts with some integrins, two counter-receptor signal regulator protein (SIRP) family members, and the secreted thrombospondin-1 (TSP1) (Barclay and Van den Berg 2014; Gao, et al. 2016; Kaur, et al. 2013; Oldenborg, et al. 2000). CD47 has two established roles in the immune system. The CD47-SIRPα interaction was identified as a critical innate immune checkpoint, which delivers an antiphagocytic signal to macrophages and inhibits neutrophil cytotoxicity (Martínez- Sanz, et al. 2021). Its interaction with inhibitory SIRPα is a physiological anti-phagocytic “don’t eat me” signal on circulating red blood cells that is co-opted by cancer cells (Matlung, et al. 2017). Many malignant cells overexpress CD47 (Betancur, et al. 2017; Chao, et al. 2011; Jaiswal, et al. 2009; Majeti, et al. 2009; Oronsky, et al. 2020; Petrova, et al. 2017). CD47/SIRPα-targeted therapeutics have been developed to overcome this immune checkpoint for cancer treatment (Kaur, et al. 2020; Matlung, et al. 2017). Secondly, engagement of CD47 on T cells by TSP1 regulates their differentiation and survival (Grimbert, et al. 2006; Lamy, et al. 2007) and inhibits T cell receptor signaling and antigen presentation by dendritic cells (DCs) (Kaur, et al. 2014; Li, et al. 2002; Liu, et al. 2015; Miller, et al. 2013; Soto-Pantoja, et al. 2014; Weng, et al. 2014). TSP1/CD47 signaling has similar inhibitory functions to limit NK cell activation (Kim, et al. 2008; Nath, et al. 2018; Nath, et al. 2019; Schwartz, et al. 2019) and IL1β production by macrophages (Stein, et al. 2016). CD47 is therefore a checkpoint that regulates both innate and adaptive immunity. The recent understanding of CD47 antagonism associated with increased antigen presentation by DCs (Liu, et al. 2016) and natural killer cell cytotoxicity (Nath, et al. 2019) contributes to the heightened interest in CD47 as a therapeutic target (Kaur, et al. 2020).

Project description:Recent studies using next-generation sequencing technology have uncovered mutational landscapes of various myeloid malignancies (Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network, 2013; Yoshida et al., 2011). These genetic data revealed novel classes of mutations that commonly occur in patients with myeloid malignancies, including epigenetic regulators and spliceosomal genes. In addition, co-occurrence and mutual exclusivity of these disease alleles suggest convergent cooperative roles or common biological effects of specific alleles in myeloid leukemogenesis (Shih et al., 2012). Somatic deletions and loss-of-function mutations in TET2, a member of the TET family which regulates DNA methylation, were identified in 10-20% of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) patients, 12-24% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients and 40-50% of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) patients (Abdel-Wahab et al., 2009; Delhommeau et al., 2009; Jankowska et al., 2009; Langemeijer et al., 2009). Analysis carried out in large AML cohorts has shown that TET2 mutations are associated with adverse outcome in patients with intermediate-risk, cytogenetically normal AML (Patel et al., 2012). TET proteins (TET1-3) are Fe(II)- and a-ketoglutarate-dependent enzymes that catalyze the conversion of 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) leading to DNA demethylation (Guo et al., 2011; Tahiliani et al., 2009). Consistent with this notion, TET2 mutant AML patient samples show decreased 5-hmC levels and hypermethylation phenotype (Figueroa et al., 2010; Ko et al., 2010). Oncometabolite 2-hydroxyglutarate produced by IDH1/2 mutations inhibits TET2 function (Figueroa et al., 2010). Moreover, WT1 recruits TET2 to regulate its target gene expression (Wang et al., 2015) and WT1 mutations lead to reduced TET2 function and decreased 5-hmC levels (Rampal et al., 2014). Together, IDH1/2 mutations and WT1 mutations share, at least partially, common epigenetic pathogenesis in AML as TET2 mutations through altered DNA hydroxymethylation. A number of studies have shown that TET2 is a key regulator of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) self-renewal and myeloid differentiation. Conditional loss of Tet2 in mouse hematopoietic compartment leads to expansion of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs, LSK, lin- Sca1+ cKit+) and enhanced repopulating capacity in vivo (Li et al., 2011; Moran-Crusio et al., 2011; Quivoron et al., 2011). In addition, Tet2-mutant mice show myeloproliferation in vivo and TET2-silenced human cord blood cells show skewed differentiation towards CD14+ myelomonocytic lineage in vitro (Pronier et al., 2011), which is compatible with a high frequency of TET2 mutations in CMML patients. More recently, mutations in TET2 and in other epigenetic regulators, such as DNMT3A and ASXL1, are reported in individuals with clonal hematopoiesis without hematological malignancies (Busque et al., 2012; Xie et al., 2014). Analysis of AML and patients with nonhematologic malignancies suggest mutations in TET2 and in other epigenetic modifiers may represent early premalignant events that cause clonal hematopoietic expansion (Genovese et al., 2014; Jaiswal et al., 2014; Jan et al., 2012). These data indicate that TET2 inactivation contributes to selective clonal advantages in early leukemia initiation but requires additional genetic events to induce myeloid transformation. Ras proteins are small GTPases that cycle between active guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound (Ras-GTP) and inactive guanosine diphosphate (GDP)-bound (Ras-GDP) conformations (Schubbert et al., 2007). Ras-GTP binds to and activates downstream signaling effectors, such as Raf and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), thereby transducing signals from activated growth factor receptors to the nucleus. Thus, Ras-mediated signal transduction critically regulates fundamental cellular behaviors, including proliferation, differentiation and survival (Schubbert et al., 2007). The three cellular Ras genes encode 4 highly homologous proteins, Hras, Kras4A, Kras4B and Nras, that share conserved effector binding domains and the P-loop, which binds the g-phosphate of GTP (Zhou et al., 2016). Cancer-associated RAS mutations encode proteins that accumulate in the active GTP-bound conformation due to defective intrinsic hydrolysis and resistance to guanosine triphosphatase-activating proteins (Schubbert et al., 2007). Among these isoforms, NRAS is the most common target of oncogenic signaling mutations in myeloid leukemia, including 10-15% of AML and CMML cases (Bacher et al., 2006; Ball et al., 2016). Moreover, recent study identified NRAS as one of the somatic gene mutations with adverse prognostic relevance in CMML (Elena et al., 2016). Consistent with human data, mice with hematopoietic tissue specific conditional NrasG12D allele develop fatal myeloproliferative disease in vivo (Li et al., 2011). These data underscore critical role of oncogenic NRAS mutations in myeloid leukemogenesis. Recent studies have shown that mutations in epigenetic modifiers and signaling factors commonly co-occur in AML, including the co-occurrence of TET2 mutations and NRAS mutations (Papaemmanuil et al., 2016; Patel et al., 2012). Analysis of the clonal architecture in CMML patients suggests TET2/NRAS double-mutant clones expand both within stable disease time course and in relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (Itzykson et al., 2013). These evidences imply TET2 and NRAS mutation likely function together in myeloid transformation. Although previous study has shown that knockdown of Tet2 does not accelerate NrasG12D induced transplant myeloproliferative disease model (Chang et al., 2014), to date there have been no studies of the mechanistic impact caused by the combination of these high risk genetic lesions using physiologic in vivo model. Moreover, how the combination of myeloid leukemia-associated disease alleles affect sensitivity to targeted therapy has not been elucidated. Here we investigate loss of Tet2 together with NrasG12D in CMML development and specifically how they interact to affect sensitivity to targeted therapy.

Project description:Down syndrome (DS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by an extra copy of human chromosome 21 (HSA21). People with Down syndrome have poor motor skills and speech, impaired adaptive behavior, and cognition deficits. (Carlesimo et al., 1997; Contestabile et al., 2010; Roizen and Patterson, 2003; Sherman et al., 2007; Vicari et al., 2000). At the brain anatomical level, DS is characterized by structural deficiencies in diverse regions. These deficits include hippocampal and cortical growth reduction, abnormal lamination and differentiation of neurons, decreased dendritic branching and spine density, and abnormal synaptic plasticity (Kazemi et al., 2016; Rachidi and Lopes, 2011). Even though the genetic cause of DS was discovered in 1959 (Megarbane et al., 2009), we still do not know the precise mechanisms by which triplication of HSA21 genes leads to neuroanatomical and neurobehavioral phenotypes in DS individuals. Moreover, a fundamental question in DS is to discover the impact of the triplication of chromosome 21 on the global expression regulation of non-triplicated genes (Letourneau et al., 2014) and how these profound changes at the genetic level translate to phenotypic changes in DS individuals. Finally, drug treatments targeting various putative molecular pathways are effective in rescuing cognition in DS animals. Nevertheless, while the preclinical studies performed in diverse mouse models of DS have reported improvement in cognitive deficits, the same drugs have failed to replicate all the good and promising effects when administered to people with DS during clinical trials (Rueda et al., 2020). Therefore, there is a notable need in strongly extending our understanding of DS in humans. Global gene expression analysis at the mRNA or protein level with different techniques have reported interesting findings on disparate DS-derived samples (fibroblasts, circulating immune cells, and amniocytes) (Guedj et al., 2016; Stamoulis et al., 2019; Waugh et al., 2019; Lanzillotta et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2017. Liu et al., 2018; Sommer et al., 2008) or iPSC-derived neurons obtained from DS individuals (Gonzales et al., 2018; Huo et al., 2018; Sobel et al., 2019). However, only a few studies have directly assessed global mRNA dysregulation in the adult DS brains by microarray hybridization (Lockstone et al., 2007; Olmos-Serrano et al., 2016). Although the latter studies have provided interesting information about the significant cellular pathways altered in trisomy, they lacked the depth, sensitivity, and isoform specificity that characterize modern gene expression analysis by next-generation sequencing (NGS). In this regard, another study used single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) to profile aging DS brains (Palmer et al., 2021). Although this cutting-edge technique can deliver high-level information for the characterization of cellular diversity in brain tissues, this comes at the cost of profiling less number of genes (Bakken et al., 2018) and the possibility of missing the specific signature of important pathological processes (Thrupp et al., 2020). Moreover, none of these studies addressed the other side of the coin, assessing the corresponding changes in protein expression. In fact, the question of how well the transcriptome expression profiles match with those at the protein level remains largely unanswered. Large-scale analysis of transcriptome and proteome of the human brain would therefore provide a more comprehensive data-driven approach to identify dysregulated biological processes or genes/proteins co-expression networks as drivers of disease pathogenesis and prioritize the development of corresponding therapeutic interventions. Here, we took a multi-level data acquisition and interpretation approach to integrate in-depth transcriptomics and proteomics data in parallel from the same set of human brain samples to identify dysregulated expression networks in DS, a complex and multigenic neurodevelopmental disorder. We also provide unprecedented evidence of changes in mRNA transcript (isoform) expression, and to our knowledge, a first integrative analysis to identify alternative splicing, RNA binding proteins, and miRNAs as crucial intermediate regulatory steps in DS. Our data provide molecular information signatures that consistently repeat at gene, transcript, and protein levels and may function as critical players in DS pathophysiology. In particular, our multi-level data pinpoint to alteration in cell projection genes that translate into defects in axon and dendrites formation, which we find in DS iPSC derived neurons and primary hippocampal culture from a murine DS model.

Project description:Male factors account for approximately 40% of all infertility. Conventional semen analysis focus on seminal physicochemical property and spermatozoa morphology. They yield no information concerning the functional competence of the spermatozoa(Petrunkina et al., 2007). Owning to the essential role of proteins in the reproductive process, comprehensive and systematic identification of proteome is critical to gain new insights into spermatogenesis and infertility. Recent advances in mass spectrometry have allowed the identification of hundreds to thousands of protein in spermatozoa(Oliva et al., 2008; Amaral et al., 2014; Codina et al., 2015). In major domestic mammalian species, global spermatozoa proteomic profiles have been described in rodents(Baker et al., 2008a; Baker et al., 2008b) and bovine(Peddinti et al., 2008). Meanwhile, lacking of new protein synthesis in spermatozoa supports the current view that the regulation of sperm maturation is controlled by exogenous proteins(O'Rand et al., 2011) (e.g., during epididymal transit). Among the seminal plasma proteins, The human seminal plasma has been comprehensively described (Pilch and Mann, 2006; Batruch et al., 2011; Milardi et al., 2012; Milardi et al., 2013; Sharma et al., 2013). In domestic animal species, some studies performing a systematic analysis on using high throughput proteomics have been performed(Kelly et al., 2006; Moura et al., 2007; Souza et al., 2012; Druart et al., 2013; Soleilhavoup et al., 2014). Buffalos (Bubalus bubalis) are adapted to hot–humid tropical climatic conditions, but have low reproductive efficiency. The low sperm motility maybe contributed to protein components variation of spermatozoa and seminal plasma. The composition of buffalo spermatozoa and buffalo seminal plasma (BSP) remains unknown. Proteomic study would be beneficial to the elucidation of the roles of sperm and BSP proteins in regulation of maturation, motility and fertilization. As such, the aim of the current study was to extensively characterize the differentially expressed protein of buffalo spermatozoa and seminal plasma using a comparative proteomics.

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Fatty Acid Oxidation is Impaired in An Orthologous Mouse Model of Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease

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