Project description:We profiled gene expression of pelleted material containing platelets from frozen plasma of healthy controls and ME/CFS cases for bulk RNA-seq, collected before and 24h after participants conducted a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET).
Project description:The Virochip microarray (version 4.0) was used to detect viruses in patients from North America with unexplained influenza-like illness at the onset of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. We used metagenomics-based technologies (the Virochip microarray) and deep sequencing to analyze nasal swab samples from individuals with 2009 H1N1 infection. This Series includes the Virochip microarray data only.
Project description:This study compared whole blood gene expression in CFS adolescent and healthy controls, and explored associations between gene expression and neuroendocrine markers, immune markers and clinical markers within the CFS group.
Project description:Myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a syndrome of unknown etiology characterized by profound fatigue exacerbated by physical activity, also known as post-exertional malaise (PEM). Previously, we did not detect evidence of immune dysregulation or virus reactivation outside of PEM periods. Here we sought to determine whether cardiopulmonary exercise stress testing of ME/CFS patients could trigger such changes. ME/CFS patients (n=14) and matched sedentary controls (n=11) were subjected to cardiopulmonary exercise on 2 consecutive days and followed up to 7 days post-exercise, and longitudinal whole blood samples analyzed by RNA-seq. Although ME/CFS patients showed significant worsening of symptoms following exercise versus controls, with 8 of 14 ME/CFS patients showing oxygen consumption (V̇O2) on day 2, transcriptome analysis yielded only 6 differentially expressed gene (DEG) candidates when comparing ME/CFS patients to controls across all time points. None of the DEGs were related to immune signaling, and no DEGs were found in ME/CFS patients before and after exercise. Virome composition (P=0.746 by chi-square test) and number of viral reads (P = 0.098 by paired t-test) were not significantly associated with PEM. These observations do not support transcriptionally-mediated immune cell dysregulation or viral reactivation in ME/CFS patients during symptomatic PEM episodes.
Project description:ME/CFS is a serious and poorly understood disease. To understand immune dysregulation in ME/CFS, we used single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) to examine immune cells in cohorts of patients and controls. Post-exertional malaise (PEM), an exacerbation of symptoms following exercise, is a characteristic symptom of ME/CFS. Thus, to detect changes coincident with PEM, we also performed scRNA-seq on the same cohorts following exercise. At baseline, ME/CFS patients displayed dysregulation of classical monocytes suggestive of inappropriate differentiation and migration to tissue. We were able to identify both diseased and more normal monocytes within patients, and the fraction of diseased cells correlated with metrics of disease severity. Comparing the transcriptome at baseline and post-exercise challenge, we discovered patterns indicative of improper platelet activation from patients, with minimal changes elsewhere in the immune system. Taken together, these data identify immunological defects present at baseline in patients, and an additional layer of dysregulation following strenuous exercise.
Project description:The gene expression in vascular endothelial cells (VECs) and circulating fibrocytes (CFs) was tested either culturing alone or co-cultured. Our previous study showed that CFs inhibit both proliferation and apoptosis of VECs. In this present study, we co-cultured CFs and VECs in Transwell and tested the gene expression in CFs and VECs in order to delight the mechanism under which CFs affect the proliferation and apoptosis of VECs.
Project description:Examination of DNA methylome patterns in a larger cohort of ME/CFS samples using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 Beadchip Array
Project description:Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) a debilitating multisystemic disease of unknown etiology, affecting thousands of individuals worldwide, still relies on ruling out medical problems leading to unexplained exertion for its diagnosis due to a complete lack of disease-specific biomarkers. Our group and other, have explored the potential value of microRNA profiles (miRNomes) as diagnostic tools for this disease. However, heterogeneity of participants, low numbers, the variety of samples assayed, and other pre-analytical variables, have hampered the identification disease-associated miRNomes. In this study, our team has evaluated, for the first time, ME/CFS miRNomes in PBMCs and EVs from severely ill patients recruited at the monographic UK ME biobank as a strategy to assess, using SOPs, blood fractions with optimal diagnostic power for a rapid translation of a miR-based diagnostic method into the clinic. Our results show that routine creatine kinase (CK) blood values, plasma EVs physical characteristics (including counts, size and zeta-potential), and a limited number of differentially expressed PBMC and EV miRNAs appear significantly associated with severe ME/CFS (p<0.05). Gene enrichment analysis points to epigenetic and neuroimmune dysregulated pathways, in agreement with previous reports. Population validation by a cost-effective approach limited to these few potentially discriminating variables remains.
Project description:Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling disorder that may occur following an infection, yet the clinical phenotype is poorly defined, the pathophysiology is unknown, and no disease-modifying treatments are available. We used rigorous criteria to recruit a cohort of post-infectious ME/CFS (PI-ME/CFS) volunteers (n=17) with matched healthy controls (n=21) to conduct deep clinical and biological phenotyping using an extensive battery of tests. Among the many physical and cognitive complaints, one defining feature of PI-ME/CFS was an alteration of effort preference, rather than physical or central fatigue, due to dysfunction of integrative brain regions potentially associated with central catechol pathway dysregulation, with consequences on autonomic functioning and physical deconditioning. Immune profiling suggested chronic antigenic stimulation with increase in naïve and decrease in switched memory B-cells. Alterations in gene expression profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and metabolic pathways were consistent with cellular phenotypic studies and demonstrated differences according to sex. Together these clinical abnormalities and biomarker differences provide unique insight into the underlying pathophysiology of PI-ME/CFS, which may guide future intervention.