Project description:Genetic mutations on leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) have been associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease. The Gly2019Ser (G2019S) mutation on LRRK2 gene is a relatively common cause of familial Parkinson's disease in Caucasian population. In this study, we generated human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from LRRK2 (G2019S) bearing patient fibroblasts by cell reprogramming. We performed global gene expression profiling of LRRK2 (G2019S) heterozygous and homozygous patient iPSC lines, and the corresponding fibroblast lines they originated from. An age-matched wildtype human fibroblast line and H1 human embryonic stem cell (ESC) line were used as controls. Microarray gene expression profiling was done to: (1) Compare global gene expression differences between wildtype fibroblasts and fibroblasts from patients bearing homozygous and heterozygous LRRK2 (G2019S) mutation; (2) Compare global gene expression differences between wildtype iPSC and iPSC generated from LRRK2 (G2019S) homozygous and heterozygous patients; (3) Check that all iPSC generated from wildtype and patients fibroblasts are in fact similar to human pluripotent ESC.
Project description:A rare mutation associated with familial ST-wave depression in ECG was predicted to generate a de novo enhancer. This mutation was generated heterozygously in iPSC lines to characterise it's molecular effects by ATAC-seq, Capture-C and RNA-seq
Project description:Genetic mutations on leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) have been associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease. The Gly2019Ser (G2019S) mutation on LRRK2 gene is a relatively common cause of familial Parkinson's disease in Caucasian population. In this study, we generated human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from LRRK2 (G2019S) bearing patient fibroblasts by cell reprogramming. We performed global gene expression profiling of LRRK2 (G2019S) heterozygous and homozygous patient iPSC lines, and the corresponding fibroblast lines they originated from. An age-matched wildtype human fibroblast line and H1 human embryonic stem cell (ESC) line were used as controls.
Project description:To find BRCA1-associated copy number abberations, the copy number profiles of Familial Basal-like BRCA1-mutated breast carcinomas were compared to Familial Basal-like carcinomas with no pathgogenic BRCA1/2 mutation. This led to the observation of unanticipated heterogeneity of the BRCA1 associated copy number profiles. Gene expression analysis on the same samples identified tumor infiltrating lymphocytes to be responsible for this observation. High number of infiltrating lymphocytes proved to be detrimental for copy number profiling efforts. After optimal sample selection, BRCA1-associated copy number abberations could be detected.
Project description:Purpose: This study investigated the protective effect and further elucidated the mechanisms of action of O. elatus on acetaminophen (APAP)-induced liver injury (AILI). Methods: O. elatus chlorogenic-enriched fraction (OEB) was administrated orally daily for seven consecutive days, followed by a single intraperitoneal injection of an overdose of APAP after the final OEB administration. Results: OEB decreased alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total cholesterol, total triglycerides contents, regulated superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione, malondialdehyde levels, and affected the metabolism of APAP. Furthermore, OEB treatment regulated lipid metabolism, activated the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors signaling pathway in mice with AILI, affected immune cells, and decreased neutrophil infiltration. Conclusions: This study indicated that OEB is a potential drug candidate for the prevention of APAP-induced hepatotoxicity and elucidated a potential protective mechanism by OEB.
Project description:A rare mutation associated with familial ST-wave depression in ECG was predicted to generate a de novo enhancer. This mutation was generated heterozygously in iPSC lines to characterise it's molecular effects by ATAC-seq, Capture-C and RNA-seq
Project description:Pien Tze Huang (PZH) is a traditional Chinese medicinal formula that has been extensively used in Asia for the treatment of liver diseases. We created two groups of liver cancer mouse models induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4): one group received treatment with PZH and the other did not receive any treatment. In the non-PZH treated group, we observed a significant increase in liver function indices including albumin (ALB), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Histological examination using hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining revealed inflammation around the hepatic vein in the non-PZH treated group. Furthermore, Masson's trichrome staining demonstrated the presence of blue-stained collagen fibers around the hepatic vein in the non-PZH treated group. These findings suggest that PZH may have therapeutic effects on liver inflammation and cancer. To further explore the molecular mechanisms of PZH's action, we conducted mRNA, long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), circular RNA (circRNA), and microRNA (miRNA) sequencing to identify potential drug targets at the transcriptome level. We identified 478 differentially expressed protein-coding transcripts and 68 differentially expressed lncRNA transcripts. Our study provides insights into potential transcriptional therapeutic targets for the clinical use of PZH in treating liver diseases.
Project description:Inherited genetic variants of insulin receptor induced cellular signaling have long been suspected to contribute to the development of type-2- diabetes mellitus. In this report we discuss a heterozygous mutation in the first coding exon of the proto-oncogene Ha-Ras (Ha-RasA11P) that we have identified in a patient with familial premature aging syndrome. The patient has atopic sklerodermic skin alterations, insulin resistance as well as disturbances in lipid metabolism. In vitro analyzes have shown that this mutation disrupted not only the signal transduction of the insulin receptor but also other receptor tyrosine kinases, such as IGF-1, EGF, PDGF. These results demonstrate that HA-Ras has a significant role in insulin sensitivity in humans. We used microarrays to determine differences in gene expression due to a deactivating Ha-Ras mutation reducing c-fos expression in a patient with lipodystrophy and a Werner-like syndrome. Cultued fibroblasts of non diabetic controls and a patient with deactivating Ha-Ras mutation were analyzed at identical passage number and growth conditions without further additional treatment.
Project description:The altered molecular proteins and pathways in response to COVID-19 infection are still unclear. Here, we performed a comprehensive proteomics-based investigation of of nasopharyngeal swab samples from COVID-19 patients to identify viral and host peptides by employing simple extraction strategies and also established a panel of host proteins using high-resolution mass spectrometry. The differentially expressed peptides/proteins identified from host and pathogen correlated with the viral load of the host which indicates that these proteins might be good prognostic biomarkers of severity prediction. A few host proteins such as Interleukin-6, L-lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, Ferritin and Aspartate aminotransferase was found to be upregulated in COVID-19 positive patients using targeted MRM study. Further, the proteins L-lactate dehydrogenase, Aspartate aminotransferase and Alanine aminotransferase was also validated in the clinical settings using immunological assays. We also identified neutrophil degranulation, platelet degranulation, interleukin-12 signaling pathways, mRNA translation of proteins and , co-factor metabolomic process protein metabolism, and stress responses to be key GO enriched pathways, thus altered in the COVID-19 infected patients.providing the detailed investigation of host response in COVID-19 infection , thus providing the landscape of COVID-19 pathophysiology. This study thus also revealed that mass spectrometry-based detected host proteins/peptides has a potential for clinical translation and a few proteins might be routinely monitored in clinics for the disease progression, peptide tests can be used by clinicians for diagnosis as well as identified pathways/ markers as the predictors of disease progression. Furthermore, the identified proteins and their drug binding studies might aid in COVID-19 therapeutic interventions.
Project description:A recent study showed that 54% of type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which is a risk factor for aggravation diabetic symptoms. Previous studies suggested components in maple syrup alleviated liver injury and found polyphenols as food components to improve the symptoms and complications of diabetes. Therefore, we hypothesized that a polyphenol fraction in maple syrup improves the symptoms and complications of diabetes. To address the hypothesis, we investigated the effects of a polyphenol-rich maple syrup extract (MSE) on a T2D model mice. KK-Ay mice were fed a normal or 0.1% MSE-supplemented diet for 43 days. The results showed that the levels of serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase were significantly reduced in mice that ingested MSE. Hepatic genes related to lipogenesis and lipolysis were down- and upregulated, respectively, in mice that ingested MSE. These results suggest that MSE intake alleviates liver injury and suppresses lipid accumulation in the livers of T2D mice.