Project description:Endurance exercise has a dramatic impact on the functionality of mitochondria and on the composition of intestinal microbiome, but the mechanisms regulating the crosstalk between these two components are still largely unknown. Here, we sampled 20 elite horses before and after an endurance race and used blood transcriptome, blood metabolome and fecal microbiome to describe the microbiota-mitochondria inter-talk. A subset of mitochondria-related differentially expressed genes involved in pathways such as energy metabolism, oxidative stress and inflammation was discovered and then shown to be associated with butyrate-producing bacteria of the Lachnospiraceae family, especially Eubacterium. The mechanisms involved were not fully understood, but through the action of their metabolites likely acted on PPARδ, the FRX-CREB axis and their downstream targets to delay the onset of hypoglycemia, inflammation and extend running time. Our results also suggested that circulating free fatty acids may act not merely as fuel but drive mitochondrial inflammatory responses triggered by the translocation of gut bacterial polysaccharides following endurance. Targeting the gut-mitochondria axis appears therefore as a potential strategy to enhance athletic performance.
Project description:Myofibrillar myopathy (MFM) in horses is a late onset disease that affects performance and athleticism. It is characterized by myofibrillar disarray and protein aggregation with no known cause. The objective of this study was to elucidate the molecular drivers of MFM in Warmblood (WB) horses by proteomic profiling (5 MFM WB, 4 non-MFM WB) of gluteal muscle. MFM horses used in this study had a chronic history of poor performance and exercise intolerance as well as accumulation of desmin aggregates in > 4 myofibers per muscle sample. The Equine Neuromuscular Diagnostic Laboratory database at Michigan State University was queried to identify WB horses with snap frozen gluteus medius biopsies available for analysis. Non-MFM control horses were defined as horses with no history of exercise intolerance and no evidence of desmin accumulation or other histopathology in muscle biopsies. Muscle biopsy samples were obtained at rest from horses that had not undertaken strenuous exercise in the preceding 48 hours.
Project description:The adaptive response to extreme endurance exercise might involve transcriptional and translational regulation by microRNAs (miRNAs). Therefore, the aim of this study was to define an integrative analysis of blood transcriptome and miRNome in horses before and after a long endurance ride (160 km) using equine microarrays. A total of 2,453 genes and 162 miRNAs were found to be differentially expressed (DEG) between animals at rest and after the endurance ride. To gain understanding of the biological functions regulated by the differentially expressed miRNA, we used a hypergeometric test analysis. Notably, we detected 42 differentially expressed miRNAs that putatively regulate a total of 350 depleted DEGs, involved in glucose metabolism, fatty acid oxidation, mitochondrion biogenesis, and immune response pathways. Graphical Gaussian models in an independent validation set of animals confirmed that 4 miRNAs could be strong candidate regulatory molecules for endurance exercise adaptation. This study represents, to the best of our knowledge, the first integrated comprehensive overview of the miRNA-mRNA co-regulation networks that may play a central role in controlling post-transcriptomic regulations during endurance exercise in horses. Sixty-one Arabian or half-breed Arabian horses (20 females and 41 geldings) aged 10 ± 2 years (±SEM) were recruited on voluntary basis of the owner on three 160 km endurance rides.
Project description:The adaptive response to extreme endurance exercise might involve transcriptional and translational regulation by microRNAs (miRNAs). Therefore, the aim of this study was to define an integrative analysis of blood transcriptome and miRNome in horses before and after a long endurance ride (160 km) using equine microarrays. A total of 2,453 genes and 162 miRNAs were found to be differentially expressed (DEG) between animals at rest and after the endurance ride. To gain understanding of the biological functions regulated by the differentially expressed miRNA, we used a hypergeometric test analysis. Notably, we detected 42 differentially expressed miRNAs that putatively regulate a total of 350 depleted DEGs, involved in glucose metabolism, fatty acid oxidation, mitochondrion biogenesis, and immune response pathways. Graphical Gaussian models in an independent validation set of animals confirmed that 4 miRNAs could be strong candidate regulatory molecules for endurance exercise adaptation. This study represents, to the best of our knowledge, the first integrated comprehensive overview of the miRNA-mRNA co-regulation networks that may play a central role in controlling post-transcriptomic regulations during endurance exercise in horses. Sixty-one Arabian or half-breed Arabian horses (20 females and 41 geldings) aged 10 ± 2 years (±SEM) were recruited on voluntary basis of the owner on three 160 km endurance rides.
Project description:Endurance-trained athletes have high oxidative capacity, enhanced insulin sensitivity, and high intracellular lipid accumulation in muscle. These characteristics are likely due to altered gene expression levels in muscle. We used microarrays to detect gene expression profile in endurance-trained athlete skeletal muscle.
Project description:EqMoDC generated with horse serum-supplemented medium showed improved morphological characteristics, higher cell viability and exhibited a more robust performance in the functional T cell assays. The study is further described in A. Ziegler, H. Everett, E. Hamza et al., BMC Vet Research, 2016 A two chip study, comparing monocytes, iMoDC and mMoDC derived in vitro from three horses using total RNA extract
Project description:Sixteen severly RAO (Recurrent Airway Obstruction) affected horses were studied. All RAO affected male horses were hybridized with GSM1332974 (Thoroughbred male 1, male reference), and the female horses were with GSM1332975 (Thoroughbred female 2, female reference). Finally results are compared with GSE55266 and two other control horses (SPA-H1-3 and SPA-H1-5) and relatively novel RAO CNVs were reported.
Project description:This project used a state-of-the-art, multi-omics approach to improve our understanding of the aetiopathogenesis of a highly prevalent, performance-limiting disorder of racehorses; mild to moderate equine asthma (MMEA). This advanced knowledge is a prerequisite to improving prophylactic, management and therapeutic options for this condition. Although a number of risk factors for MMEA have been identified, incomplete understanding of the precise aetiopathogenesis of this syndrome means that options for intervention are currently limited. This study aimed to apply a multi-omic approach, reveal key inflammatory pathways involved in inflammatory cell recruitment to the lower airways and highlight pathways specific to different MMEA inflammatory cell profiles (MMEA endotypes). Thus, we compared BALF cell gene and protein expression data from horses with normal bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cytology (n = 8) with those isolated from horses with neutrophilic (n = 4), mastocytic (n = 8), mixed neutrophilic/mastocytic (n=4) and mixed eosinophilic/mastocytic (n=3) inflammation. Analyses on transcriptomic and proteomic data derived from BALF cells from horses with neutrophilic cytology showed enrichment in classical inflammatory pathways, while horses with mastocytic cytology showed enrichment in pathways involved in hypersensitivity reactions related to non-classical inflammation that could mimic a Th2 immune response. The mixed eosinophilic/mastocytic group also presented with a non-classical inflammatory profile while, the mixed neutrophilic/mastocytic group revealed profiles consistent with both neutrophilic inflammation and hypersensitivity. Our adopted multi-omics approach (both gene and protein expression) has enabled a more holistic assessment of the immunological status of the lower airways associated with the different cytological profiles of equine asthma.