Project description:An investigation into the association of BAFF variants with fatigue development in the setting of primary Sjogren's Syndrome (SS). Analysis performed in a cohort of 199 Greek primary SS patients, in a validation cohort of 62 Dutch primary SS patients and in a cohort of 52 Greek Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients that served as disease controls.
Project description:Genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation profiles from patients with Sjögren's syndrome with high versus low fatigue levels using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 Beadchip array. Background Chronic fatigue is a common, disabling, and poorly understood phenomenon. Recent studies indicate that epigenetic mechanisms may be involved in the expression of fatigue, a prominent feature of primary Sjögrenâs syndrome (pSS). The aim of this study was to investigate whether DNA methylation profiles of whole blood are associated with fatigue in patients with pSS. Methods 48 pSS patients with high (n=24) or low (n=24) fatigue as measured by a visual analogue scale were included. Genome-wide DNA methylation was investigated using the Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array. Case-case study including Sjögren's patients with high fatigue (n=24) and patients with low fatigue levels (n=24)
Project description:Fatigue is a debilitating condition with a significant impact on patients’ quality of life. Fatigue is frequently reported by patients suffering from primary Sjo ̈gren’s Syndrome (pSS), a chronic autoimmune condition characterised by dryness of the eyes and the mouth. However, although fatigue is common in pSS, it does not manifest in all sufferers, providing an excellent model with which to explore the potential underpinning biological mechanisms.
Project description:Genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation profiles from patients with Sjögren's syndrome with high versus low fatigue levels using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 Beadchip array. Background Chronic fatigue is a common, disabling, and poorly understood phenomenon. Recent studies indicate that epigenetic mechanisms may be involved in the expression of fatigue, a prominent feature of primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS). The aim of this study was to investigate whether DNA methylation profiles of whole blood are associated with fatigue in patients with pSS. Methods 48 pSS patients with high (n=24) or low (n=24) fatigue as measured by a visual analogue scale were included. Genome-wide DNA methylation was investigated using the Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array.
Project description:Emerging evidence indicates BAFF to be an important cytokine influencing anti-tumoral immunity. We generated a BAFF-overexpressing B16.F10 (BAFF) melanoma cell model and found that a significant survival advantage was conferred to C57BL/6 mice inoculated with BAFF cells. BAFF tumors had decreased myeloid infiltrates with lower PD-L1 expression. Monocyte depletion and anti-PD-L1 antibody treatment confirmed the functional significance on the phenotype. RNA-Seq analysis confirmed that monocytes isolated from BAFF tumors where characterized by a decreased exhaustive phenotype and enriched for in genes activating adaptive immune responses and NF- signaling. We wondered about the clinical relevance of BAFF plasma levels in melanoma patients. Evaluation of late stage metastatic melanoma patients treated with inhibitors of the PD-1/PD-L1 axis demonstrated a stratification of patients with high and low BAFF plasma levels, the former of which experienced lower responses to anti-PD-1 immunotherapies. In summary, we have shown that BAFF, through effects on tumor infiltrating monocytes not only impacts primary tumor growth but as biomarker can contribute to predicting response to anti-PD1 immunotherapy in later stages of advanced disease.
Project description:Fatigue is a debilitating condition with a significant impact on patientsâ quality of life. Fatigue is frequently reported by patients suffering from primary Sjo Ìgrenâs Syndrome (pSS), a chronic autoimmune condition characterised by dryness of the eyes and the mouth. However, although fatigue is common in pSS, it does not manifest in all sufferers, providing an excellent model with which to explore the potential underpinning biological mechanisms. Whole blood samples from 131 fully-phenotyped pSS patients, stratified for the presence of fatigue, collected by the UK primary Sj Ìogrenâs Syndrome Registry were used for whole genome microarray. The resulting data were analysed both on a gene by gene basis and using pre-defined groups of genes. Finally, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used as a feature selection technique for input into a support vector machine (SVM) classifier. Classification was assessed using area under curve (AUC) of receiver operator characteristic and standard error of Wilcoxon statistic, SE(W). Contributor: The UK Primary Sjögrenâs syndrome registry
Project description:The objective of the study was to identify gene expression signatures in minor salivary glands (MSGs) from patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome (SS). METHODS: A 16K complementary DNA microarray was used to generate gene expression profiles in MSGs obtained from 10 patients with primary SS and 10 control subjects. The data were analyzed by 2 different strategies, one strict primary analysis and one subanalysis that allowed for inclusion of genes with no signal in more than 3 samples from each group. The results were validated by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction techniques. RESULTS: We found a distinct difference in gene expression levels in MSGs, enabling a simple class prediction method to correctly classify 19 of the 20 samples as either patient or control, based on the top 5 differentially expressed genes. The 50 most differentially expressed genes in the primary SS group compared with the control group were all up-regulated, and a clear pattern of genes involved in chronic inflammation was found. CXCL13 and CD3D were expressed in >/=90% of primary SS patients and in </=10% of the controls. Lymphotoxin beta, as well as a number of major histocompatibility complex genes, cytokines, and lymphocyte activation factors, manifested its role in the pathogenesis of SS. Numerous type I interferon genes related to virus infection were found among the top 200 genes, with increased expression in primary SS. Interestingly, the expression of carbonic anhydrase II, which is essential in saliva production and secretion, and the apoptosis regulator Bcl-2-like 2 were down-regulated in primary SS patients. CONCLUSION: We have identified distinct gene expression profiles in MSGs from patients with primary SS that provide new knowledge about groups of genes that are up-regulated or down-regulated during disease, constituting an excellent platform for forthcoming functional studies.
Project description:Identify genes which are induced in wild type B cells under antigenic stimuli, anti-IgM vs pro-survival stimuli, BAFF. Also find the differential expressed genes which are distinct from in co-stimulated conditions. RNAseq analysis of wild type primary B cells stimulated with anti-IgM alone, BAFF alone, or co-stimulated with both anti-IgM and BAFF for 8 and 30 hours
Project description:Primary Sjögren’s syndrome (SS or autoimmune epithelitis) is a relatively common autoimmune disorder that is primarily characterized by chronic lymphoepithelial inflammatory reactions in the exocrine glands, mainly the salivary and lachrymal glands. It may extend from disease confined to the exocrine glands (organ-specific exocrinopathy) to various extraglandular manifestations (systemic disease) and the development of B-cell lymphoma. Several studies from our laboratory had provided evidence for the strong implication of ductal salivary gland epithelial cells (SGEC) in the pathogenesis of Sjögren’s syndrome (SS), including the development of salivary gland infiltrating lesions and of adverse systemic clinical complications, such as the development of B-cell lymphoma. In fact, the comparative assessment of non-neoplastic SGEC lines derived from SS patients and disease controls had indicated that the ductal epithelia of SS patients manifest an “intrinsically activated” status that is associated with distinct aberrant phenotypic and functional features encountered in “inflamed” cells. Herein, using microarray analysis, we sought to comparatively analyze the constitutive gene expression in long-term cultured non-neoplastic SGEC lines derived from non-SS sicca control individuals and from SS patients. The study aimed to reveal the genes that are differentially expressed between SGEC lines derived from SS patients and controls, as well as between SGEC lines derived from SS patients with moderate lymphocytic infiltrations (focus score<2; SS-Group-1) and SS patients with severe lymphocytic infiltrations (focus score ≥2; SS-Group-2). The transcriptome profiling analysis presented herein lends further support to the intrinsic activation status of patients’ ductal epithelia and its association with distinct proinflammatory and metabolism-related gene signatures, which occur primarily among patients with heavy tissue infiltrates and high risk for lymphoma development.