Project description:The giant ciliate Stentor coeruleus is a classical model system for studying regeneration and morphogenesis at the level of a single cell. The anterior of the cell is marked by an array of cilia, known as the oral apparatus, which can be induced to shed and regenerate in a series of reproducible morphological steps, previously shown to require transcription. If a cell is cut in half, each half will regenerate an intact cell, including a new oral apparatus in the posterior half. We used RNAseq to assay the dynamic changes in Stentor’s transcriptome during regeneration, after both oral apparatus shedding and bisection, allowing us to identify distinct temporal waves of gene expression. By comparing transcriptional profiles of different regeneration events in the same species, we were able to classify regeneration genes into groups based on their potential role for regeneration in distinct cell regeneration paradigms, and provides new insight into how a single cell can coordinate complex morphogenetic pathways to regenerate missing structures.
Project description:Time series microarray analysis on the photosynthetic ciliate was conducted using an oligochip containing 15,654 genes designed from Teleaulax amphioxeia ESTs
Project description:We characterized the mouse trophoblast giant cell epigenome and gene expression profiles. We then compared these data to our data on underrepresentation in the polyploid trophoblast giant cells. We profiled 5 histone modifications (+ chromatin input) using ChIP-Seq, and digital expression profiles (3' RNA-Seq) for trophoblast giant cells derived from mouse. Furthermore, we profiled digital expression profiles (3' RNA-Seq) for in vivo trophoblast giant cells samples from e9.5 wildtype mouse trophoblast giant cells. We found that underrepresented domains in trophoblast giant cells are enriched for repressive marks and anti-correlate with active marks and transcription.
Project description:Giant cell granulomas of the jaws often occur sporadically as single central or peripheral lesions. They are characterized by KRAS, FGFR1, or TRPV4 somatic mutations, the latter occurring exclusively in the central form. Less commonly, multiple giant cell lesions can develop in the context of syndromes such as cherubism, which is an autosomal dominant bone disease. Morphologically, giant cell granulomas can closely resemble other giant cell-rich lesions such as non-ossifying fibroma and aneurysmal bone cyst, and to a minor extent giant cell tumour of bone and chondroblastoma. The epigenetic basis of these giant cell-rich tumours is unclear and, recently, DNA methylation profile has been shown to be clinically useful for the diagnosis of other tumour types, including brain tumours as well as bone and soft tissue sarcomas. Therefore, we aimed to assess the DNA methylation profile of central and peripheral sporadic giant cell granulomas of the jaws and cherubism to test whether DNA methylation patterns can help to distinguish these entities. Additionally, we further compared the DNA methylation profile of these lesions with those of other giant cell-rich mimics to investigate if the microscopic similarities extend to the epigenetic level. Our results showed that central and peripheral sporadic giant cell granulomas of the jaws and cherubism share a related DNA methylation pattern with that of peripheral sporadic giant cell granulomas and cherubism appearing slightly distinct, while central sporadic giant cell granulomas show overlap with both of the former. Non-ossifying fibroma, aneurysmal bone cyst, giant cell tumour of bone, and chondroblastoma, on the other hand, have distinct methylation patterns. Therefore, DNA methylation profiling is currently not capable of clearly distinguishing sporadic and cherubism-associated giant cell lesions of the jaws. Conversely, it could discriminate sporadic giant cell granulomas from their giant cell-rich mimics.
Project description:In this study, differentially expressed (DE)piRNAs of fresh and frozen-thawed sperm with different freeze tolerance compacity from giant panda and boar were evaluated. The results showed 1160 (22 down-regulated and 1138 up-regulated) and 384 (110 up-regulated and 274 down-regulated) differentially expressed (DE) piRNAs were identified in giant panda and boar sperm, respectively. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that the target DE mRNAs of DE piRNAs were mainly enriched in biological regulation, cellular process and metabolic process in giant panda and boar sperm. Moreover, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis indicated that the target DE mRNAs of DE piRNAs were only distributed on DNA replication and cAMP signaling pathway in giant panda, but cAMP, cGMP and MAPK signaling pathway in boar sperm which were considered as part of olfactory transduction pathway.Conclusion:Olfactory transduction related pathways maybe contributed to different freeze tolerance compacity between giant panda and boar sperm, which will benefit to further understand the molecular mechanism of sperm cryoinjury and freezability.
Project description:Purpose:To present the miRNA expression profiles in giant panda milk exosomes across five lactation stages (0, 3, 7, 15 and 30 days after birth), aiming to provide new information for investigations into the physiological functions of the giant panda milk Methods: Three females were sampled in all, and each individual were sampled over multiple lactations, including 0, 3, 7, 15 and 30 days after delivery. Breast milk samples (5-10 ml) were collected from each stages. Total RNA isolated from individuals in five lactation stages (0, 7, 15 and 30 days after delivery) were pooled in equal quantities for each stage Results: Here, we illustrated the species and expression characteristics of exosome-loaded miRNAs existing in giant panda breast milk during distinct lactation periods, and highlighted the enrichment of immune- and development-related endogenous miRNAs in colostral and mature giant panda milk, which are stable even in certain hash conditions, like low pH and high concentration of RNAase, by the protection of extracellular vesicles.These findings indicate that breast milk may allow dietary intake of maternal miRNAs by infants for the regulation of postnatal development. We also demonstrated that the exogenous plant miRNA from the primary food source of giant panda (bamboo) were detected in the exosomes of giant panda breast milk, which were predicted to be of regulatory role in basic cell metabolism and neuron development. This result suggested that the dietary plant miRNAs were able to be absorbed by host cell and then secreted to body fluids as potential cross-kingdom regulators. Conclusions: Exosomal miRNAs in the giant panda breast milk may be the crucial maternal regulators for the development of intrinsic ‘slink’ newborn cubs.