Project description:Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder for which a definitive cure is still missing. This is characterized by an overwhelming inflammatory milieu in the colonic tract where a composite set of immune and non-immune cells orchestrate its pathogenesis. Over the last years, a growing body of evidence has been pinpointing gut virome dysbiosis as underlying its progression. Nonetheless, its role during the early phases of chronic inflammation is far from being fully defined. Here we show the gut virome-associated Hepatitis B virus protein X, most likely acquired after an event of zoonotic spillover, to be associated with the early stages of ulcerative colitis and to induce colonic inflammation in mice. It acts as a transcriptional regulator in epithelial cells, provoking barrier leakage and altering mucosal immunity at the level of both innate and adaptive immunity. This study paves the way to the comprehension of the aetiopathogenesis of intestinal inflammation and encourages further investigations of the virome as a trigger also in other scenarios. Moreover, it provides a brand-new standpoint that looks at the virome as a target for tailored treatments, blocking the early phases of chronic inflammation and possibly leading to better disease management.
Project description:This study aims to explore the relationship between the respiratory virome, specifically bacteriophages, HERV and the host response in ARDS and to assess their value in predicting the prognosis of ARDS.
Project description:Background: Ultra-Conserved-Non-coding Elements (UCNEs) are genomic sequences that exhibit >95% sequence identity between human, mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes. Recent findings reported their functional role in cancer. Aim of this study was to evaluate their DNA methylation modifications in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) from different mammal species Methods: Fifty SCC from 26 humans, 17 cats, 3 dogs, 1 horse, 1 bovine, 1 badger and 1 porcupine were investigated. Fourteen feline stomatitis and normal samples from 36 healthy human donors, 7 cats, 5 dogs, 5 horses, 2 bovines and 1 badger were collected as normal controls. Bisulfite Next Generation Sequencing evaluated the DNA methylation level from seven UCNEs (uc.160, uc.283, uc.416, uc.339, uc.270, uc.299, uc.328). Results: 57/59 CpGs were significantly different according to the Kruskal-Wallis test (P<0.05) comparing normal vs SCC. A common DNA hypermethylation pattern was observed in SCC from all the species evaluated in this study, with an increasing trend of hypermethylation starting from normal mucosa, through stomatitis to SCC. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that UCNEs are hypermethylated in human SCC, and this behavior is also conserved among different species of mammals.
Project description:We have generated human induced Pluripotent Stem cells (hiPSc) from Parkinson's Disease patients, using retrovirus-mediated delivery of reprogramming factors. hiPSc lines have been screened using SNP array to assess chromosomal stability (alongside the fibroblast lines from which they derived), and validation of the pluripotency of the hiPSc lines is provided by Pluritest assessment of transcriptome datasets, prior to differentiation to dopaminergic neuronal clutures and downstream functional assays. Fernandes H.J.R., Hartfield E.M., Badger J., Christian H. C., Emmanoulidou E., Vowles J., Evetts S., Vekrellis K., Talbot K., Hu M.T., James W., Cowley S.A., and Wade-Martins, R. Heterozygous glucocerebrosidase mutations in Parkinson's increase autophagic demand, but decrease capacity, in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived dopaminergic neuronal cultures. submitted for publication