Project description:We employed LncRNA/mRNA expression profiling as a discovery platform identify aberrantly expressed LncRNAs that fail to reverse back after hyperglycemia is terminated. Using rat model of diabetic retinopathy- metabolic memory, LncRNA array was performed in the retina of rats diabetic for eight months, or in poor glycemic control for four months followed by good glycemic control for four additional months. Expression of selected LncRNAs and their associated genes from these profiles were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR.
Project description:The number of patients with diabetes is increasing worldwide. Diabetic testicular damage can cause spermiogenesis disorders and sexual dysfunction. We thus explored the role of circRNA, lncRNA and mRNA in diabetic testicular damage, and revealed that they could serve as effective prevention and treatment therapeutic targets. Streptozotocin (STZ) was used to generate a rat model of type 2 diabetes. Rat testicular tissues were used for circRNA, lncRNA and mRNA sequencing.
Project description:The mammalian retina contains an endogenous circadian clock system, located in various cell types. This system enables timing of a broad range of essential retinal functions to anticipate daily changes in environmental lighting conditions. Furthermore, the circadian clocks appear to promote retinal health. A leading cause of blindness in developed countries is diabetic retinopathy. While it is clear that diabetes affects the master clock and its circadian output in the SCN, the effect of diabetic retinopathy on the retinal clock system is unknown. To investigate the influence of diabetic retinopathy on circadian regulation of the retina at a genome-wide level, microarray analysis was used to compare retinal transcriptomes between light- and dark-adapted non-diabetic and diabetic mice.
Project description:Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the main causes of blindness in working age populations in industrialized countries. It is estimated that close to 100 million individuals worldwide suffer from DR. Regrettably, relatively little is known of the cellular processes at play during late stages of the disease, especially concerning diabetic macular edema (DME). Streptozotocin-induced diabetic retinopathy (STZ) allows to reproduce experimentally in the mouse retina the retina vascular leakage and neuroegeneration features observed in human pathological retina with non-proliferative DR. Using agnostic and orthogonal approaches, in our work we demonstrate that in contrast to healthy retina, the STZ diabetic retina engages pathways of cell cycle arrest, resulting in cellular senescence. These findings combined with further pharmacological approaches provide mechanistic evidence supporting that targeting selectively senescent vessels in DR represents a potential treatment for high vascular permeability in DME.
Project description:Recently we reported that the rat inner retina undergoes significant functional changes during maturation. Aiming to gain knowledge on additional aspects of retinal development and maturation, we used the microarray system to monitor gene expression patterns in the rat retina at ages 5, 11, and 20 weeks. The analysis revealed the expression of many well-documented retinal genes as well as a high number of non–annotated genes. Quantitative realtime PCR analysis verified the microarray results in the majority of studied genes. A statistical analysis of the 4 microarray slides revealed 603 differentially expressed genes which were grouped into 6 expression clusters. A bioinformatic analysis of these clusters revealed sets of genes encoding proteins with functions that are likely to be relevant to inner retinal function (e.g. potassium, sodium, calcium, and chloride channels, synaptic vesicle transport, and axonogenesis). In addition, we performed a histological analysis of the maturing retina and studied different aspects of retinal structure. The analysis revealed a significant reduction of outer nuclear layer thickness between 11 and 19 weeks of age and a significant reduction of retinal ganglion cell number at 11 and 19 weeks comparing to 5 weeks. We identified in this study genes with differential expression pattern during retinal maturation. Some of the genes encode proteins that may be involved in the functional maturation of inner retinal cells. These data, taken together with our histological and electrophysiological data, contribute to our understanding of the developmental processes occurring in the retina of this widely-used animal model. Keywords: Dye-swap, Ganglion cells, Gene, Gene expression, Histology, Inner retina, Maturation, Microarray, Rat, Retina, Vision.
Project description:In order to assess the alteration in lncRNA expression in rat lung carcinogenesis induced by NNK, we determined the lncRNA expression profiles in 3 rat lung tumor samples and matched normal lung tissues and 2 blood samples from the control and NNK treatment group in the 95th week using Arraystar Rat lncRNA Microarray. We induced lung cancer using 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) in a rat model and determined the lncRNA expression profiles in lung cancer tissues and rat blood samples.
Project description:The mineralocorticoid receptor is expressed in the rat and human retina. We previously showed that intravitreal injection of aldosterone in rat eyes induced retinal œdème and choroidal vasodilation and permeability through regulation of ion/water channels (Zhao et al. Faseb J, 2009; Zhao et al. J Clin Invest 2012). Illicit activation of MR induces inflammation, oxidative stress and tissue remodeling in cardiovascular and renal diseases independent of hypertension. We performed a full transcriptomic study destinated to identify genes regulated by aldosterone in the whole retina of rat.
Project description:Recently we reported that the rat inner retina undergoes significant functional changes during maturation. Aiming to gain knowledge on additional aspects of retinal development and maturation, we used the microarray system to monitor gene expression patterns in the rat retina at ages 5, 11, and 20 weeks. The analysis revealed the expression of many well-documented retinal genes as well as a high number of nonâ??annotated genes. Quantitative realtime PCR analysis verified the microarray results in the majority of studied genes. A statistical analysis of the 4 microarray slides revealed 603 differentially expressed genes which were grouped into 6 expression clusters. A bioinformatic analysis of these clusters revealed sets of genes encoding proteins with functions that are likely to be relevant to inner retinal function (e.g. potassium, sodium, calcium, and chloride channels, synaptic vesicle transport, and axonogenesis). In addition, we performed a histological analysis of the maturing retina and studied different aspects of retinal structure. The analysis revealed a significant reduction of outer nuclear layer thickness between 11 and 19 weeks of age and a significant reduction of retinal ganglion cell number at 11 and 19 weeks comparing to 5 weeks. We identified in this study genes with differential expression pattern during retinal maturation. Some of the genes encode proteins that may be involved in the functional maturation of inner retinal cells. These data, taken together with our histological and electrophysiological data, contribute to our understanding of the developmental processes occurring in the retina of this widely-used animal model. Experiment Overall Design: Rat retinal samples at ages 5, 11, and 20 weeks were studied using 4 microarray slides in a dye-swap design: 5-11, 11-5, 5-20, and 20-5.