Project description:Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a serious complication of sickle cell disease (SCD) associated with increased mortality. Gene expression profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) have been studied in pulmonary arterial hypertension and in SCD. We hypothesized that a PBMC-derived gene signature in SCD patients may be utilized as a PH biomarker. Twenty-seven patients with homozygous SCD underwent transthoracic echocardiography and PBMC isolation. PH was defined as estimated right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP)>30 mmHg with a peak tricuspid regurgitation velocity (TRV)>2.5m/s. Genome-wide gene expression profiles were correlated against PH severity using RVSP and TRV as surrogates, which yielded 631 potentially dysregulated transcripts. Total RNA was isolated from PBMCs using standard molecular biology protocols without DNA contamination or RNA degradation. Sample processing (e.g., cDNA generation, fragmentation, end labeling, hybridization to Affymetrix GeneChip Human Exon 1.0 ST arrays) was performed per manufacturer’s instructions. A total of 27 African descent American patients with sickle cell disease were included in the microarray analysis.
Project description:Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a serious complication of sickle cell disease (SCD) associated with increased mortality. Gene expression profiles of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) have been studied in pulmonary arterial hypertension and in SCD. We hypothesized that a PBMC-derived gene signature in SCD patients may be utilized as a PH biomarker. Twenty-seven patients with homozygous SCD underwent transthoracic echocardiography and PBMC isolation. PH was defined as estimated right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP)>30 mmHg with a peak tricuspid regurgitation velocity (TRV)>2.5m/s. Genome-wide gene expression profiles were correlated against PH severity using RVSP and TRV as surrogates, which yielded 631 potentially dysregulated transcripts.
Project description:Rationale: Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a common and potentially fatal complication of scleroderma that may involve inflammatory and autoimmune mechanisms. Alterations in the gene expression of peripheral blood mononuclear cells have been previously described in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. The ability to identify patients at risk for developing pulmonary hypertension would be clinically beneficial. Objective: To identify genes that are differentially expressed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in scleroderma patients with and without pulmonary hypertension which could be used as biomarkers of disease for early diagnosis and provide insight into pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension in at-risk populations. Methods and Results: Gene expression analysis was performed on a carefully characterized Microarray Cohort of scleroderma patients with (n=10) and without (n=10) pulmonary hypertension. Differentially expressed genes were confirmed in the Microarray Cohort and validated in a separate Validation Cohort of scleroderma patients with (n=15) and without (n=19) pulmonary hypertension by RT-qPCR. We identified inflammatory and immune-related genes including interleukin-7 receptor (IL-7R) and chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) as differentially expressed in patients with scleroderma-associated pulmonary hypertension. Flow cytometry confirmed decreased expression of IL-7R on circulating CD4+ T cells from scleroderma patients with pulmonary hypertension. Conclusions: Differences exist in the expression of inflammatory and immune-related genes in peripheral blood cells derived from patients with scleroderma-related pulmonary hypertension compared to those with normal pulmonary artery pressures. These findings may have implications as biomarkers to screen at-risk populations to facilitate early diagnosis and provide insight into inflammatory and autoimmune mechanisms of scleroderma-related pulmonary hypertension. Gene expression analysis was performed on a carefully characterized Microarray Cohort of scleroderma patients with (n=10) and without (n=10) pulmonary hypertension. Differentially expressed genes were confirmed in the Microarray Cohort by RT-qPCR.
Project description:Rationale: Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a common and potentially fatal complication of scleroderma that may involve inflammatory and autoimmune mechanisms. Alterations in the gene expression of peripheral blood mononuclear cells have been previously described in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. The ability to identify patients at risk for developing pulmonary hypertension would be clinically beneficial. Objective: To identify genes that are differentially expressed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in scleroderma patients with and without pulmonary hypertension which could be used as biomarkers of disease for early diagnosis and provide insight into pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension in at-risk populations. Methods and Results: Gene expression analysis was performed on a carefully characterized Microarray Cohort of scleroderma patients with (n=10) and without (n=10) pulmonary hypertension. Differentially expressed genes were confirmed in the Microarray Cohort and validated in a separate Validation Cohort of scleroderma patients with (n=15) and without (n=19) pulmonary hypertension by RT-qPCR. We identified inflammatory and immune-related genes including interleukin-7 receptor (IL-7R) and chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) as differentially expressed in patients with scleroderma-associated pulmonary hypertension. Flow cytometry confirmed decreased expression of IL-7R on circulating CD4+ T cells from scleroderma patients with pulmonary hypertension. Conclusions: Differences exist in the expression of inflammatory and immune-related genes in peripheral blood cells derived from patients with scleroderma-related pulmonary hypertension compared to those with normal pulmonary artery pressures. These findings may have implications as biomarkers to screen at-risk populations to facilitate early diagnosis and provide insight into inflammatory and autoimmune mechanisms of scleroderma-related pulmonary hypertension.
Project description:Aberrantly remodeled vasculature in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) features a prominent inflammatory cell infiltrate suggesting that immune effector cells may contribute to disease progression. Global expression studies of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and whole blood have attempted to better define this inflammatory component of PAH pathobiology.
Project description:Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) is characterized by progressive increase in pulmonary vascular resistance, right ventricular failure and premature death. Owing to severe complications, lung biopsies cannot be envisioned to characterize the disease. Based on the prominent role of inflammation in PAH development, we used Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) as cell source, and relied on the SOLiD platform of Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) for transcriptional profiling
Project description:Hypoxia may cause pulmonary and brain edema, pulmonary hypertension, aberrant metabolism and early mortality. To better understand pathological processes associated with hypoxia, we examined gene expression in Chuvash polycythemia (CP) blood mononuclear cells. CP is a congenital disorder of up-regulated hypoxic response at normoxia wherein VHLR200W homozygosity leads to elevated hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1 and HIF-2 levels, thromboses, pulmonary hypertension, lower systemic blood pressure (SBP) and increased mortality. VHLR200W homozygotes are often treated by phlebotomy resulting in iron deficiency, allowing us to evaluate an interaction of augmented hypoxia sensing with iron deficiency.
Project description:Pediatric pulmonary hypertension is a heterogeneous disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality. MicroRNAs have been implicated as both pathologic drivers of disease and potential therapeutic targets in pediatric pulmonary hypertension. We sought to characterize the circulating microRNA profiles of a diverse array of pediatric pulmonary hypertension patients using high throughput sequencing technology. Peripheral blood samples were drawn from patients recruited at the time of a clinically indicated cardiac catheterization and microRNA sequencing followed by differential expression and target/pathway enrichment analyses were performed. Among 63 pediatric pulmonary hypertension patients, we identified specific microRNA signatures that uniquely classified patients by disease subtype, correlated with indicators of disease severity including invasive hemodynamic metrics, and changed over the course of treatment for pulmonary hypertension. These microRNA profiles include a number of specific microRNA molecules known to function in signaling pathways critical to pulmonary vascular biology and disease, including TGFβ beta, VEGF, PI3K/Akt, cGMP-PKG, and HIF-1 signaling. Circulating levels of miR-122-5p, miR-124-3p, miR-204-5p, and miR-9-5p decreased over the course of treatment in a subset of patients who had multiple samples drawn during the study period. Our findings support the further investigation of specific microRNAs as mechanistic mediators, biomarkers, and therapeutic targets in pulmonary hypertension.