Project description:The nervous and immune systems are intricately linked. Although psychological stress is known to affect immune function, direct mechanistic pathways linking stress networks in the brain to peripheral leukocytes remain poorly understood. Here, we show that distinct brain regions shape leukocyte distribution throughout the body during acute stress in mice. Using optogenetics and chemogenetics, we demonstrate that the motor cortex induces rapid neutrophil mobilization to peripheral tissues via skeletal muscle-derived neutrophil-attracting chemokines. Conversely, the paraventricular hypothalamus controls monocyte and lymphocyte egress from secondary lymphoid organs and blood to the bone marrow via direct and cell-intrinsic glucocorticoid signaling. These stress-induced counter-directional and population-wide leukocyte shifts are associated with altered disease susceptibility. On the one hand, acute stress changes innate immunity by reprogramming neutrophils and precipitating their recruitment to atherosclerotic plaques. On the other hand, stress-induced leukocyte shifts impair adaptive immunity, increasing susceptibility to SARS-Cov-2 and influenza infection but protecting against autoimmunity in a model of multiple sclerosis. Collectively, these data show that distinct brain regions differentially and rapidly tailor the leukocyte landscape during psychological stress, thus calibrating the immune system’s capacity to respond to physical threats.
Project description:The nervous and immune systems are intricately linked. Although psychological stress is known to affect immune function, direct mechanistic pathways linking stress networks in the brain to peripheral leukocytes remain poorly understood. Here, we show that distinct brain regions shape leukocyte distribution throughout the body during acute stress in mice. Using optogenetics and chemogenetics, we demonstrate that the motor cortex induces rapid neutrophil mobilization to peripheral tissues via skeletal muscle-derived neutrophil-attracting chemokines. Conversely, the paraventricular hypothalamus controls monocyte and lymphocyte egress from secondary lymphoid organs and blood to the bone marrow via direct and cell-intrinsic glucocorticoid signaling. These stress-induced counter-directional and population-wide leukocyte shifts are associated with altered disease susceptibility. On the one hand, acute stress changes innate immunity by reprogramming neutrophils and precipitating their recruitment to atherosclerotic plaques. On the other hand, stress-induced leukocyte shifts impair adaptive immunity, increasing susceptibility to SARS-Cov-2 and influenza infection but protecting against autoimmunity in a model of multiple sclerosis. Collectively, these data show that distinct brain regions differentially and rapidly tailor the leukocyte landscape during psychological stress, thus calibrating the immune system’s capacity to respond to physical threats.
Project description:This study examines the transcriptomic response of biofilms of the PAH-degrading Sphingomonas sp. LH128 on solute stress when actively degrading and growing on the PAH compound. To address the effect of solute stress on bacterial physiology and transcriptomic response, NaCl was used as osmolyte. Both acute and chronic solute stress was invoked to assess differences in short-term and long-term responses. Transcriptomic response of phenanthrene degrading Sphingomonas sp. LH128 biofilms as a response to short-term and long-term solute (NaCl) stress was studied using genome-wide gene expression analysis. For this purpose, the strain was grown in customized continuous glass flow chambers that contain solid phenanthrene as a sole carbon source and that allow easy recovery of biofilm cells for transcriptomic and physiological analysis. A NaCl stress of 450 mM was imposed on LH128 biofilms growing on phenanthrene crystals coated on glass slides either for 4 hours (acute stress) or for 3 days (chronic stress). RNA was extracted from the biofilm and cDNA was synthesized and labeled with Cy3. Transcriptomic response in the stressed biofilms of three replicates per conditions were analyzed and compared with non-stressed
Project description:Psychological stress could affect the immune system and then regulate the disease process. It is generally believed that chronic stress is harmful to health, while acute stress is conducive to life survival. At present, most studies focused on the effects of chronic stress on diseases and immune cells. How acute stress affects the immune system remains poorly understood. In this study, female C57BL/6 mice received restraint stress or no stress for 6 hours. RNA was harvested from peripheral blood and transcriptome sequencing was performed.
Project description:This study examines the transcriptomic response of biofilms of the PAH-degrading Sphingomonas sp. LH128 on solute stress when actively degrading and growing on the PAH compound. To address the effect of solute stress on bacterial physiology and transcriptomic response, NaCl was used as osmolyte. Both acute and chronic solute stress was invoked to assess differences in short-term and long-term responses.
Project description:In this study, we applied iTRAQ techniques to investigate the global protein expression profile under an acute short-term (48 h) heat stress. A total of 3,432 proteins were identified, and 127 heat stress-response proteins were detected.
Project description:Mind-body practices that elicit the relaxation response (RR) have been used worldwide for millennia to prevent and treat disease. The RR is believed to be the counterpart to stress response and is characterized by decreased oxygen consumption, increased exhaled nitric oxide, and reduced psychological distress. Individuals experiencing chronic psychological stress have the opposite pattern of physiology and a characteristic transcriptional profile. We hypothesized that consistent, long-term practice of RR techniques results in characteristic changes in gene expression. We tested this hypothesis by assessing the transcriptional profile of whole blood in healthy, long-term practitioners of daily RR practice (group M) in comparison to healthy controls (group N1). The signature obtained has been validated on new subject data. Experiment Overall Design: In the study, the gene expression profiling was performed on individuals with a long-term RR practice (group M; n=19) or those with no prior RR experience; novice (group N1; n=19). Group N1 novices, furthermore, underwent 8-weeks of RR training (Group N2; n=20) for the prospective analysis.As a validation of results , we developed an independent validation sets that includes gene expression profiling on 4 N1, 4 N2 and 6 M subjects.
Project description:Lymph nodes are vital for optimizing immune responses. Stress can induce several cellular and humoral immune responses. Acute restraint stress (RS) is a routinely used experimental procedure for studying psychological and/or physiological stress effects. Here, we determined the impact of RS on cervical lymph nodes in rats at the molecular and cellular levels. Stress was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats by immobilization for 30, 60, and 120 min (RS30, RS60, and RS120, respectively) relative to a no-stress control (C) group. Expression of genes encoding chemokines CXCL1/CXCL2 (Cxcl1 and Cxcl2) and their receptor CXCR2 (Cxcr2) was analyzed at the mRNA level by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and microarray analyses. Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization were performed to determine the expression of these moieties along with the macrophage biomarker, CD68. Microarray analysis revealed that expression of 514 and 496 genes was upregulated and downregulated, respectively, in RS30. Cxcl1 and Cxcl2 expression showed a 23- and 13-fold increase, respectively, in RS30 relative to the C group. Expression of Cxcr2 was upregulated by approximately 1.6-fold in RS30 relative to the C group. Gene ontology analysis of three upregulated genes induced by RS30 suggested that they may be responsible for the cytokine network, inflammation, as well as leukocyte chemotaxis and migration. RT-qPCR analysis indicated that the mRNA levels of Cxcl1 and Cxcl2 significantly increased in RS30 but reverted to normal levels in RS60 and RS120. Cxcr2 mRNA level also increased significantly in RS30 and RS120 relative to the C group. RS-induced CXCL1-immunopositive cells corresponded to B/plasma cells, while CXCL2-immunopositive cells corresponded to endothelial cells of the high endothelial venules. Stress-induced CXCR2-immunopositive cells corresponded to macrophages. Psychological and/or physiological stress induces acute stress response and immunoreactive microenvironment in cervical lymph nodes, and the CXCL1/CXCL2-CXCR2 axis is pivotal in acute stress response.
2024-04-24 | GSE202994 | GEO
Project description:Short-term salinity stress response of Skeletonema Marino
Project description:Mind-body practices that elicit the relaxation response (RR) have been used worldwide for millennia to prevent and treat disease. The RR is believed to be the counterpart to stress response and is characterized by decreased oxygen consumption, increased exhaled nitric oxide, and reduced psychological distress. Individuals experiencing chronic psychological stress have the opposite pattern of physiology and a characteristic transcriptional profile. We hypothesized that consistent, long-term practice of RR techniques results in characteristic changes in gene expression. We tested this hypothesis by assessing the transcriptional profile of whole blood in healthy, long-term practitioners of daily RR practice (group M) in comparison to healthy controls (group N1). The signature obtained has been validated on new subject data. Keywords: time course