Project description:The experiment was designed to determine the gene expression changes cultured brown adipocytes in response to the inflammatory stimulus of LPS treatment. Both wild type and TLR4 knockout cells were applied to enable assessment of the contribution of TLR4 to the response.
Project description:To investigate the plasticity of Lipolysaccharide (LPS) tolerance, we employed microarray profiling to analyse the gene expression profile in macrophage. Four macrophage populations were induced; Untreated macrophages (Control group), Acute response to LPS (LPS activation group), LPS tolerance (T – Tolerant group) and recovered (R = recovered macrophage group) Using transcriptional analysis we demonstrate that recovery from LPS tolerance (R – Recovery), as defined by cytokine gene expression, is associated with a global change in the transcriptional profile of macrophage. This data confirms that LPS tolerance is a transient state which results in induction of novel hybrid macrophage activation state with a unique transcriptional signature. Bone marrow derived macrophages were polarised into three activation states; Acute response to LPS (A), LPS tolerant (T) and recovered (R). Gene expression was measured at 4 hours post stimulation with LPS. Three independent experiments were performed to measure gene expression changes between each macrophage group.
Project description:Introgressed variants from other species can be an important source of genetic variation because they may arise rapidly, can include multiple mutations on a single haplotype, and have often been pretested by selection in the species of origin. Although introgressed alleles are generally deleterious, several studies have reported introgression as the source of adaptive alleles-including the rodenticide-resistant variant of Vkorc1 that introgressed from Mus spretus into European populations of Mus musculus domesticus. Here, we conducted bidirectional genome scans to characterize introgressed regions into one wild population of M. spretus from Spain and three wild populations of M. m. domesticus from France, Germany, and Iran. Despite the fact that these species show considerable intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation, introgression was observed in all individuals, including in the M. musculus reference genome (GRCm38). Mus spretus individuals had a greater proportion of introgression compared with M. m. domesticus, and within M. m. domesticus, the proportion of introgression decreased with geographic distance from the area of sympatry. Introgression was observed on all autosomes for both species, but not on the X-chromosome in M. m. domesticus, consistent with known X-linked hybrid sterility and inviability genes that have been mapped to the M. spretus X-chromosome. Tract lengths were generally short with a few outliers of up to 2.7 Mb. Interestingly, the longest introgressed tracts were in olfactory receptor regions, and introgressed tracts were significantly enriched for olfactory receptor genes in both species, suggesting that introgression may be a source of functional novelty even between species with high barriers to gene flow.
Project description:Sex differences in liver gene expression are dictated by sex-differences in circulating growth hormone (GH) profiles. Presently, the pituitary hormone dependence of mouse liver gene expression was investigated on a global scale to discover sex-specific early GH response genes that might contribute to sex-specific regulation of downstream GH targets and to ascertain whether intrinsic sex-differences characterize hepatic responses to plasma GH stimulation. RNA expression analysis using 41,000-feature microarrays revealed two distinct classes of sex-specific mouse liver genes: genes subject to positive regulation (class-I) and genes subject to negative regulation by pituitary hormones (class-II). Genes activated or repressed in hypophysectomized (Hypox) mouse liver within 30-90min of GH pulse treatment at a physiological dose were identified as direct targets of GH action (early response genes). Intrinsic sex-differences in the GH responsiveness of a subset of these early response genes were observed. Notably, 45 male-specific genes, including five encoding transcriptional regulators that may mediate downstream sex-specific transcriptional responses, were rapidly induced by GH (within 30min) in Hypox male but not Hypox female mouse liver. The early GH response genes were enriched in 29 male-specific targets of the transcription factor Mef2, whose activation in hepatic stellate cells is associated with liver fibrosis leading to hepatocellular carcinoma, a male-predominant disease. Thus, the rapid activation by GH pulses of certain sex-specific genes is modulated by intrinsic sex-specific factors, which may be associated with prior hormone exposure (epigenetic mechanisms) or genetic factors that are pituitary-independent, and could contribute to sex-differences in predisposition to liver cancer or other hepatic pathophysiologies.
Project description:It is known that ubiquitination is important for T cell receptor (TCR) signaling during T cell activation but the breadth of ubiquitination events triggered during TCR signaling is not completely understood. This dataset utilizes di-glycine remnant profiling combined with mass spectrometry to identify a global landscape of ubiquitination events downstream of the TCR and to quantify changes ubiquitin abundance in response to TCR stimulation. Additionally, whole cell proteomics data were generated to measure protein abundances during TCR stimulation. Mouse primary T cells were isolated, proliferated and either remained resting or stimulated with CD3/CD28 to activate downstream signaling through the TCR and co-stimulatory pathways. Di-glycine remnant profiling and whole cell proteomics was performed on rested cells and cells that had undergone CD3/CD28 TCR stimulation for 4 hours. These data were analyzed to identify the ubiquitination events during TCR activation and to quantify the change in peptide-based ubiquitin abundance and total protein abundance over the course of the 4 hour TCR stimulation. Integration of di-glycine and whole cell proteomics was used to generate protein-specific predictions of whether ubiquitination events downstream of TCR signaling lead to a decrease in associated protein abundance. The analysis of these data suggests that T cell activation leads to an increase in ubiquitination that is not associated with proteasomal or lysosomal degradation.
Project description:Translational research is commonly performed in the C57B6/J mouse strain, chosen for its genetic homogeneity and phenotypic uniformity. Here, we evaluate the suitability of the white-footed deer mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) as a model organism for aging research, offering a comparative analysis against C57B6/J and diversity outbred (DO) Mus musculus strains. Our study includes comparisons of body composition, skeletal muscle function, and cardiovascular parameters, shedding light on potential applications and limitations of P. leucopus in aging studies. Notably, P. leucopus exhibits distinct body composition characteristics, emphasizing reduced muscle force exertion and a unique metabolism, particularly in fat mass. Cardiovascular assessments showed changes in arterial stiffness, challenging conventional assumptions and highlighting the need for a nuanced interpretation of aging-related phenotypes. Our study also highlights inherent challenges associated with maintaining and phenotyping P. leucopus cohorts. Behavioral considerations, including anxiety-induced responses during handling and phenotyping assessment, pose obstacles in acquiring meaningful data. Moreover, the unique anatomy of P. leucopus necessitates careful adaptation of protocols designed for Mus musculus. While showcasing potential benefits, further extensive analyses across broader age ranges and larger cohorts are necessary to establish the reliability of P. leucopus as a robust and translatable model for aging studies.