Project description:Excessive Hedgehog signaling in chondrocytes is sufficient to cause formation of enchondroma-like lesions in mice which can progress to chondrosarcoma. To elucidate potential mechanisms through which activation of Hedgehog signaling contributes to cartilage tumor formation, we used chromatin immunoprecipitation and next generation sequencing to identify Gli1 and Gli2 target genes in primary human chondrosarcoma. In silico analyses were conducted to identify and characterize Gli1 and Gli2 binding regions, including de novo motif analysis, co-localization with additional transcription factors, distance to transcriptional start site, conservation between human and mouse, and supervised and unsupervised analyses of biological pathways and processes. Our results profile putative unique and overlapping target genes of Gli1 and Gli2 in chondrosarcoma.
Project description:Despite significant progress in therapy, melanoma is still the most lethal form of skin cancer, with a rising incidence worldwide. Little is known about the impact of deregulated Hedgehog-GLI (HH-GLI) signalling pathway in the progression of this disease. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that in melanoma activation of HH-GLI signaling pathway is non- canonical due to its crosstalk with MAPK signaling pathway, which is the most deregulated pathway in melanoma. In order to investigate the link between the two pathways and to find novel GLI transcriptional targets that could be considered for potential combination therapy, we performed RNA sequencing on three melanoma cell lines with overexpressed GLI1, GLI2 and GLI3 and combined them with results of ChIP sequencing on endogenous GLI1, GLI2 and GLI3 proteins on the same cell lines. RNA-seq revealed a total of 808 DEGs for GLI1, 941 DEGs for GLI2 and 58 DEGs for GLI3. ChIP-seq identified 527 genes that contained GLI1 binding sites in their promoters, 1103 for GLI2 and 553 for GLI3. After combining these results, 21 targets were selected for validation by qPCR. Fifteen of these targets were validated in the tested cell lines, 6 of which were detected by both RNA-seq and ChIP-seq.
Project description:High levels of GLI (GLI1 and GLI2) mRNA and GLI luciferase reporter activity were detected in the androgen independent prostate cancer cell lines DU145 and PC-3 compared to the androgen-dependent LNCaP prostate cancer cell line. Subsequently, we observed that ectopic GLI1 promoted hormone independence in LNCaP cells (LNCaP-GLI1). We compared the gene expression profile of LNCaP-pBP (empty vector), LNCaP-GLI1, DU145, and PC-3 cells globally as well as to identify GLI1-regulated genes that may contribute to hormone independence. RNA was harvested and analysed from LNCap-pBP (control/reference sample), LNCaP-GLI1, DU145 and PC-3 cells
Project description:Kynureninase is a member of a large family of catalytically diverse but structurally homologous pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) dependent enzymes known as the aspartate aminotransferase superfamily or alpha-family. The Homo sapiens and other eukaryotic constitutive kynureninases preferentially catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine to produce 3-hydroxyanthranilate and l-alanine, while l-kynurenine is the substrate of many prokaryotic inducible kynureninases. The human enzyme was cloned with an N-terminal hexahistidine tag, expressed, and purified from a bacterial expression system using Ni metal ion affinity chromatography. Kinetic characterization of the recombinant enzyme reveals classic Michaelis-Menten behavior, with a Km of 28.3 +/- 1.9 microM and a specific activity of 1.75 micromol min-1 mg-1 for 3-hydroxy-dl-kynurenine. Crystals of recombinant kynureninase that diffracted to 2.0 A were obtained, and the atomic structure of the PLP-bound holoenzyme was determined by molecular replacement using the Pseudomonas fluorescens kynureninase structure (PDB entry 1qz9) as the phasing model. A structural superposition with the P. fluorescens kynureninase revealed that these two structures resemble the "open" and "closed" conformations of aspartate aminotransferase. The comparison illustrates the dynamic nature of these proteins' small domains and reveals a role for Arg-434 similar to its role in other AAT alpha-family members. Docking of 3-hydroxy-l-kynurenine into the human kynureninase active site suggests that Asn-333 and His-102 are involved in substrate binding and molecular discrimination between inducible and constitutive kynureninase substrates.
Project description:As the evolution of miRNA genes has been found to be one of the important factors in formation of the modern type of man, we performed a comparative analysis of the evolution of miRNA genes in two archaic hominines, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens denisova, and elucidated the expression of their target mRNAs in bain.A comparative analysis of the genomes of primates, including species in the genus Homo, identified a group of miRNA genes having fixed substitutions with important implications for the evolution of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens denisova. The mRNAs targeted by miRNAs with mutations specific for Homo sapiens denisova exhibited enhanced expression during postnatal brain development in modern humans. By contrast, the expression of mRNAs targeted by miRNAs bearing variations specific for Homo sapiens neanderthalensis was shown to be enhanced in prenatal brain development.Our results highlight the importance of changes in miRNA gene sequences in the course of Homo sapiens denisova and Homo sapiens neanderthalensis evolution. The genetic alterations of miRNAs regulating the spatiotemporal expression of multiple genes in the prenatal and postnatal brain may contribute to the progressive evolution of brain function, which is consistent with the observations of fine technical and typological properties of tools and decorative items reported from archaeological Denisovan sites. The data also suggest that differential spatial-temporal regulation of gene products promoted by the subspecies-specific mutations in the miRNA genes might have occurred in the brains of Homo sapiens denisova and Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, potentially contributing to the cultural differences between these two archaic hominines.
Project description:PurposeWe investigated the evidence of recent positive selection in the human phototransduction system at single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and gene level.MethodsSNP genotyping data from the International HapMap Project for European, Eastern Asian, and African populations was used to discover differences in haplotype length and allele frequency between these populations. Numeric selection metrics were computed for each SNP and aggregated into gene-level metrics to measure evidence of recent positive selection. The level of recent positive selection in phototransduction genes was evaluated and compared to a set of genes shown previously to be under recent selection, and a set of highly conserved genes as positive and negative controls, respectively.ResultsSix of 20 phototransduction genes evaluated had gene-level selection metrics above the 90th percentile: RGS9, GNB1, RHO, PDE6G, GNAT1, and SLC24A1. The selection signal across these genes was found to be of similar magnitude to the positive control genes and much greater than the negative control genes.ConclusionsThere is evidence for selective pressure in the genes involved in retinal phototransduction, and traces of this selective pressure can be demonstrated using SNP-level and gene-level metrics of allelic variation. We hypothesize that the selective pressure on these genes was related to their role in low light vision and retinal adaptation to ambient light changes. Uncovering the underlying genetics of evolutionary adaptations in phototransduction not only allows greater understanding of vision and visual diseases, but also the development of patient-specific diagnostic and intervention strategies.
Project description:Cortical thickness has been investigated since the beginning of the 20th century, but we do not know how similar the cortical thickness profiles among humans are. In this study, the local similarity of cortical thickness profiles was investigated using sliding window methods. Here, we show that approximately 5% of the cortical thickness profiles are similarly expressed among humans while 45% of the cortical thickness profiles show a high level of heterogeneity. Therefore, heterogeneity is the rule, not the exception. Cortical thickness profiles of somatosensory homunculi and the anterior insula are consistent among humans, while the cortical thickness profiles of the motor homunculus are more variable. Cortical thickness profiles of homunculi that code for muscle position and skin stimulation are highly similar among humans despite large differences in sex, education, and age. This finding suggests that the structure of these cortices remains well preserved over a lifetime. Our observations possibly relativize opinions on cortical plasticity.
Project description:Gene expression profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells with hTERT/E6/E7 transfected MSCs. hTERT may change gene expression in MSCs. Goal was to determine the gene expressions of immortalized MSCs.