Project description:In this experiment, we determined the differences in the transcriptomes of freshly isolated murine small intestine and colon derived crypts. The data shows that the mRNA profiles of the two tissues significantly differ in their ground state. Interestingly, we found that the expression levels of ERK pathway components as well as their positive and negative regulators significantly differ between small intestinal and colonic crypts. This observation indicates that the ERK pathway displays higher basal activity in the small intestine compared to the colon.
Project description:The intestine is composed of an epithelial layer, containing rapidly proliferating cells that mature into two distinct anatomic regions, the small and the large intestine. Although previous studies have identified stem cells as the cell-of-origin for the whole intestine, no studies have compared stem cells derived from the small and large intestine. Here, we report intrinsic differences between these two populations of cells. Primary epithelial cells isolated from human fetal small and large intestine and expanded with Wnt agonist, R-spondin 2, displayed differential expression of stem cell markers and separate hierarchical clustering of gene expression involved in differentiation, proliferation and disease pathways. Using a three-dimensional in vitro differentiation assay, single cells derived from small and large intestine formed distinct organoid architecture with cellular hierarchy similar to that found in primary tissue. Our characterization of human fetal intestinal stem cells defies the classical definition proposed by most where small and large intestine are repopulated by an identical epithelial stem cell and raises the question of the importance of intrinsic and extrinsic cues in the development of intestinal diseases. 12 samples were analyzed. They consisted of human fetal small and large intestine (SI; n=6 and LI; n=6) stem cells, expanded with Wnt agonist and R-spondin 2. Differential expression of genes in epithelial cells from both the large and small intestine were observed.
Project description:Whole genome bisulfite-seq on 8 week adult mouse large intestine For data usage terms and conditions, please refer to http://www.genome.gov/27528022 and http://www.genome.gov/Pages/Research/ENCODE/ENCODE_Data_Use_Policy_for_External_Users_03-07-14.pdf
Project description:The intestine is composed of an epithelial layer, containing rapidly proliferating cells that mature into two distinct anatomic regions, the small and the large intestine. Although previous studies have identified stem cells as the cell-of-origin for the whole intestine, no studies have compared stem cells derived from the small and large intestine. Here, we report intrinsic differences between these two populations of cells. Primary epithelial cells isolated from human fetal small and large intestine and expanded with Wnt agonist, R-spondin 2, displayed differential expression of stem cell markers and separate hierarchical clustering of gene expression involved in differentiation, proliferation and disease pathways. Using a three-dimensional in vitro differentiation assay, single cells derived from small and large intestine formed distinct organoid architecture with cellular hierarchy similar to that found in primary tissue. Our characterization of human fetal intestinal stem cells defies the classical definition proposed by most where small and large intestine are repopulated by an identical epithelial stem cell and raises the question of the importance of intrinsic and extrinsic cues in the development of intestinal diseases.
Project description:Our genome-wide gene expression data indicate that, despite the lack of crypts, the rostral, mid, and caudal portions of the zebrafish intestine have distinct functions analogous to the mammalian small and large intestine, respectively. Organization of ridge structures represents a unique feature of zebrafish intestine, though they produce similar cross sections to mammalian intestines. Evolutionary lack of stomach, crypts, Paneth cells and submucosal glands has shaped the zebrafish intestine into a simpler but unique organ in vertebrate intestinal biology.
Project description:Gastrointestinal toxicity is a major concern in the development of drugs. Here, we establish the ability to use murine small and large intestine-derived monolayers to screen drugs for toxicity. As a proof-of-concept, we applied this system to assess gastrointestinal toxicity of ~50 clinically used oncology drugs, encompassing diverse mechanisms of action. Nearly all tested drugs had a deleterious effect on the gut, with increased sensitivity in the small intestine. The identification of differential toxicity between the small and large intestine enabled us to pinpoint differences in drug uptake (antifolates), drug metabolism (cyclophosphamide) and cell signaling (EGFR inhibitors) across the gut. These results highlight an under-appreciated distinction between small and large intestine toxicity and suggest distinct tissue properties important for modulating drug-induced gastrointestinal toxicity. The ability to accurately predict where and how drugs affect the murine gut will accelerate preclinical drug development.
Project description:The EGFR/Ras/ERK signalling pathway is a primary driver of cancer cell proliferation and metastasis in tumours that exhibit high cell-to-cell heterogeneity. While the signalling activity of this pathway is frequently amplified in tumours, it is not understood how the kinetic aspects of its activation in tumours differ from normal cellular signalling. We explored these single-cell kinetic differences using live-cell reporters of ERK signalling in the breast cancer progression series HMT-3522 and found that ERK activity in invasive cells is similar in amplitude to non-malignant cells but is highly dynamic and more disordered, leading to more heterogeneous expression of ERK target genes. We traced this variability to a high degree of amphiregulin-mediated autocrine signalling by invasive cells. Dynamic ERK activity could be transferred from invasive to pre-malignant cells through paracrine signalling in co-culture, and could drive temporal variation in the expression of genes including Fra-1, c-Myc, and Egr1 at the single-cell level. Our findings establish a mechanism for the generation of tumour cell plasticity, in which paracrine signalling in the microenvironment is translated into continually shifting diversity in gene expression profiles, helping drive the phenotypic heterogeneity of tumour cells.
Project description:The libraries contained in this experiment come from adult 8 week large intestine tissue from mixed sex littermates in mouse strain C57BL/6J. They are stranded PE76 Illumina GAIIx RNA-Seq libraries from rRNA-depleted Poly-A+ RNA > 200 nucleotides in size. For data usage terms and conditions, please refer to http://www.genome.gov/27528022 and http://www.genome.gov/Pages/Research/ENCODE/ENCODE_Data_Use_Policy_for_External_Users_03-07-14.pdf