Project description:The multi-ligand Receptor for AGE (RAGE) contributes to atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein (ApoE) null mice in both the non-diabetic and diabetic states. Previous studies using soluble RAGE, the extracellular ligand-binding domain of RAGE, or homozygous RAGE null mice showed that blockade or deletion of RAGE resulted in marked reduction in atherosclerotic lesion area and complexity compared to control animals. In parallel, significant down-regulation of inflammatory mediators and matrix metalloproteinases was evident in ApoE null mice aortas devoid of RAGE compared to those of ApoE null RAGE-expressing mice. Although these findings suggested that RAGE triggered pro-atherogenic mechanisms via regulation of inflammatory gene expression, these studies did not reveal the broader pathways by which RAGE contributed to atherosclerosis in ApoE null mice. Therefore, we performed Affymetrix gene expression arrays on aortas of non-diabetic and diabetic ApoE null mice expressing RAGE or devoid of RAGE at nine weeks of age, as this reflected a time point at which frank atherosclerotic lesions were not yet present, but, that we would be able to identify the genes likely involved in diabetes- and RAGE-dependent atherogenesis. The comparisons were as follows: 1. diabetic ApoE null relative to non-diabetic ApoE null; 2. non-diabetic ApoE null / RAGE null relative to non-diabetic ApoE null; 3. diabetic ApoE null / RAGE null relative to non-diabetic ApoE null / RAGE null; and 4. diabetic ApoE null / RAGE null relative to diabetic ApoE null aorta. Our data reveal that there is very little overlap of the genes which are differentially expressed both in the onset of diabetes in ApoE null mice, and in the effect of RAGE deletion in diabetic ApoE null mice. We next performed a Pathway-Express analysis to determine the pathways that were most associated with the onset of diabetes in ApoE null mice and the effect of RAGE gene deletion in diabetic ApoE null mice. Rigorous statistical analysis was undertaken and revealed that the transforming growth factor-beta pathway (tgf-beta) and focal adhesion pathways might be expected to play a significant role in both the mechanism by which diabetes facilitates the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in ApoE null mice, and the mechanism by which deletion of RAGE ameliorates this effect. We focused on three genes of the tgf-betafamily which were found to be up-regulated in diabetic vs. non-diabetic ApoE null aorta, and which were reduced by deletion of RAGE. These included: thrombospondin1 (Thbs1), transforming growth factor-beta (tgf-beta) and rho-associated kinase (ROCK1). Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting experiments were performed, as well as ROCK1 activity assays in mouse aorta, and validated the findings of the Affymetrix gene array. Further, confocal microscopy revealed that a principal cell type in the ApoE null aorta expressing these factors was the vascular smooth muscle cell. Our data suggest the novel finding that the observed reduction of accelerated atherosclerosis in diabetic ApoE null / RAGE null vs. diabetic ApoE null mice occurs, all or in part, through the ROCK1 branch of the TGF-betapathway. We have inferred a detailed mechanism for this process. Taken together, these data suggest that suppression of ROCK1 activity in the atherosclerosis-vulnerable vessel wall, especially in diabetes, but in non-diabetes as well, may underlie the beneficial effects of RAGE antagonism and genetic deletion in murine models. These findings highlight logical and novel targets for therapeutic intervention in cardiovascular disease and diabetes. 1. diabetic ApoE null relative to non-diabetic ApoE null; 2. non-diabetic ApoE null / RAGE null relative to non-diabetic ApoE null; 3. diabetic ApoE null / RAGE null relative to non-diabetic ApoE null / RAGE null; and 4. diabetic ApoE null / RAGE null relative to diabetic ApoE null aorta. There were 4 mice in each group initially. However there are only 3 non-diabetic ApoE null / RAGE null mice in the final experimental sample in group 3 due to a failure to generate cRNA from that sample. All samples were normalized to remove chip-dependent regularities using the RMA method. Chips and controls at each combination of genotype and disease sate were normalized together. The statistical significance of differential expression was calculated using the empirical Bayesian LIMMA (LInear Model for MicroArrays) method A cut-off B>0 was used for the statistical significance of gene expression.
Project description:We performed genome-wide 5hmC Methylated DNA Capture (5hMethylCap-seq) on one pooled RCC tissue sample (n=3) and the corresponding matched normal kidney tissue (NAT) (n=3), and we also performed 5hMethylCap-seq on one pooled urine sample obtained from RCC patients (n=52) along with another pooled urine sample obtained from control patients without malignancy (n=65). Global 5hmC levels were dramatically reduced in RCC tissues compared to matched normal adjacent kidney tissues, and although we detected low levels of 5hmC in urine samples, we also observed reduction of 5hmC in urine samples compared to tissue samples. Through assessing histone marked regions we found that 5hmC levels were enriched in H3K9me3 marked repressive genomic regions of normal adjacent kidney compared to RCC tissue tissues. Given the lower 5hmC signal in other genomic regions in cancer tissues, this upregulated 5hmC levels in H3K9me3 marked regions were also clearly identified comparing urine samples from RCC patients to control patients without RCC. We used Caki1 and Caki2 RCC cells to established stable cells with low H3K9me3 expression by knocking down the SUV39H1 gene. We found that low global H3K9me3 causes major upregulation of 5hmC at H3K9me3 marked regions and minor downregulation of 5hmC at genebody regions without change global 5mC and 5hmC levels.
Project description:The aim of the present study was to identify novel DNA methylation markers in bladder cancer (BCa) through genome-wide profiling of bladder cancer cell lines and subsequent MSP screening in urine samples. Experimental Design: MBD methylCap/seq was carried out to screen differentially methylated CpG islands using two BCa cell lines (5637 and T24) and two normal bladder mucosa (BM) samples. The top one hundred most hypermethylated targets were screened using Methylation Specific PCR (MSP) in small and big cohort of urine samples from BCa patients and normal controls. The diagnostic performance of the gene panel was further evaluated in different clinical scenarios. Results: In total, 1,627 gene promoter regions hypermethylated in BCa cell line were identified in genomic level methylation profiling. The followed screening procedure in clinical urine sample generated eight genes (VAX1, KCNV1, ECEL1, TMEM26, TAL1, PROX1, SLC6A20, and LMX1A) capable of differentiating BCa from normal control. Subsequent validation in a large sample size enabled the optimisation of 5 methylation targets (VAX1, KCNV1, TAL1, PPOX1 and CFTR) for BCa diagnosis with sensitivity and specificity of 86.32% and 87.13%, respectively. In addition, VAX1 and LMX1A methylation could predict the tumour recurrence. Conclusions: Tumor specific biomarkers of BCa could be established by first performing genome level methylation profiling with cell lines and then screening the potential targets in urine samples. The panel of methylated genes identified was promising for the early non-invasive detection and surveillance of BCa. MBD methylCap/seq was carried out to screen differentially methylated CpG islands using two BCa cell lines (5637 and T24), and two normal bladder tissue mix as control.
Project description:The method DFI-seq was developed to enable identification of differentially expressed genes in uropathogenic E. coli strain UTI89 during growth in human urine and in bladder epithelial cells. By utilising this new method, the aim was to identify novel virulence genes in UTI89. DFI-seq is a combination of differential fluorescence induction (DFI) with next-generation sequencing. DFI-seq was compared to DFI by analysing gene expression of UPEC in human urine and thereby confirming that DFI-seq gives a better overview of gene expression. DFI-seq was hereafter used to look at gene expression in UTI89 while infecting bladder epithelial cells. We demonstrate the usefulness of DFI-seq for identification of genes required for optimal growth of UPEC in human urine, as well as potential virulence genes upregulated during infection of bladder epithelial cells. DFI-seq holds potential for the study of bacterial gene expression in live-animal infection systems.
Project description:We performed single cell transcriptomic analysis on 17 urine samples obtained from five subjects at two different occasions using both spot and 24-hour urine collection. In addition, we used a combined spot urine samples of five healthy individuals as a control sample. We sequenced a total of 71,667 cells. After quality control and downstream analysis, we found that epithelial cells were the most common cell types in the urine. We were also able to identify most kidney cell types in the urine, such as podocyte, proximal, and collecting duct (CD), in addition to macrophages, monocytes and lymphocytes.
Project description:Cell surface heparan sulfate (HS) plays an essential role in RAGE signaling by inducing RAGE oligomerization. To understand the physiological significance of HS-induced RAGE oligomerization in vivo, we generated RAGE knock-in mice (RageAHA/AHA) by introducing point mutations to specifically disrupt HS–RAGE interaction. The RAGE variant expressed by RageAHA/AHA mice demonstrated normal ligand-binding but greatly impaired capacity of HS-binding and oligomerization. To grasp the full scale of the alteration in gene expression caused by knocking out Rage, we performed a RNAseq analysis of mature neutrophils and lung from WT, RageAHA/AHA and Rage-/- mice. The overall number of differently regulated genes (DEGs) in Rage-/- neutrophils were almost 2.5 times higher than in RageAHA/AHA neutrophils (603 vs. 247). In contrast, the number of DEGs were much less in lungs compared to neutrophils in both strains (202 DEGs in Rage-/- lungs and merely 31 DEGs in RageAHA/AHA lungs), however the difference between the two genotypes was even more dramatic in lungs (7-fold) than we observed in neutrophils (2.5-fold). By comparing transcriptomes of neutrophils and lung tissues from RageAHA/AHA and Rage-/- mice, we present clear evidence that complete deficiency of RAGE had much broader impact on global gene expression compared to point mutations of RAGE.