Project description:<p>The pregnancy vaginal microbiome contributes to risk of preterm birth, the primary cause of death in children under 5 years of age. Here we describe direct on-swab metabolic profiling by Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (DESI-MS) for sample preparation-free characterisation of the cervicovaginal metabolome in two independent pregnancy cohorts (VMET, n = 160; 455 swabs; VMET II, n = 205; 573 swabs). By integrating metataxonomics and immune profiling data from matched samples, we show that specific metabolome signatures can be used to robustly predict simultaneously both the composition of the vaginal microbiome and host inflammatory status. In these patients, vaginal microbiota instability and innate immune activation, as predicted using DESI-MS, associated with preterm birth, including in women receiving cervical cerclage for preterm birth prevention. These findings highlight direct on-swab metabolic profiling by DESI-MS as an innovative approach for preterm birth risk stratification through rapid assessment of vaginal microbiota-host dynamics.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Linked cross omic data sets:</strong></p><p>Meta-taxonomics data associated with this study are available in the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA): accession number <a href='https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJEB11895' rel='noopener noreferrer' target='_blank'>PRJEB11895</a>, <a href='https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJEB12577' rel='noopener noreferrer' target='_blank'>PRJEB12577</a> and <a href='https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJEB41427' rel='noopener noreferrer' target='_blank'>PRJEB41427</a>.</p>
Project description:The study proposes the characterization of the intestinal and vaginal microbiota in long-term radiated cervical and endometrial cancer survivors to study the association with long-term radiotherapy side effects.
Project description:Persistent infection by high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is associated with the development of cervical cancer and a subset of anogenital and head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. Abnormal expression of cellular microRNAs (miRNAs) plays an important role in the development of cancer, including HPV-related tumors. MiRNA expression profile was investigated by microrray analysis in the HPV-positive cervical cancer cell lines SiHa (HPV16-positive cell line derived from a cervical squamous cell carcinoma), CaSki (HPV16-positive cell line derived from a metastatic cervical epidermoid carcinoma), and HeLa (HPV18-positive cell line derived from a cervical adenocarcinoma) and compared with primary HFKs and C33a (HPV-negative cervical cell line).
Project description:The onset of menopause is accompanied by a dramatic increase in reported symptoms of vaginal dryness, soreness, irritation or itching, pain with intercourse and bleeding after intercourse. Collectively these affect 25-50% of women of post-menopausal age and significantly impact their quality of life. To examine how gene expression differs between these groups, surface vaginal epithelial cells were collected from postmenopausal women suffering from vaginal dryness and appropriate controls not suffering from dryness. Affymetrix GeneChip Human 1.0 ST microarrays were performed on RNA isolated from ten participants.
Project description:The onset of menopause is accompanied by a dramatic increase in reported symptoms of vaginal dryness, soreness, irritation or itching, pain with intercourse and bleeding after intercourse. Collectively these affect 25-50% of women of post-menopausal age and significantly impact their quality of life. To examine how gene expression differs between these groups, surface vaginal epithelial cells were collected from postmenopausal women suffering from vaginal dryness and appropriate controls not suffering from dryness. Affymetrix GeneChip Human 1.0 ST microarrays were performed on RNA isolated from ten participants. Suitable RNA was extracted from ten participants which were classified into two groups, the dryness and control groups, based on diagnosis of dryness by a nurse during gynecoligical examination.
