Project description:Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder for which a definitive cure is still missing. This is characterized by an overwhelming inflammatory milieu in the colonic tract where a composite set of immune and non-immune cells orchestrate its pathogenesis. Over the last years, a growing body of evidence has been pinpointing gut virome dysbiosis as underlying its progression. Nonetheless, its role during the early phases of chronic inflammation is far from being fully defined. Here we show the gut virome-associated Hepatitis B virus protein X, most likely acquired after an event of zoonotic spillover, to be associated with the early stages of ulcerative colitis and to induce colonic inflammation in mice. It acts as a transcriptional regulator in epithelial cells, provoking barrier leakage and altering mucosal immunity at the level of both innate and adaptive immunity. This study paves the way to the comprehension of the aetiopathogenesis of intestinal inflammation and encourages further investigations of the virome as a trigger also in other scenarios. Moreover, it provides a brand-new standpoint that looks at the virome as a target for tailored treatments, blocking the early phases of chronic inflammation and possibly leading to better disease management.
Project description:The mitochondrial calcium uniporter has been proposed to coordinate the organelle’s energetics with cytosolic calcium signaling. Previous studies have shown that the uniporter current is extremely high in mitochondria from brown adipose tissue (BAT), yet the contribution of the uniporter to BAT physiology in vivo is not known. Here, we report the generation and characterization of a mouse model lacking Mcu, the pore forming subunit of the uniporter, specifically in BAT (BAT-Mcu-KO). BAT-Mcu-KO mice are born in Mendelian ratios on a C57BL6/J genetic background, without any overt phenotypes. Although uniporter based calcium uptake is selectively ablated in BAT mitochondria, these mice are able to defend their body temperature in response to cold challenge and exhibit a normal body weight trajectory on a high fat diet. BAT transcriptional profiles at baseline and following cold-challenge are intact and not impacted by loss of Mcu. Unexpectedly, we found that cold powerfully activates the ATF4-dependent integrated stress response in BAT, and increases both circulating FGF21 and GDF15 levels, raising the hypothesis that the integrated stress response partly underlies the pleiotropic effects of BAT on systemic metabolism. Our study demonstrates that the uniporter is largely dispensable for BAT thermogenesis, and unexpectedly, uncovers a striking activation of the integrated stress response of BAT to cold challenge.
Project description:We compared PPARg binding sites in BAT and eWAT to identify regulatory elements that contribute to BAT identity and to find an important factor that bind those elements. To this end, we performed PPARg ChIP-seq in both tissues and called each tissue-spsecific binding sites. PPARg ChIP-seq in BAT and eWAT of mice
Project description:This represents the first transcriptomic and epigenomic characterization of the vocalization-associated brain circuits of a non-human mammalian vocal learner (Egyptian fruit bat), yielding fundamental insights into the regulatory and molecular pathways underlying the evolution of complex vocal behavior in mammals.
2022-05-24 | GSE187366 | GEO
Project description:Surveying common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) virome in southern Brazil
| PRJNA1004296 | ENA
Project description:Virome characterization of fungal isolate collection