Project description:Cryptosporidium hominis and parvum primarily infect intestinal epithelial cells, which, in turn, play a key role in activating and communicating with the host immune system. To determinate which genes are regulated during early infection of non-transformed human epithelial cells, human ileal mucosa was removed (from surgical specimens), placed on collagen membranes, and cultured as explants. Explant cultures were infected with C. parvum, C. hominis, or control culture medium. After 24 hrs, RNA was extracted and analyzed using Affmetrix GeneChip microarrays. Among the more prominent genes with regulated expression was Osteoprotegerin (OPG), which was increased in all of the explants at 24 hrs and further up-regulated 1.58 fold by C. parvum and 2.54 fold by C. hominis infection compared with uninfected explants. Using real time PCR, we confirmed a 3.14 and 3.79 fold increase in OPG mRNA after infection with C. parvum and C. hominis respectively. Keywords: gene expression analysis via microarray
Project description:Cryptosporidium hominis and parvum primarily infect intestinal epithelial cells, which, in turn, play a key role in activating and communicating with the host immune system. To determinate which genes are regulated during early infection of non-transformed human epithelial cells, human ileal mucosa was removed (from surgical specimens), placed on collagen membranes, and cultured as explants. Explant cultures were infected with C. parvum, C. hominis, or control culture medium. After 24 hrs, RNA was extracted and analyzed using Affmetrix GeneChip microarrays. Among the more prominent genes with regulated expression was Osteoprotegerin (OPG), which was increased in all of the explants at 24 hrs and further up-regulated 1.58 fold by C. parvum and 2.54 fold by C. hominis infection compared with uninfected explants. Using real time PCR, we confirmed a 3.14 and 3.79 fold increase in OPG mRNA after infection with C. parvum and C. hominis respectively. Experiment Overall Design: Ileal tissue, which would otherwise have been discarded, was obtained from 3 individuals undergoing bowel resections. The mucosa was removed mechanically and cutured as explants in medium CMRL-1066 and incubated 3 hrs prior to ex vivo infection. Specimens from each individual were divided into 4 parts. A base lane specimen was preserved in RNAse inhibitor directly. The other 3 specimens were infected with 106 oocysts of C. parvum, C hominis or excystation solution. After 24h, the tissues were place in RNAse inhibitor. Subsequently, RNA was extracted with RNAeasy Mini Kit Quiagen and submitted to Baylor College of Medicine microarray facility. The samples were analyzed for gene expression profiles using the Affymetrix Human Genome U133 2.0 array.
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.
Project description:Cryptosporidium parvum is an important zoonotic parasitic disease worldwide, but the molecular mechanisms of the host–parasite interaction are not fully understood. Noncoding microRNAs (miRNAs) are considered key regulators of parasitic diseases. Therefore, we used microarray, qPCR, and bioinformatic analyses to investigate the intestinal epithelial miRNA expression profile after Cryptosporidium parvum infection.Twenty miRNAs were differentially expressed after infection (four upregulated and 16 downregulated). Further analysis of the differentially expressed miRNAs revealed that many important cellular responses were triggered by Cryptosporidium parvum infection, including cell apoptosis and the inflammatory and immune responses.This study demonstrates for the first time that the miRNA expression profile of human intestinal epithelium cells is altered by C. parvum infection. This dysregulation of miRNA expression may contribute to the regulation of host biological processes in response to C. parvum infection, including cell apoptosis and the immune responses. These results provide new insight into the regulatory mechanisms of host miRNAs during cryptosporidiosis, which may offer potential targets for future C. parvum control strategies.
Project description:Neonatal mice were susceptible to cryptosporidium infection at 1- and 2-weeks of age, but were resistant to infection at 3- and 6-weeks of age. Diet and microbial changes are known to occur during the weaning transition in mice and we hypothesized that these changes in the intestinal luminal environment might influence resistance and susceptibility to cryptosporidium infection. As one part of testing this hypothesis, cecal microbiota composition was determined by 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing of DNA isolated from the cecal contents of mice at 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, and 6 weeks of age.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of human mesenchymal stem cells comparing normoxic MSCs cells with hypoxic MSCs cells. Hypoxia may inhibit senescence of MSCs during expansion. Goal was to determine the effects of hypoxia on global MSCs gene expression.
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:Gene methylation profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells comparing HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs cells with human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)- and HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs. hTERT may increase gene methylation in MSCs. Goal was to determine the effects of different transfected genes on global gene methylation in MSCs.
Project description:Cryptosporidium is a leading cause of severe diarrhea and diarrheal-related death in children worldwide. As an obligate intracellular parasite, Cryptosporidium relies on intestinal epithelial cells to provide a niche for its growth and survival, but little is known about the contributions that the infected cell makes to this relationship. Here we conducted a genome wide CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screen to discover host genes required for Cryptosporidium parvum infection and/or host cell survival. The gene enrichment analysis indicated that the host interferon response, glycosaminoglycan (GAG) and glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor biosynthesis are important determinants of susceptibility to C. parvum infection. Several of these pathways are linked to parasite attachment and invasion and C-type lectins on the surface of the parasite. Evaluation of transcript and protein induction of innate interferons revealed a pronounced type III interferon response to Cryptosporidium in human cells as well as in mice. Treatment of mice with IFNλ reduced infection burden and protected immunocompromised mice from severe outcomes including death, with effects that STAT1 signaling in the enterocyte. Initiation of this type III interferon response was dependent on sustained intracellular growth and mediated by the pattern recognition receptor TLR3. We conclude that host cell intrinsic recognition of Cryptosporidium results in IFNλ production critical to early protection against this infection.