Project description:Two cell lines derived from 2 Down Syndrome children who developed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia were profiled at the transcriptomic level (bulk RNAseq) and compared against their Patient-Derived Xenograft (PDX) of origin.
Project description:This is a within-host hepatitis B viral mathematical model for hepatitis B in the acute phase of infection. The model incorporates hepatocytes, hepatitis B virus, immune system cells and cytokine dynamics using a system of ordinary differential equations.
Project description:BACKGROUND. Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is a leading cause of death in children worldwide. LRTI diagnosis is challenging since non-infectious respiratory illnesses appear clinically similar and existing microbiologic tests are often falsely negative or detect incidentally-carried microbes common in children. These challenges result in antimicrobial overuse and adverse patient outcomes. Lower airway metagenomics has the potential to detect host and microbial signatures of LRTI. Whether it can be applied at scale and in a pediatric population to enable improved diagnosis and precision treatment remains unclear. METHODS. We used tracheal aspirate RNA-sequencing to profile host gene expression and respiratory microbiota in 261 children with acute respiratory failure. We developed a random forest gene expression classifier for LRTI by training on patients with an established diagnosis of LRTI (n=117) or of non-infectious respiratory failure (n=50). We then developed a classifier that integrates the: i) host LRTI probability, ii) abundance of respiratory viruses, and iii) dominance in the lung microbiome of bacteria/fungi considered pathogenic by a rules-based algorithm. RESULTS. The host classifier achieved a median AUC of 0.967 by 5-fold cross-validation, driven by activation markers of T cells, alveolar macrophages and the interferon response. The integrated classifier achieved a median AUC of 0.986 and significantly increased the confidence of patient classifications. When applied to patients with an uncertain diagnosis (n=94), the integrated classifier indicated LRTI in 52% of cases and nominated likely causal pathogens in 98% of those. CONCLUSIONS. Lower airway metagenomics enables accurate LRTI diagnosis and pathogen identification in a heterogeneous cohort of critically ill children through integration of host, pathogen, and microbiome features.
Project description:Since the first reports of hepatitis of unknown aetiology occurring in UK children, over 1000 cases have been reported worldwide, including 268 cases in the UK, with the majority younger than 6 years old. Using genomic, proteomic and immunohistochemical methods, we undertook extensive investigation of 28 cases and 136 control subjects. In five cases who underwent liver transplantation, we detected high levels of adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) in the explanted livers. AAV2 was also detected at high levels in blood from 10/11 non-transplanted cases. Low levels of Adenovirus (HAdV) and Human Herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B), both of which enable AAV2 lytic replication, were also found in the five explanted livers and blood from 15/17 and 6/9 respectively, of the 23 non-transplant cases tested. In contrast, AAV2 was detected at low titre in 6/100 whole bloods from child controls from cohorts with presence or absence of hepatitis and/or adenovirus infection. Our data show an association of AAV2 at high titre in blood or liver tissue, with unexplained hepatitis in children infected in the recent HAdV-F41 outbreak. We were unable to find evidence by electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry or proteomics of HAdV or AAV2 viral particles or proteins in explanted livers, suggesting that hepatic pathology is not due to direct lytic infection by either virus. The potential that AAV2, although not previously associated with disease, may, together with HAdV-F41 and/or HHV-6, be causally implicated in the outbreak of unexplained hepatitis, requires further investigation.
Project description:LEC rats are considered as interesting model for studying hepatitis and development of hepatocarcinogenesis related to copper accumulation and oxidative stress. LEC rats have a mutation in a gene related to liver copper excretion, the Atp7b gene. As a consequence, this rat strain shows an abnormal copper accumulation in the liver. This is believed to be the origin of the acute hepatitis and the subsequent hepatocellular carcinoma that spontaneously develop in these rats. Here, we present the gene expression profiles of LEC rats at different disease stages. LEC rats were classified as normal 6 weeks old (6w), normal 9 weeks old (9w), slight jaundice and jaundice according to age and disease state. D-penicillamine, a copper chelator agent, blocks both hepatitis and tumor development. D-penicillamine-trated LEC rats were used as control rats for gene expression comparison as they showed neither hepatitis development nor tumor marker expression. Gene expression differences in protein metabolism and tumor marker proteins add to the known oxidative stress and inflammation characterization of the hepatitis process, leading to new insights concerning hepatitis and hepatocarcinogenesis development. Keywords: disease state analysis 6 weeks old LEC rats, 6 rats per group, were sacrified at different hepatitis stages. Biochemical and histological analyses were performed in order to classify the rats into normal, slight jaundice or jaundice groups. D-penicillamine-treated LEC rats (100 mg/kg/day p.o.) were used as control rats since they behave as normal rats. Microarray analysis was performed on liver samples, one replicate per rat, using dyes swap.
Project description:LEC rats are considered as interesting model for studying hepatitis and development of hepatocarcinogenesis related to copper accumulation and oxidative stress. LEC rats have a mutation in a gene related to liver copper excretion, the Atp7b gene. As a consequence, this rat strain shows an abnormal copper accumulation in the liver. This is believed to be the origin of the acute hepatitis and the subsequent hepatocellular carcinoma that spontaneously develop in these rats. Here, we present the gene expression profiles of LEC rats at different disease stages. LEC rats were classified as normal 6 weeks old (6w), normal 9 weeks old (9w), slight jaundice and jaundice according to age and disease state. D-penicillamine, a copper chelator agent, blocks both hepatitis and tumor development. D-penicillamine-trated LEC rats were used as control rats for gene expression comparison as they showed neither hepatitis development nor tumor marker expression. Gene expression differences in protein metabolism and tumor marker proteins add to the known oxidative stress and inflammation characterization of the hepatitis process, leading to new insights concerning hepatitis and hepatocarcinogenesis development. Keywords: disease state analysis
Project description:Current diagnostic methods used to evaluate patients with pharyngitis for the presence of group A Streptococcus (GAS) do not discriminate between acute infection and asymptomatic carriage, potentially resulting in overuse of antibiotics. Host response as measured by the transcriptomic profile of peripheral blood leukocytes could make this distinction, and could also distinguish between GAS and viral infection. We used RNA sequencing to generate transcriptomes from whole blood samples from 37 children, including 10 with acute GAS pharyngitis, 5 asymptomatic GAS carriers, 3 with adenoviral pharyngitis, 3 with pharyngitis of unknown etiology, and 16 asymptomatic children negative for GAS. Transcriptional profiles from each group were distinct . 1357 genes were upregulated in the children with symptomatic GAS compared to those with asymptomatic carriage. A panel of 13 genes distinguished between children with acute GAS and all others with 91% accuracy. The gene encoding CD177, a marker of neutrophil activation, was markedly overexpressed in children with acute GAS and has potential as a diagnostic biomarker. We conclude that measurement of host response is highly promising to improve the diagnosis of GAS pharyngitis and could help limit unnecessary antibiotic use.