SWP73 subunits of SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes (CRCs) are involved in key developmental pathways in Arabidopsis. We found, using microarray that inactivation of SWP73B caused altered expression of genes belonging to various regulatory pathways, including leaf and flower development. On the basis of this experiment and our other data we concluded that SWP73B modulates major developmental pathways.
SWP73 Subunits of Arabidopsis SWI/SNF Chromatin Remodeling Complexes Play Distinct Roles in Leaf and Flower Development.
Specimen part
View SamplesNeutrophil recruitment is pivotal to host defense against microbial infection, but also contributes to the immunopathology of disease. We investigated the mechanism of neutrophil recruitment in human infectious disease by bioinformatic pathways analysis of the gene expression profiles in the skin lesions of leprosy. In erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL), which occurs in patients with lepromatous leprosy (L-lep), and is characterized by neutrophil infiltration in lesions, the most overrepresented biologic functional group was 'cell movement' including E-selectin, which was coordinately regulated with IL-1beta. In vitro activation of TLR2, upregulated in ENL lesions, triggered induction of IL-1beta, which together with IFN-gamma, induced E-selectin expression on, and neutrophil adhesion to endothelial cells. Thalidomide, an effective treatment for ENL, inhibited this neutrophil recruitment pathway. The gene expression profile of ENL lesions comprised an integrated pathway of TLR2/FcR activation, neutrophil migration and inflammation, providing insight into mechanisms of neutrophil recruitment in human infectious disease.
Integrated pathways for neutrophil recruitment and inflammation in leprosy.
Specimen part
View SamplesFibrogenic processes instigate fatal chronic diseases leading to organ failure and death. Underlying biological processes involve induced massive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) by aberrant fibroblasts. We subjected diseased primary human lung fibroblasts to an advanced 3D phenotypic high-content assay and screened a library of FDA/EMA approved small molecules for inhibiting ECM deposition. Fibrotic Pattern Detection by Artificial Intelligence (FANTAIL) identified Tranilast as an effective inhibitor, however, by structure-activity relationship studies we found N-(2-butoxyphenyl)-3-(phenyl)acrylamides (N23Ps) as a novel and highly potent compound class. N23Ps suppressed myofibroblast transdifferentiation, ECM deposition, cellular contractility, and altered cell shapes, thus advocating a unique mode of action. Mechanistically, transcriptomics identified SMAD (de)ubiquitination/Smurf2 as a potential therapeutic target network. Antifibrotic activity of N23Ps was verified by proteomics in a human ex vivo tissue fibrosis disease model, suppressing profibrotic markers SERPINE1/PAI1 and CXCL8/IL8. Conclusively, these data suggest N23Ps as a novel class of highly potent compounds with implications for inhibiting organ fibrosis in patients.
Phenotypic drug screening in a human fibrosis model identified a novel class of antifibrotic therapeutics.
Specimen part, Treatment
View Sampleshuman blood monocytes were isolated, activated and harvested at several timepoints
NOD2 triggers an interleukin-32-dependent human dendritic cell program in leprosy.
Specimen part
View SamplesTranscriptome profiles for innate and adaptive immune stimuli important for host response against mycobacteria. Human monocyte-derived macrophages were stimulated with TLR2/1 ligand and interferon-g, stimuli present during innate and adaptive immune responses, respectively. Overall design: Human monocyte-dervided macrophages from five healthy donors were stimulated with TLR2/1L, IFN-g, or media control for 2, 6, and 24 hours. RNA-sequencing was performed on a total of 45 samples.
S100A12 Is Part of the Antimicrobial Network against Mycobacterium leprae in Human Macrophages.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesEffective innate immunity against many microbial pathogens requires macrophage programs that upregulate phagocytosis and direct antimicrobial pathways, two functions generally assumed to be coordinately regulated. Here the regulation of these key functions was investigated in human blood-derived macrophages. IL-10 induced the phagocytic pathway, including CD209 and scavenger receptors, resulting in phagocytosis of mycobacteria and oxLDL. IL-15 induced the vitamin D-dependent antimicrobial pathway and CD209, yet the cells were less phagocytic. The differential regulation of macrophage functional programs was confirmed by analysis of the spectrum of leprosy lesions: the macrophage phagocytosis pathway was prominent in the clinically progressive, multibacillary form, whereas the vitamin D-dependent antimicrobial pathway predominated in the self-limited form of the disease and in patients undergoing reversal reactions from the multibacillary to the self-limited form. These data indicate that macrophage programs for phagocytosis and antimicrobial responses are distinct and differentially regulated in innate immunity in bacterial infections.
Divergence of macrophage phagocytic and antimicrobial programs in leprosy.
Specimen part
View SamplesWe studied the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of the HDAC inhibitor Givinostat/ITF2357 in BCP-ALL with CRLF2 rearrangements. We used BCP-ALL CRLF2- rearranged MHH-CALL4 and MUTZ5 cell lines as well as blasts from CRLF2 rearranged BCP-ALL patients and patients derived xenograft samples. We conclude that Givinostat may represent a novel and effective tool, in combination with current chemotherapy, to treat this subsets of ALL with poor prognosis and chemotherapy-related toxicity.
The histone deacetylase inhibitor givinostat (ITF2357) exhibits potent anti-tumor activity against CRLF2-rearranged BCP-ALL.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesTranscriptome profiles derived from the site of human disease has led to the identification of genes that contribute to pathogenesis, yet the complex mixture of cell types in these lesions has been an obstacle for defining specific mechanisms. Leprosy provides an outstanding model to study host defense and pathogenesis in a human infectious disease, given its clinical spectrum which interrelates with the host immunologic and pathologic responses. Here, we investigated gene expression profiles derived from skin lesions for each clinical subtype of leprosy, analyzing gene co-expression modules by cell type deconvolution. In lesions from tuberculoid leprosy patients, those with the self-limited form of the disease, dendritic cells were linked with MMP12 as part of a tissue remodeling network that contributes to granuloma formation. In lesions from lepromatous leprosy patients, those with disseminated disease, macrophages were linked with a gene network that programs phagocytosis. In erythema nodosum leprosum, neutrophil and endothelial cell gene networks were identified as part of the vasculitis that results in tissue injury. The present integrated computational approach provides a systems approach towards identifying cell-defined functional networks that contribute to host defense and immunopathology at the site of human infectious disease.
Cell-type deconvolution with immune pathways identifies gene networks of host defense and immunopathology in leprosy.
Specimen part, Disease
View SamplesThe immune mechanisms that control resistance vs. susceptibility to mycobacterial infection in humans were investigated by studying leprosy skin lesions, the site where the battle between the host and the pathogen is joined. Using an integrative genomics approach, we found an inverse correlation between of IFN-beta and IFN-gamma gene expression programs at the site of disease. The Type II IFN, IFN-gamma and its downstream vitamin D-dependent antimicrobial genes were preferentially expressed in the lesions from patients with the self-healing tuberculoid form of the disease and mediated antimicrobial activity against the pathogen, Mycobacterium leprae in vitro. In contrast, the Type I IFN, IFN-beta and its downstream genes, including IL-27 and IL-10, were induced in monocytes by M. leprae in vitro, and were preferentially expressed in the lesions of disseminated and progressive lepromatous form. The IFN-gamma induced macrophage antimicrobial response was inhibited by IFN-beta/IL-10, by a mechanism involving blocking the generation of bioactive 1,25-dihyroxy vitamin D as well as inhibiting induction of antimicrobial peptides cathelicidin and DEFB4. The ability of IFN-B to inhibit the IFN-gamma induced vitamin D pathway including antimicrobial activity was reversed by neutralization of IL-10, suggesting a possible target for therapeutic intervention. Finally, a common IFN-beta and IL-10 gene signature was identified in both the skin lesions of leprosy patients and in the peripheral blood of active tuberculosis patients. Together these data suggest that the ability of IFN-beta to downregulate protective IFN-gamma responses provides one general mechanism by which some bacterial pathogens of humans evade protective host responses and contribute to pathogenesis.
Type I interferon suppresses type II interferon-triggered human anti-mycobacterial responses.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesChromosomal instability in early cancer stages is caused by stress on DNA replication. The molecular basis for replication perturbation in this context is currently unknown. We studied the replication dynamics in cells in which a regulator of S-phase entry and cell proliferation, the Rb-E2F pathway, is aberrantly activated. Aberrant activation of this pathway by HPV-16 E6/E7 or cyclin E oncogenes, significantly decreased the cellular nucleotide levels in the newly transformed cells. Exogenously supplied nucleosides rescued the replication stress and DNA damage, and dramatically decreased oncogene-induced transformation. Increased transcription of nucleotide biosynthesis genes, mediated by expressing the transcription factor c-Myc, increased the nucleotide pool and also rescued the replication-induced DNA damage. Our results suggest a model for early oncogenesis in which uncoordinated activation of factors regulating cell proliferation leads to insufficient nucleotides that fail to support normal replication and genome stability.
Nucleotide deficiency promotes genomic instability in early stages of cancer development.
Sex, Specimen part
View Samples