Recent work suggests that imprinted genes may regulate the signalling function of the placenta by modulating the size of the endocrine compartment. Our work provides in vivo evidence that this hypothesis is well founded.
The imprinted Phlda2 gene modulates a major endocrine compartment of the placenta to regulate placental demands for maternal resources.
Specimen part
View SamplesPrevious work has suggested that the imprinted gene Phlda2 regulates the signalling function of the placenta by modulating the size of the endocrine compartment. This study investigated the affect that Phlda2 mutant placenta has upon the brains of the wildtype dams carrying different placenta and consequently offspring.
Maternal care boosted by paternal imprinting in mammals.
Specimen part
View SamplesInterleukin-21 (IL-21) is a pleiotropic cytokine that induces expression of transcription factor BLIMP1 (encoded by Prdm1), which regulates plasma cell differentiation and T cell homeostasis. We identified an IL-21 response element downstream of Prdm1 that binds the transcription factors STAT3 and IRF4, which are required for optimal Prdm1 expression. Genome-wide ChIP-Seq mapping of STAT3- and IRF4-binding sites showed that most regions with IL-21-induced STAT3 binding also bound IRF4 in vivo, and furthermore, revealed that the noncanonical TTCnnnTAA GAS motif critical in Prdm1 was broadly used for STAT3 binding. Comparing genome-wide expression array data to binding sites revealed that most IL-21-regulated genes were associated with combined STAT3-IRF4 sites rather than pure STAT3 sites. Correspondingly, ChIP-Seq analysis of Irf4_/_ T cells showed greatly diminished STAT3 binding after IL-21 treatment, and Irf4_/_ mice showed impaired IL- 21-induced Tfh cell differentiation in vivo. These results reveal broad cooperative gene regulation by STAT3 and IRF4.
Analysis of interleukin-21-induced Prdm1 gene regulation reveals functional cooperation of STAT3 and IRF4 transcription factors.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe first T cells to arrive in the liver were mostly T regulatory (Treg) cells and metabolically active, highly proliferative T conventional (Tconv) cells. The Tconv cells had unusually high expression of PD-1 and the IL-33 receptor, ST2. As these PD-1+ Tconv cells accumulated in the tissue, they gradually lost their expression of ST2, ceased to proliferate and acquired an anergic phenotype. Overall design: Gene expression profiles of flow cytometry sorted DAPI negative CD45 positive TCRb positive CD4 positive Foxp3 negative cells from liver of 5- and 10-day-old B6.Aire-KO mice
T cell anergy in perinatal mice is promoted by T reg cells and prevented by IL-33.
Age, Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View SamplesThe use of low quality RNA samples in whole-genome gene expression profiling remains controversial. It is unclear if transcript degradation in low quality RNA samples occurs uniformly, in which case the effects of degradation can be normalized, or whether different transcripts are degraded at different rates, potentially biasing measurements of expression levels. This concern has rendered the use of low quality RNA samples in whole-genome expression profiling problematic. Yet, low quality samples are at times the sole means of addressing specific questions – e.g., samples collected in the course of fieldwork.
RNA-seq: impact of RNA degradation on transcript quantification.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe use of microbiological cultures for diagnosing bacterial infections in young febrile infants have substantial limitations, including false positive and false negative cultures, and non-ideal turn-around times. Analysis of host genomic expression patterns (RNA biosignatures) in response to the presence of specific pathogens, however, may provide an alternate and potentially improved diagnostic approach. This study was designed to define bacterial and non-bacterial RNA biosignatures to distinguish these infections in young febrile infants.
Association of RNA Biosignatures With Bacterial Infections in Febrile Infants Aged 60 Days or Younger.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Race
View SamplesWe have addressed the question of how different rodent species cope with the life-threatening homeostatic challenge of dehydration at the level of transcriptome modulation in the supraoptic nucleus (SON), a specialised hypothalamic neurosecretory apparatus responsible for the production of the antidiuretic peptide hormone arginine vasopressin (AVP). AVP maintains water balance by promoting water conservation at the level of the kidney. Dehydration evokes a massive increase in the regulated release of AVP from SON axon terminals located in the posterior pituitary, and this is accompanied by a plethora of changes in the morphology, electrophysiological properties, biosynthetic and secretory activity of this structure. Microarray analysis was used to generate a definitive catalogue of the genes expressed in the mouse SON, and to describe how the gene expression profile changes in response to dehydration. Comparison of the genes differentially expressed in the mouse SON as a consequence of dehydration with those of the rat has revealed many similarities, pointing to common processes underlying the function-related plasticity in this nucleus. In addition we have identified many genes that are differentially expressed in a species-specific manner. However, in many cases, we have found that the hyperosmotic cue can induce species-specific alterations in the expression of different genes in the same pathway. The same functional end can be served by different means, via differential modulation, in different species, of different molecules in the same pathway. We suggest that pathways, rather than specific genes, should be the focus of integrative physiological studies based on transcriptome data.
Hypothalamic transcriptome plasticity in two rodent species reveals divergent differential gene expression but conserved pathways.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesCue-directed axon guidance depends partly on local translation in growth cones. Many mRNA transcripts are known to reside in developing axons yet little is known about their subcellular distribution or, specifically, which transcripts are in growth cones.
Subcellular profiling reveals distinct and developmentally regulated repertoire of growth cone mRNAs.
Specimen part
View SamplesWe focused on RNA-seq-based full transcriptome responses to PtrSND1-B1 overexpression at 7, 12, and 25 h in stem defferentiating xylem (SDX) protoplasts Overall design: We transfected PtrSND1-B1 and sGFP into stem differentiating xylem protoplasts and performed RNA-seq to reveal the whole transcriptome.
SND1 transcription factor-directed quantitative functional hierarchical genetic regulatory network in wood formation in Populus trichocarpa.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesThe proper balance of excitatory and inhibitory neurons is crucial to normal processing of somatosensory information in the dorsal spinal cord. Two neural basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors, Ascl1 and Ptf1a, are essential for generating the correct number and sub-type of neurons in multiple regions of the nervous system. Â In the dorsal spinal cord, Ascl1 and Ptf1a have contrasting functions in specifying inhibitory versus excitatory neurons. To understand how Ascl1 and Ptf1a function in these processes, we identified their direct transcriptional targets genome-wide in the embryonic mouse neural tube using ChIP-Seq and RNA-Seq. We show that Ascl1 and Ptf1a regulate the specification of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the dorsal spinal cord through direct regulation of distinct homeodomain transcription factors known for their function in neuronal sub-type specification. Besides their roles in regulating these homeodomain factors, Ascl1 and Ptf1a each function differently during neuronal development with Ascl1 directly regulating genes with roles in several steps of the neurogenic program including, Notch signaling, neuronal differentiation, axon guidance, and synapse formation. In contrast, Ptf1a directly regulates genes encoding components of the neurotransmitter machinery in inhibitory neurons, and other later aspects of neural development distinct from those regulated by Ascl1. Moreover, Ptf1a represses the excitatory neuronal fate by directly repressing several targets of Ascl1. Examination of the Ascl1 and Ptf1a bound sequences shows they are enriched for a common E-Box with a GC core and with additional motifs used by Sox, Rfx, Pou, and Homeodomain factors. Ptf1a bound sequences are uniquely enriched in an E-Box with a GA/TC core and in the binding motif for its co-factor Rbpj, providing two keys to specificity of Ptf1a binding. The direct transcriptional targets identified for Ascl1 and Ptf1a provide a molecular understanding for how they function in neuronal development, particularly as key regulators of homeodomain transcription factors required for neuronal sub-type specification. Overall design: Examination of gene expression in Ascl1 and Ptf1a lineage cells in the developing neural tube.
A transcription factor network specifying inhibitory versus excitatory neurons in the dorsal spinal cord.
No sample metadata fields
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