In the present study, we studied chronic HCV patients who responded to IFN-based therapy as evidenced by absence of HCV RNA at the end of treatment, and focused on two issues that have not received much attention. Firstly, we evaluated whether specific genes or gene expression patterns in blood were able to distinguish responder patients with a viral relapse from responder patients who remained virus-negative after cessation of treatment. We found that chronic HCV patients who were sustained responders and relapsers to IFN-based therapy showed comparable baseline clinical parameters and immune composition in blood. However, at baseline, the gene expression profiles of a set of 18 genes predicted treatment outcome with an accuracy of 94%. Secondly, we examined whether patients with successful therapy-induced clearance of HCV still exhibited gene expression patterns characteristic for HCV, or whether normalization of their transcriptome was observed. We observed that the relatively high expression of IFN-stimulated genes (ISG) in chronic HCV patients prior to therapy was reduced after successful IFN-based antiviral therapy (at 24 weeks follow-up). These ISG included CXCL10, OAS1, IFI6, DDX60, TRIM5 and STAT1. In addition, 1428 differentially expressed non-ISG genes were identified in paired pre- and post-treatment samples from sustained responders, which included genes involved in TGF- signaling, apoptosis, autophagy, and nucleic acid and protein metabolism. Interestingly, 1424 genes were identified with altered expression in responder patients after viral eradication in comparison to normal expression levels in healthy individuals. Additionally, aberrant expression of a subset of these genes, including IL-32, IL-16, CCND3 and RASSF1, was also observed at baseline. Our findings indicate that successful antiviral therapy of chronic HCV patients does not lead to normalization of their blood transcriptional signature. The altered transcriptional activity may reflect HCV-induced liver damage in previously infected individuals.
Gene expression profiling to predict and assess the consequences of therapy-induced virus eradication in chronic hepatitis C virus infection.
Sex, Specimen part, Disease, Race
View SamplesConsider the problem of designing a panel of complex biomarkers to predict a patient's health or disease state when one can pair his or her current test sample, called a target sample, with the patient's previously acquired healthy sample, called a reference sample. As contrasted to a population averaged reference, this reference sample is individualized. Automated predictor algorithms that compare and contrast the paired samples to each other could result in a new generation of test panels that compare to a person's healthy reference to enhance predictive accuracy. This study develops such an individualized predictor and illustrates the added value of including the healthy reference for design of predictive gene expression panels. The objective is to predict each subject's state of infection, e.g., neither exposed nor infected, exposed but not infected, pre-acute phase of infection, acute phase of infection, post-acute phase of infection. Using gene microarray data collected in a large-scale serially sampled respiratory virus challenge study, we quantify the diagnostic advantage of pairing a person's baseline reference with his or her target sample.
An individualized predictor of health and disease using paired reference and target samples.
Specimen part, Subject, Time
View SamplesThe transcriptional responses of human hosts towards influenza viral pathogens are important for understanding virus-mediated immunopathology. Despite great advances gained through studies using model organisms, the complete temporal host transcriptional responses in a natural human system are poorly understood. In a human challenge study using live influenza (H3N2/Wisconsin) viruses, we conducted a clinically uninformed (unsupervised) factor analysis on gene expression profiles and established an ab initio molecular signature that strongly correlates to symptomatic clinical disease. This is followed by the identification of 42 biomarkers whose expression patterns best differentiate early from late phases of infection. In parallel, a clinically informed (supervised) analysis revealed over-stimulation of multiple viral sensing pathways in symptomatic hosts and linked their temporal trajectory with development of diverse clinical signs and symptoms. The resultant inflammatory cytokine profiles were shown to contribute to the pathogenesis because their significant increase preceded disease manifestation by 36 hours. In subclinical asymptomatic hosts, we discovered strong transcriptional regulation of genes involved in inflammasome activation, genes encoding virus interacting proteins, and evidence of active anti-oxidant and cell-mediated innate immune response. Taken together, our findings offer insights into influenza virus-induced pathogenesis and provide a valuable tool for disease monitoring and management in natural environments.
Temporal dynamics of host molecular responses differentiate symptomatic and asymptomatic influenza a infection.
Specimen part
View SamplesDiagnosis of acute respiratory viral infection is currentlybased on clinical symptoms and pathogen detection. Use of host peripheral blood gene expression data to classify individuals with viral respiratory infection represents a novel means of infection diagnosis.
Gene expression signatures diagnose influenza and other symptomatic respiratory viral infections in humans.
Subject, Time
View SamplesDiagnosis of influenza A infection is currently based on clinical symptoms and pathogen detection. Use of host peripheral blood gene expression data to classify individuals with influenza A virus infection represents a novel approach to infection diagnosis
A host transcriptional signature for presymptomatic detection of infection in humans exposed to influenza H1N1 or H3N2.
Specimen part, Subject, Time
View SamplesStaphylococcus aureus causes a spectrum of human infection. Diagnostic delays and uncertainty lead to treatment delays and inappropriate antibiotic use. A growing literature suggests the hosts inflammatory response to the pathogen represents a potential tool to improve upon current diagnostics. The hypothesis of this study is that the host responds differently to S. aureus than to E. coli infection in a quantifiable way, providing a new diagnostic avenue. This study uses Bayesian sparse factor modeling and penalized binary regression to define peripheral blood gene-expression classifiers of murine and human S. aureus infection. The murine-derived classifier distinguished S. aureus infection from healthy controls and Escherichia coli-infected mice across a range of conditions (mouse and bacterial strain, time post infection) and was validated in outbred mice (AUC>0.97). A S. aureus classifier derived from a cohort of 95 human subjects distinguished S. aureus blood stream infection (BSI) from healthy subjects (AUC 0.99) and E. coli BSI (AUC 0.82). Murine and human responses to S. aureus infection share common biological pathways, allowing the murine model to classify S. aureus BSI in humans (AUC 0.84). Both murine and human S. aureus classifiers were validated in an independent human cohort (AUC 0.95 and 0.94, respectively). The approach described here lends insight into the conserved and disparate pathways utilized by mice and humans in response to these infections. Furthermore, this study advances our understanding of S. aureus infection; the host response to it; and identifies new diagnostic and therapeutic avenues.
Gene expression-based classifiers identify Staphylococcus aureus infection in mice and humans.
Race
View SamplesA pressing clinical challenge is identifying the etiologic basis of acute respiratory illness. Without reliable diagnostics, the uncertainty associated with this clinical entity leads to a significant, inappropriate use of antibacterials. Use of host peripheral blood gene expression data to classify individuals with bacterial infection, viral infection, or non-infection represents a complementary diagnostic approach.
Host gene expression classifiers diagnose acute respiratory illness etiology.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Distinct signal transduction pathways downstream of the (P)RR revealed by microarray and ChIP-chip analyses.
Cell line
View SamplesWithin the overall project, we performed a set of microarray and chromatin-immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-chip experiments using siRNA against the (pro)renin receptor ((P)RR), stable overexpression of PLZF, the PLZF translocation inhibitor genistein and the specific V-ATPase inhibitor bafilomycin to dissect transcriptional pathways downstream of the (P)RR.
Distinct signal transduction pathways downstream of the (P)RR revealed by microarray and ChIP-chip analyses.
Cell line
View SamplesWithin the overall project, we performed a set of microarray and chromatin-immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-chip experiments using siRNA against the (pro)renin receptor ((P)RR), stable overexpression of PLZF, the PLZF translocation inhibitor genistein and the specific V-ATPase inhibitor bafilomycin to dissect transcriptional pathways downstream of the (P)RR.
Distinct signal transduction pathways downstream of the (P)RR revealed by microarray and ChIP-chip analyses.
Cell line
View Samples