Remodeling of chromatin accessibility is necessary for successful reprogramming of fibroblasts to neurons. However, it is still not fully known which transcription factors can induce a neuronal chromatin accessibility profile when overexpressed in fibroblasts. To identify such transcription factors, we here used ATAC-sequencing to generate differential chromatin accessibility profiles between human fibroblasts and iNeurons, an in vitro neuronal model system obtained by overexpression of Neurog2 in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We found that the ONECUT transcription factor sequence motif was strongly associated with differential chromatin accessibility between iNeurons and fibroblasts. All three ONECUT transcription factors associated with this motif (ONECUT1, ONECUT2 and ONECUT3) induced neuronal morphology and expression of neuronal genes within two days of overexpression in fibroblasts. We observed widespread remodeling of chromatin accessibility; in particular, we found that chromatin regions that contain the ONECUT motif were in- or lowly accessible in fibroblasts and became accessible after the overexpression of ONECUT1, ONECUT2 or ONECUT3. There was substantial overlap with iNeurons, still, many regions that gained accessibility following ONECUT overexpression were not accessible in iNeurons. Our study highlights the potential of ONECUT transcription factors for direct neuronal reprogramming. Overall design: Each RNA-Seq experiment was performed in duplicate (library constructed from different wells of the same cell line in the same cell culture experiment). Bclxl controls were generated for the overexpression. experiments.
ONECUT transcription factors induce neuronal characteristics and remodel chromatin accessibility.
Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View SamplesPseudomonas fluorescens strain SS101 (Pf.SS101) promotes growth of Arabidopsis thaliana, enhances greening and lateral root formation, and induces systemic resistance (ISR) against the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst). Here, targeted and untargeted approaches were adopted to identify bacterial determinants and underlying mechanisms involved in plant growth promotion and ISR by Pf.SS101. Based on targeted analyses, no evidence was found for volatiles, lipopeptides and siderophores in plant growth promotion by Pf.SS101. Untargeted, genome-wide analyses of 7,488 random transposon mutants of Pf.SS101 led to the identification of 21 mutants defective in both plant growth promotion and ISR. Many of these mutants, however, were auxotrophic and impaired in root colonization. Genetic analysis of three mutants followed by site-directed mutagenesis, genetic complementation and plant bioassays revealed the involvement of the phosphogluconate dehydratase gene edd, the response regulator gene colR and the adenylsulfate reductase gene cysH in both plant growth promotion and ISR. Subsequent comparative plant transcriptomics analyses strongly suggest that modulation of sulfur assimilation, auxin biosynthesis and transport, steroid biosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism in Arabidopsis are key mechanisms linked to growth promotion and ISR by Pf.SS101.
Genome-wide analysis of bacterial determinants of plant growth promotion and induced systemic resistance by Pseudomonas fluorescens.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesRationale: Monitoring and controlling cardiomyocyte activity with optogenetic tools offers exciting possibilities for fundamental and translational cardiovascular research. Genetically encoded voltage indicators may be particularly attractive for minimal invasive and repeated assessments of cardiac excitation from the cellular to the whole heart level. Objective: To test the hypothesis that cardiomyocyte-targeted voltage-sensitive fluorescence protein 2.3 (VSFP2.3) can be exploited as optogenetic tool for the monitoring of electrical activity in isolated cardiomyocytes and the whole heart as well as function and maturity in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes. Methods and Results: We first generated mice with cardiomyocyte-restricted expression of VSFP2.3 and demonstrated distinct sarcolemmal localization of VSFP2.3 without any signs for associated pathologies (assessed by echocardiography). Optically recorded VSFP2.3 signals correlated well with membrane voltage measured simultaneously by patch-clamping. The utility of VSFP2.3 for human action potential recordings was confirmed by simulation of immature and mature action potentials in murine VSFP2.3 cardiomyocytes. Optical cardiograms (OCGs) could be monitored in whole hearts ex vivo and minimally invasively in vivo via fiber optics at physiological heart rate (10 Hz) and under pacing-induced arrhythmia. Finally, we reprogrammed tail-tip fibroblasts from transgenic mice and used the VSFP2.3 sensor for benchmarking functional and structural maturation in iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes. Conclusions: We introduce a novel transgenic voltage-sensor model as a new method in cardiovascular research and provide proof-of-concept for its utility in optogenetic sensing of physiological and pathological excitation in mature and immature cardiomyocytes in vitro and in vivo. Overall design: Determination of transgene (VSFP2.3) cardiotoxicity
Sensing Cardiac Electrical Activity With a Cardiac Myocyte--Targeted Optogenetic Voltage Indicator.
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View SamplesComparative microarray-based transcriptome analysis of A. thaliana mlo2 mlo6 mlo12 mutants and wild type plants upon Golovinomyces orontii inoculation revealed an increased and accelerated accumulation of many defense-related transcripts. Despite the biotrophic nature of the interaction, this included the non-canonical activation of a jasmonic acid/ethylene-dependent transcriptional program.
Key Components of Different Plant Defense Pathways Are Dispensable for Powdery Mildew Resistance of the Arabidopsis <i>mlo2 mlo6 mlo12</i> Triple Mutant.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesAlmost a quarter of pediatric patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) suffer from relapses. The biological mechanisms underlying therapy response and development of relapses have remained unclear. In an attempt to better understand this phenomenon, we have analyzed 41 matched diagnosis relapse pairs of ALL patients using genomewide expression arrays (82 arrays) on purified leukemic cells. In roughly half of the patients very few differences between diagnosis and relapse samples were found (stable group), suggesting that mostly extra-leukemic factors (e.g., drug distribution, drug metabolism, compliance) contributed to the relapse. Therefore, we focused our further analysis on 20 samples with clear differences in gene expression (skewed group), reasoning that these would allow us to better study the biological mechanisms underlying relapsed ALL. After finding the differences between diagnosis and relapse pairs in this group, we identified four major gene clusters corresponding to several pathways associated with changes in cell cycle, DNA replication, recombination and repair, as well as B cell developmental genes. We also identified cancer genes commonly associated with colon carcinomas and ubiquitination to be upregulated in relapsed ALL. Thus, about half of relapses are due to selection or emergence of a clone with deregulated expression of a genes involved in pathways that regulate B cell signaling, development, cell cycle, cellular division and replication.
Genome-wide expression analysis of paired diagnosis-relapse samples in ALL indicates involvement of pathways related to DNA replication, cell cycle and DNA repair, independent of immune phenotype.
Sex, Specimen part, Disease
View SamplesBackground and Purpose—Analyzing genes involved in development and rupture of intracranial aneurysms can enhance knowledge about the pathogenesis of aneurysms, and identify new treatment strategies. We compared gene expression between ruptured and unruptured aneurysms and control intracranial arteries. Methods—We determined expression levels with RNA sequencing. Applying a multivariate negative binomial model, we identified genes that were differentially expressed between 44 aneurysms and 16 control arteries, and between 22 ruptured and 21 unruptured aneurysms. The differential expression of 8 relevant and highly significant genes was validated using digital polymerase chain reaction. Pathway analysis was used to identify enriched pathways. We also analyzed genes with an extreme pattern of differential expression: only expressed in 1 condition without any expression in the other. Results—We found 229 differentially expressed genes in aneurysms versus controls and 1489 in ruptured versus unruptured aneurysms. The differential expression of all 8 genes selected for digital polymerase chain reaction validation was confirmed. Extracellular matrix pathways were enriched in aneurysms versus controls, whereas pathways involved in immune response and the lysosome pathway were enriched in ruptured versus unruptured aneurysms. Immunoglobulin genes were expressed in aneurysms, but showed no expression in controls. Conclusions—For rupture of intracranial aneurysms, we identified the lysosome pathway as a new pathway and found further evidence for the role of the immune response. Our results also point toward a role for immunoglobulins in the pathogenesis of aneurysms. Immune-modifying drugs are, therefore, interesting candidate treatment strategies in the prevention of aneurysm development and rupture. Overall design: RNA sequencing of 44 intracranial aneurysm samples (including 21 unruptured, 22 ruptured and 1 undetermined) and 16 control samples of the intracranial cortical artery
RNA Sequencing Analysis of Intracranial Aneurysm Walls Reveals Involvement of Lysosomes and Immunoglobulins in Rupture.
Sex, Age, Subject
View SamplesColon cancer is a major cause of cancer deaths in Western countries and is associated with diets high in red meat. Heme, the iron-porphyrin pigment of red meat, induces cytotoxicity of gut contents which injures surface cells leading to compensatory hyperproliferation of crypt cells. This hyperproliferation results in epithelial hyperplasia which increases the risk of colon cancer. In humans, a high red-meat diet increases Bacteroides spp in feces. Therefore, we simultaneously investigated the effects of dietary heme on colonic microbiota and on the host mucosa of mice. Whole genome microarrays showed that heme injured the colonic surface epithelium and induced hyperproliferation by changing the surface to crypt signaling. Using 16S rRNA phylogenetic microarrays, we investigated whether bacteria play a role in this changed signaling. Heme increased Bacteroidetes and decreased Firmicutes in colonic contents. This shift was most likely caused by a selective susceptibility of Gram-positive bacteria to heme cytotoxic fecal water, which is not observed for Gram-negative bacteria, allowing expansion of the Gram-negative community. The increased amount of Gram-negative bacteria most probably increased LPS exposure to colonocytes, however, there is no appreciable immune response detected in the heme-fed mice. There was no functional change in the sensing of the bacteria by the mucosa, as changes in inflammation pathways and Toll- like receptor signaling were not detected. This unaltered host-microbe cross-talk indicates that the changes in microbiota did not play a causal role in the observed hyperproliferation and hyperplasia.
Dietary heme alters microbiota and mucosa of mouse colon without functional changes in host-microbe cross-talk.
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View SamplesPreviously, we showed that dietary heme injured the colonic surface epithelium and induced hyperproliferation by changing the surface to crypt signaling. In this study we investigated whether bacteria play a role in this changed signaling. Dietary heme increased the Bacteroidetes and decreased the Firmicutes in colonic content. This shift was caused by a selective susceptibility of Gram-positive bacteria to the heme cytotoxic fecal waters, which is not observed for Gram-negative bacteria allowing expansion of the Gram-negative community. The increased amount of Gram-negative bacteria increased LPS exposure to colonocytes, however, there is no appreciable immune response detected in the heme-fed mice. There were no signs of sensing of the bacteria by the mucosa, as changes in TLR signaling were not present. This lack of microbe-host cross talk indicated that the changes in microbiota do not play a causal role in the heme-induced hyperproliferation.
Dietary heme alters microbiota and mucosa of mouse colon without functional changes in host-microbe cross-talk.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesIn order to understand the molecular mechanism behind Vulvar Intraepithelial Neoplasia (VIN), we have analyzed the gene expression profile of VIN lesions in comparison to controls.
HPV related VIN: highly proliferative and diminished responsiveness to extracellular signals.
Sex
View SamplesOculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) is a late-onset progressive muscle disorder caused by a poly-alanine expansion mutation in PABPN1. The hallmark of OPMD is the accumulation of the mutant protein in insoluble nuclear inclusions. The molecular mechanisms associated with disease onset and progression are unknown. We performed a high-throughput cross-species transcriptome study of affected muscles from two OPMD animal models and from patients at pre-symptomatic and symptomatic stages. The most consistently and significantly OPMD-deregulated pathway across species is the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). By analyzing expression profiles, we found that the majority of OPMD-deregulated genes are age-associated. Based on expression trends, disease onset can be separated from progression; the expression profiles of the proteasome-encoding genes are associated with onset but not with progression. In a muscle cell model, proteasome inhibition and the stimulation of immunoproteasome specifically affect the accumulation and aggregation of mutant PABPN1. We suggest that proteasome down-regulation during muscle aging triggers the accumulation of expPABPN1 that in turn enhances proteasome deregulation and leads to intranuclear inclusions (INI) formation.
Deregulation of the ubiquitin-proteasome system is the predominant molecular pathology in OPMD animal models and patients.
Sex, Age, Disease, Disease stage
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