Transcriptional profiling of Rickettsia prowazekii coding and non-coding transcripts during in vitro host-pathogen and vector-pathogen interactions

Background: In Saudi Arabia, the incidence and mortality rates of breast cancer are high. Although current treatments are effective, breast cancer cells develop resistance to these treatments. Numerous studies have demonstrated that active compounds in plant extracts, such as the phenolic compound Rosmarinic Acid (RA), exert anti-cancer effects. Objective: We investigated the anticancer properties of methanolic crude extracts of seedlings and calli of Rosmarinus officinalis and Coleus hybridus, two Lamiaceae species. Methods: MCF-7 human breast cancer cells were treated with methanolic crude extracts obtained from plant calli and seedlings generated in vitro, and cell proliferation was evaluated. Transcriptional profiling of the seedling and callus tissues was also conducted. Results: The mRNA expression levels of RA genes were higher in C. hybridus seedlings than in R. officinalis seedlings, as well as in C. hybridus calli than in R. officinalis calli, except for TAT and C4H. In addition, seedling and callus extracts of both R. officinalis and C. hybridus showed anti-proliferative effects against MCF-7 cells after 24 or 48 h of treatment. Discussion: At a low concentration of 10 μg/mL, C. hybridus calli and seedling extracts showed the most significant anti-proliferative effects after 24 and 48 h of exposure (p < 0.01); controls (doxorubicin) also showed significant inhibition, but lesser than that observed with C. hybridus (p < 0.05). Results with R. officinalis callus and seedling extracts did not significantly differ from those with untreated cells. Conclusion: Methanolic extracts of R. officinalis and C. hybridus are potentially valuable options for breast cancer treatment.

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Elevated expression of the adhesion GPCR ADGRL4/ELTD1 promotes endothelial sprouting angiogenesis without activating canonical GPCR signalling

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-85408-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

David M. Favara ◽

Ines Liebscher ◽

Ali Jazayeri ◽

Madhulika Nambiar ◽

Helen Sheldon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Transcriptional Profiling ◽

Gc Content ◽

Luciferase Reporter ◽

Cell Phenotype ◽

Beta Catenin ◽

Sprouting Angiogenesis ◽

Proteolytic Site ◽

Elevated Expression ◽

Adhesion Gpcr

AbstractADGRL4/ELTD1 is an orphan adhesion GPCR (aGPCR) expressed in endothelial cells that regulates tumour angiogenesis. The majority of aGPCRs are orphan receptors. The Stachel Hypothesis proposes a mechanism for aGPCR activation, in which aGPCRs contain a tethered agonist (termed Stachel) C-terminal to the GPCR-proteolytic site (GPS) cleavage point which, when exposed, initiates canonical GPCR signalling. This has been shown in a growing number of aGPCRs. We tested this hypothesis on ADGRL4/ELTD1 by designing full length (FL) and C-terminal fragment (CTF) ADGRL4/ELTD1 constructs, and a range of potential Stachel peptides. Constructs were transfected into HEK293T cells and HTRF FRET, luciferase-reporter and Alphascreen GPCR signalling assays were performed. A stable ADGRL4/ELTD1 overexpressing HUVEC line was additionally generated and angiogenesis assays, signalling assays and transcriptional profiling were performed. ADGRL4/ELTD1 has the lowest GC content in the aGPCR family and codon optimisation significantly increased its expression. FL and CTF ADGRL4/ELTD1 constructs, as well as Stachel peptides, did not activate canonical GPCR signalling. Furthermore, stable overexpression of ADGRL4/ELTD1 in HUVECs induced sprouting angiogenesis, lowered in vitro anastomoses, and decreased proliferation, without activating canonical GPCR signalling or MAPK/ERK, PI3K/AKT, JNK, JAK/HIF-1α, beta catenin or STAT3 pathways. Overexpression upregulated ANTXR1, SLC39A6, HBB, CHRNA, ELMOD1, JAG1 and downregulated DLL4, KIT, CCL15, CYP26B1. ADGRL4/ELTD1 specifically regulates the endothelial tip-cell phenotype through yet undefined signalling pathways.

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Transcriptional Profiling of Porcine Blastocysts Produced In Vitro in a Chemically Defined Culture Medium

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11051414 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 1414

Author(s):

Josep M. Cambra ◽

Emilio A. Martinez ◽

Heriberto Rodriguez-Martinez ◽

Maria A. Gil ◽

Cristina Cuello

Keyword(s):

Culture Medium ◽

Embryo Quality ◽

Transcriptional Profiling ◽

Defined Medium ◽

Platelet Factor ◽

Defined Media ◽

Defined Culture ◽

The Impact

The development of chemically defined media is a growing trend in in vitro embryo production (IVP). Recently, traditional undefined culture medium with bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been successfully replaced by a chemically defined medium using substances with embryotrophic properties such as platelet factor 4 (PF4). Although the use of this medium sustains IVP, the impact of defined media on the embryonic transcriptome has not been fully elucidated. This study analyzed the transcriptome of porcine IVP blastocysts, cultured in defined (PF4 group) and undefined media (BSA group) by microarrays. In vivo-derived blastocysts (IVV group) were used as a standard of maximum embryo quality. The results showed no differentially expressed genes (DEG) between the PF4 and BSA groups. However, a total of 2780 and 2577 DEGs were detected when comparing the PF4 or the BSA group with the IVV group, respectively. Most of these genes were common in both in vitro groups (2132) and present in some enriched pathways, such as cell cycle, lysosome and/or metabolic pathways. These results show that IVP conditions strongly affect embryo transcriptome and that the defined culture medium with PF4 is a guaranteed replacement for traditional culture with BSA.

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Functional regeneration and repair of tendons using biomimetic scaffolds loaded with recombinant periostin

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-21545-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yu Wang ◽

Shanshan Jin ◽

Dan Luo ◽

Danqing He ◽

Chunyan Shi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Progenitor Cell ◽

Transcriptional Profiling ◽

Collagen Scaffold ◽

Defect Model ◽

Tendon Regeneration ◽

Biomimetic Scaffolds ◽

Functional Regeneration

AbstractTendon injuries disrupt the balance between stability and mobility, causing compromised functions and disabilities. The regeneration of mature, functional tendons remains a clinical challenge. Here, we perform transcriptional profiling of tendon developmental processes to show that the extracellular matrix-associated protein periostin (Postn) contributes to the maintenance of tendon stem/progenitor cell (TSPC) functions and promotes tendon regeneration. We show that recombinant periostin (rPOSTN) promotes the proliferation and stemness of TSPCs, and maintains the tenogenic potentials of TSPCs in vitro. We also find that rPOSTN protects TSPCs against functional impairment during long-term passage in vitro. For in vivo tendon formation, we construct a biomimetic parallel-aligned collagen scaffold to facilitate TSPC tenogenesis. Using a rat full-cut Achilles tendon defect model, we demonstrate that scaffolds loaded with rPOSTN promote endogenous TSPC recruitment, tendon regeneration and repair with native-like hierarchically organized collagen fibers. Moreover, newly regenerated tendons show recovery of mechanical properties and locomotion functions.

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Drug resistant gut bacteria mimic a host mechanism for anticancer drug clearance

10.1101/820084 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Peter Spanogiannopoulos ◽

Patrick H. Bradley ◽

Jonathan Melamed ◽

Ysabella Noelle Amora Malig ◽

Kathy N. Lam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mammalian Cells ◽

Drug Disposition ◽

Transcriptional Profiling ◽

Drug Efficacy ◽

Drug Clearance ◽

Gut Bacteria ◽

Resistant Bacteria ◽

Drug Resistant ◽

Bacterial Strains

Microbiome surveys indicate that pharmaceuticals are the top predictor of inter-individual variations in gut microbial community structure1, consistent with in vitro evidence that non-antibiotic (i.e. host-targeted) drugs inhibit gut bacterial growth2and are subject to extensive metabolism by the gut microbiome3,4. In oncology, bacterial metabolism has been implicated in both drug efficacy5,6and toxicity7,8; however, the degree to which bacterial sensitivity and metabolism can be driven by conserved pathways also found in mammalian cells remains poorly understood. Here, we show that anticancer fluoropyrimidine drugs broadly inhibit the growth of diverse gut bacterial strains. Media supplementation, transcriptional profiling (RNA-seq), and bacterial genetics implicated pyrimidine metabolism as a key target in bacteria, as in mammalian cells. Drug resistant bacteria metabolized 5FU to its inactive metabolite dihydrofluorouracil (DHFU) mimicking the major host pathway for drug clearance. Functional orthologs of the bacterial operon responsible (preTA) are widespread across human gut bacteria from the Firmicutes and Proteobacteria phyla. The observed conservation of both the targets and pathways for metabolism of therapeutics across domains highlights the need to distinguish the relative contributions of human and microbial cells to drug disposition9, efficacy, and side effect profiles.

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Host Pathogen responses of chicken cells in vitro and in vivo to a diverse population of Campylobacter strains

10.23889/suthesis.50200 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel A. John

Keyword(s):

Diverse Population ◽

Host Pathogen

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Defining dysfunction due to loss of MECP2 in Rett Patient Brain

10.1101/2021.08.24.457297 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

E Korsakova ◽

A Morales ◽

T McDaniel ◽

A Lund ◽

B Cooper ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rett Syndrome ◽

Metabolic Pathways ◽

Transcriptional Profiling ◽

Childhood Development ◽

Wild Type ◽

Aberrant Expression ◽

Metabolic Genes ◽

Female Brain ◽

Response To Stress

AbstractRett Syndrome is characterized by a postnatal loss of neurophysiological function and regression of childhood development. Because the syndrome is X-linked and males with MECP2 mutations generally do not survive birth, the study of this syndrome has been complicated by the fact that in female brain, a portion of neurons express wild type MECP2, and another portion express a non-functional allele of MECP2. Therefore, bulk-RNA-sequencing of Rett brain is confounded by the presence of chimerism of neurons for functional MECP2 in neurons. We developed an approach that allows for single-nuclei transcriptional profiling of individual neurons and a direct comparison between neurons that express functional MECP2 with those that express the disease-causing allele. We found that mutant neurons from Rett brain show patterns of aberrant expression of synaptic and metabolic genes, both of which can be detected in in vitro models of Rett Syndrome. We used these resources to identify a role for POU2F1/OCT1 transcription factor in mediating the response to stress due to loss of MECP2, highlighting a potential key molecular regulator of stress in Rett neurons. Together, our new sorting approach enables us to highlight defective molecular and metabolic pathways in Rett brain neurons and suggests that in vitro models could serve as valuable tools to further study this syndrome and potentially for development of novel therapeutics.

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Abstract 20134: Transcriptional Profiling Identifies Candidate Regulators of Neonatal Heart Regeneration

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.130.suppl_2.20134 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 130 (suppl_2) ◽

Author(s):

Caitlin O’Meara ◽

Joseph Wamstad ◽

Laurie Boyer ◽

Richard T Lee

Keyword(s):

Cell Cycle ◽

Transcriptional Profiling ◽

Cardiac Regeneration ◽

Heart Regeneration ◽

Transcriptional Signature ◽

Adult Mice ◽

Neonatal Heart ◽

Sirna Knockdown

Some higher organisms, such as zebrafish and neonatal mice, are capable of complete and sufficient regeneration of the myocardium following injury, which is thought to occur primarily by proliferation of pre-existing cardiomyocytes. Although adult humans and adult mice lack this cardiac regeneration potential, there is great interest in understanding how regeneration can occur in the heart so that we can activate this process in humans suffering from heart failure. The aim of our study was to identify mechanisms by which mature, post-mitotic adult cardiomyocytes can re-enter the cell cycle to ultimately facilitate heart regeneration following injury. We derived a core transcriptional signature of injury-induced cardiomyocyte regeneration in mouse by comparing global transcriptional programs in a dynamic model of in vitro and in vivo cardiomyocyte differentiation and in an in vitro cardiomyocyte explant model, as well as a neonatal heart resection model. We identified a panel of transcription factors, growth factors, and cytokines, whose expression significantly correlated with the differentiated state of the cell in all datasets examined, suggesting that these factors play a role in regulating cardiomyocyte cell state. Furthermore, potential upstream regulators of core differentially expressed networks were identified using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis and we found that one predicted regulator, interleukin-13 (IL13), significantly induced cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity and STAT6/STAT3 signaling in vitro. siRNA knockdown experiments demonstrated that STAT3/periostin and STAT6 signaling are critical for cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity in response to IL13. These data reveal novel insights into the transcriptional regulation of mammalian heart regeneration and provide the founding circuitry for identifying potential regulators for stimulating cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity.

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Angiogenetic transcriptional profiling reveals potential targets modulated in blood of patients with cardiovascular disorders

Vascular ◽

10.1177/17085381211052379 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 170853812110523

Author(s):

Joerg Ukkat ◽

Artur Rebelo ◽

Bogusz Trojanowicz

Keyword(s):

Growth Factor ◽

Transforming Growth Factor Beta ◽

Transforming Growth Factor ◽

Pathological Condition ◽

Transcriptional Profiling ◽

Platelet Derived Growth Factor ◽

Vascular Pathology ◽

Cardiovascular Disorders ◽

Factor Alpha

Objectives Based on the angiogenetic, transcriptional profile of non-diseased and arteriosclerotic vessels, we aim to identify the leucocytic markers as a potential, minimal invasive tool supporting diagnosis of vascular pathology. Methods Transcriptional profiling was performed with Angiogenesis RT2 Profiler PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) array on three non-pathological and three arteriosclerotic vessels, followed by immunohistochemical staining. Based on these screening results, selected transcripts were employed for qPCR with specific primers and investigated on the blood RNA (RiboNucleic Acid) obtained from nine healthy controls and 29 patients with cardiovascular disorders. Thereafter, expression of these transcripts was investigated in vitro in human monocytes under calcification-mimicking conditions. Results and Conclusions Transcriptional profiling on the vessels revealed that out of 84 targets investigated two were up-regulated more than 100-fold, 18 more than 30 and 15 more than 10, while the most noticeable down-regulation was observed by ephrin-A3 and platelet-derived growth factor alpha (PDGFA) genes. Based on the vessel results, investigations of the selected blood transcripts revealed that thrombospondin 1 (THBS1), thrombospondin 3 (THBS3), transforming growth factor, beta receptor 1 (TGFBR1), platelet-derived growth factor alpha, plasminogen activator, urokinase (PLAU) and platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 (PECAM-1) were significantly elevated in cardiovascular blood as compared to corresponding controls. Induction of calcification-related conditions in vitro to human THP-1 monocytes led to noticeable modulation of these transcripts. Taken together, these data demonstrate that leucocytic THBS1, THBS3, TGFBR1, platelet-derived growth factor alpha, PLAU and PECAM-1 have a correlation with cardiovascular disorders and could be used as a supportive tool predicting development of this pathological condition.

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