scholarly journals RNA-Seq analysis identifies novel roles for the primary cilia gene SPAG17 and the SOX9 locus non-coding RNAs in systemic sclerosis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisha D.O. Roberson ◽  
Mary Carns ◽  
Li Cao ◽  
Kathleen Aren ◽  
Isaac A. Goldberg ◽  
...  

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterized by immune activation, vasculopathy, and unresolving fibrosis in the skin, lungs, and other organs. We performed RNA-Seq analysis on skin biopsies and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from SSc patients and controls to better understand SSc pathogenesis. We analyzed these data to 1) test for case-control differences, and 2) identify genes whose expression levels correlate with SSc severity as measured by local skin score, modified Rodnan skin score (MRSS), forced vital capacity (FVC), or diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO). We found that PBMCs from SSc patients showed a strong type 1 interferon signature. This signal replicated in the skin, with additional signals for increased extracellular matrix (ECM) genes, classical complement pathway activation, and the presence of B cells. Notably, we observed a marked decrease in the expression of SPAG17, a cilia component, in SSc skin. We identified genes that correlated with MRSS, DLCO, and FVC in SSc PBMCs and skin using weighted gene co-expression analysis (WGCNA). These genes were largely distinct from the case/control differentially expressed genes. In PBMCs, type 1 interferon signatures negatively correlated with DLCO. In SSc skin, ECM gene expression positively correlated with MRSS. Network analysis of SSc skin genes correlated with clinical features identified the non-coding RNAs SOX9-AS1 and ROCR, both near the SOX9 locus, as highly connected,"hub-like" genes in the network. These results identify non-coding RNAs and SPAG17 as novel factors potentially implicated in SSc pathogenesis.

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 982
Author(s):  
Shakoora A. Sabree ◽  
Caitlin D. Lemke-Miltner ◽  
Sue E. Blackwell ◽  
Chaobo Yin ◽  
Aaron Bossler ◽  
...  

Vidutolimod, also known as CMP-001, is a virus-like particle composed of the Qβ bacteriophage coat protein encasing a TLR9 agonist. Vidutolimod injected intratumorally is showing promise in early phase clinical trials based on its ability to alter the tumor microenvironment and induce an anti-tumor immune response. We previously demonstrated that the in vivo efficacy of vidutolimod is dependent on the presence of anti-Qβ antibodies that enhance opsonization and uptake of vidutolimod by TLR9-expressing plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs). Here, we evaluated the effect of immune complexes, including anti-Qβ-coated vidutolimod, on induction of Type 1 Interferon production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in response to vidutolimod and soluble TLR9 agonists. Immune complexes, including but not limited to anti-Qβ-coated vidutolimod, indirectly suppressed TLR9-mediated Type 1 Interferon production by pDCs in a monocyte-dependent manner. These findings indicate that anti-Qβ-coated vidutolimod has effects in addition to those mediated by TLR9 that could have important clinical implications for understanding the mechanism of action of this exciting new approach to in situ immunization and cancer immunotherapy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 443.2-443
Author(s):  
Y. F. Qing ◽  
J. Zheng ◽  
S. B. Wang ◽  
F. Dai ◽  
Y. Jiang ◽  
...  

Background:Growing evidences have demonstrated that autophagy is a powerful regulators in the pathogenesis of fibrosis and autoimmune diseases. Autophagy abnormalities in SSc involve abnormal autophagy-related protein and autophagy-related gene polymorphism[1-2], however there is a few reports on the expression and clinical significance of autophagy-related genes.Objectives:To investigate the expression and clinical significance of autophagy-related genes LC-3 mRNA, Becline-1 mRNA, Agt-3 mRNA, Agt-5 mRNA, Agt-12 mRNA and Agt-16L1 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of systemic sclerosis (SSc).Methods:51 cases of SSc and 60 cases of normal control were received from the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, and autophagy-related genes were detected by RT-PCR. SPSS19.0 statistical software was used to compare the expression of autophagy-related genes between groups and analyze the relationship between autophagy-related genes and clinical data, P<0.05 was considered statistically significantResults:LC-3, Becline-1, and Agt-3 were highly expressed in SSc compared with normal control [LC-3: 0.78(0.60) ×10-3 vs. 0.52(0.54) ×10-3; Beclin-1: 6.68(3.56)×10-3 vs. 5.22(3.54)×10-3; Agt-3: 17.58(12.33)×10-3 vs. 11.00(4.56)×10-3, P<0.05], however Agt-5, Agt-12 and Agt-16L1 of autophagy-related genes were not statistically significant [AGT-5: 6.67(3.58) ×10-3 vs. 6.67(2.64) ×10-3; AGT-12: 8.64(5.56)×10-3 vs. 8.57(4.66)×10-3; Agt-16L1: 2.69(2.19)×10-3 vs. 2.52(2.26)×10-3] (Figure 1). Beclin-1 and Agt-5 high expressed in SSc with the positive of anti-SSA/Ro antibody. LC-3 was positively correlated with Age(r=0.662) and ESR(r=0.355) (all P<0.05).Conclusion:Autophagy-related genes were increased in PBMC of SSc, and were correlated with Age, ESR and autoantibody, suggested that autophagy is a key feature in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis.Figure 1.The relative expression of autophagy-related genesReferences:[1]LIU C, ZHOU X, LU J, et al. Autophagy mediates 2-methoxyestradiol-inhibited scleroderma collagen synthesis and endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition induced by hypoxia[J]. Rheumatology, 2019;58(11):1966–1975.[2]Mayes M D, Bossini-Castillo L, Gorlova O, et al. Immunochip Analysis Identifies Multiple Susceptibility Loci for Systemic Sclerosis[J]. The American Journal of Human Genetics, 2014,94(1):47-61.DOI:10.1016/j.ajhg.2013.12.002.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 1115-1121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Codullo ◽  
Helen M Baldwin ◽  
Mark D Singh ◽  
Alasdair R Fraser ◽  
Catherine Wilson ◽  
...  

ObjectivesSystemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterised by vasculopathy, an aberrantly activated immune system and excessive extracellular matrix deposition. Inflammatory chemokines control migration of cells to sites of tissue damage; their removal from inflamed sites is essential for resolution of the inflammatory response. The atypical chemokine receptor D6 has a critical role in this physiological balance. To explore potential deregulation of this system in SSc, inflammatory chemokine and D6 expression were compared with that in healthy controls (HC).MethodsSerum levels of inflammatory mediators were assessed by luminex analysis. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were used in molecular and immunocytochemical analysis. Platelet-rich plasma was collected and assessed by western blotting for D6 expression levels. Sex-matched HC were used for comparison.Results72 patients with SSc and 30 HC were enrolled in the study. The chemokines MCP-1/CCL2, MIP-1α/CCL3, MIP-1β/CCL4 and IL-8/CXCL8 were significantly increased in patients with SSc, regardless of disease subtype and phase. Quantitative PCR analysis revealed a significant 10-fold upregulation of D6 transcripts in patients with SSc compared with controls, and this was paralleled by increased D6 protein expression in the PBMCs of patients with SSc. Platelet lysates also showed strong D6 expression in patients with SSc but not in controls. Importantly, high levels of D6 expression correlated with reduced levels of its ligands in serum.ConclusionsInflammatory chemokines and the regulatory receptor D6 are significantly upregulated in SSc and high D6 levels are associated with lower systemic chemokine levels, indicating that some patients control systemic chemokine levels using D6. These results suggest that chemokines may represent a therapeutic target in SSc.


Hypertension ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Berillo ◽  
Kugeng Huo ◽  
Julio C Fraulob-Aquino ◽  
Chantal Richer ◽  
Na Li ◽  
...  

Background: Hypertension (HTN) is associated with subclinical target organ damage including cardiac, vascular and kidney injury. The immune system plays a role in hypertension and target organ damage. Activation of T cells has been reported among peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with HTN. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are crucial post-transcriptional regulators of immune cells. Whether miRNAs play a role in the activation of immune cells in hypertension complicated by target organ damage in humans remains unknown. We aimed to address this question by identifying differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs and their mRNA targets in PBMCs of patients with hypertension complicated or not with metabolic syndrome (MetS) or chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: Normotensive subjects and patients with hypertension (HTN) associated or not with at least 2 other features of MetS or CKD were studied (n=15-16). PBMCs were isolated from blood, RNA extracted for small and total RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) using Illumina HiSeq-2500 and data were analyzed using a systems biology approach. MiRDeep2 was used for novel miRNAs prediction, miRNA annotation and counting. TargetScan 7.07 was used to predict DE miRNA targets with weighted context score percentile >50%. DE genes miRNAs and mRNAs were identified with fold change (FC) >1.5 and P <0.005. DE miRNAs with FC>2 and mean read count number (MRCM) >500, and with predicted targets with MRCM>300 were validated by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Results: DE miRNAs, mRNAs and non-coding RNAs were identified in HTN (22, 19 and 0), MetS (57, 401 and 11) and CKD (6, 26 and 2) compared to NTN. TargetScan predicted that 7 miRNAs target 3 mRNAs in NTN, 57 miRNAs target 55 mRNAs in MetS and 3 miRNAs target 2 mRNAs in CKD. DE miR-409-5p (FC: 0.54±0.10 vs 1.00±0.09, P <0.05), miR-411-5p (FC: 0.40±0.06, vs 1.00±0.11, P <0.001) and the novel miR-pl-86 (FC: 1.96±0.17 vs 1.00±0.15, P <0.05) in MetS vs NTN were validated by RT-qPCR. RNA-seq data were correlated with RT-qPCR for miR-409-5p (R 2 =0.40, P <2.4E-07, n=55), miR-411-5p (R 2 =0.55, P <1.1E-10, n=55), miR-pl-86 (R 2 =0.37, P <5.5E-07, n=56). Conclusion: This study showed that DE miR-409-5p, miR-411-5p and miR-pl-86 may play a role in HTN associated with MetS.


2022 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenyu Xiang ◽  
Shuai Han ◽  
Cuili Wang ◽  
Hongjun Chen ◽  
Lingling Shen ◽  
...  

Acute rejection (AR) is closely associated with renal allograft dysfunction. Here, we utilised RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and bioinformatic methods to characterise the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with acute renal allograft rejection. Pretransplant blood samples were collected from 32 kidney allograft donors and 42 corresponding recipients with biopsies classified as T cell-mediated rejection (TCMR, n = 18), antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR, n = 5), and normal/non-specific changes (non-AR, n = 19). The patients with TCMR and ABMR were assigned to the AR group, and the patients with normal/non-specific changes (n = 19) were assigned to the non-AR group. We analysed RNA-Seq data for identifying differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and then gene ontology (GO) analysis, Reactome, and ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA), protein—protein interaction (PPI) network, and cell-type enrichment analysis were utilised for bioinformatics analysis. We identified DEGs in the PBMCs of the non-AR group when compared with the AR, ABMR, and TCMR groups. Pathway and GO analysis showed significant inflammatory responses, complement activation, interleukin-10 (IL-10) signalling pathways, classical antibody-mediated complement activation pathways, etc., which were significantly enriched in the DEGs. PPI analysis showed that IL-10, VEGFA, CXCL8, MMP9, and several histone-related genes were the hub genes with the highest degree scores. Moreover, IPA analysis showed that several proinflammatory pathways were upregulated, whereas antiinflammatory pathways were downregulated. The combination of NFSF14+TANK+ANKRD 33 B +HSPA1B was able to discriminate between AR and non-AR with an AUC of 92.3% (95% CI 82.8–100). Characterisation of PBMCs by RNA-Seq and bioinformatics analysis demonstrated gene signatures and biological pathways associated with AR. Our study may provide the foundation for the discovery of biomarkers and an in-depth understanding of acute renal allograft rejection.


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