Maternal oxytocin administration modulates gene expression in the brains of perinatal mice

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances F. Hsieh ◽  
Ilya Korsunsky ◽  
Andrew J. Shih ◽  
Matthew A. Moss ◽  
Prodyot K. Chatterjee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Neurite Outgrowth ◽  
Quantitative Pcr ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Neonatal Brain ◽  
Real Time Quantitative Pcr ◽  
Brain Gene Expression ◽  
Gene Expression Analyses ◽  
Differential Gene

Abstract Objectives Oxytocin (OXT) is widely used to facilitate labor. However, little is known about the effects of perinatal OXT exposure on the developing brain. We investigated the effects of maternal OXT administration on gene expression in perinatal mouse brains. Methods Pregnant C57BL/6 mice were treated with saline or OXT at term (n=6–7/group). Dams and pups were euthanized on gestational day (GD) 18.5 after delivery by C-section. Another set of dams was treated with saline or OXT (n=6–7/group) and allowed to deliver naturally; pups were euthanized on postnatal day 9 (PND9). Perinatal/neonatal brain gene expression was determined using Illumina BeadChip Arrays and real time quantitative PCR. Differential gene expression analyses were performed. In addition, the effect of OXT on neurite outgrowth was assessed using PC12 cells. Results Distinct and sex-specific gene expression patterns were identified in offspring brains following maternal OXT administration at term. The microarray data showed that female GD18.5 brains exhibited more differential changes in gene expression compared to male GD18.5 brains. Specifically, Cnot4 and Frmd4a were significantly reduced by OXT exposure in male and female GD18.5 brains, whereas Mtap1b, Srsf11, and Syn2 were significantly reduced only in female GD18.5 brains. No significant microarray differences were observed in PND9 brains. By quantitative PCR, OXT exposure reduced Oxtr expression in female and male brains on GD18.5 and PND9, respectively. PC12 cell differentiation assays revealed that OXT induced neurite outgrowth. Conclusions Prenatal OXT exposure induces sex-specific differential regulation of several nervous system-related genes and pathways with important neural functions in perinatal brains.

scholarly journals Impact of Transposable Elements on Methylation and Gene Expression across Natural Accessions of Brachypodium distachyon

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1994-2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Wyler ◽  
Christoph Stritt ◽  
Jean-Claude Walser ◽  
Célia Baroux ◽  
Anne C Roulin
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Brachypodium Distachyon ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Differential Gene ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Silent State

Abstract Transposable elements (TEs) constitute a large fraction of plant genomes and are mostly present in a transcriptionally silent state through repressive epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation. TE silencing is believed to influence the regulation of adjacent genes, possibly as DNA methylation spreads away from the TE. Whether this is a general principle or a context-dependent phenomenon is still under debate, pressing for studying the relationship between TEs, DNA methylation, and nearby gene expression in additional plant species. Here, we used the grass Brachypodium distachyon as a model and produced DNA methylation and transcriptome profiles for 11 natural accessions. In contrast to what is observed in Arabidopsis thaliana, we found that TEs have a limited impact on methylation spreading and that only few TE families are associated with a low expression of their adjacent genes. Interestingly, we found that a subset of TE insertion polymorphisms is associated with differential gene expression across accessions. Thus, although not having a global impact on gene expression, distinct TE insertions may contribute to specific gene expression patterns in B. distachyon.

scholarly journals Agonal Factors Distort Gene-Expression Patterns in Human Postmortem Brains

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiacheng Dai ◽  
Yu Chen ◽  
Rujia Dai ◽  
Yi Jiang ◽  
Jianghua Tian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Brain Cell ◽  
Terminal State ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Brain Gene Expression ◽  
Postmortem Brains ◽  
Cell Type Specific ◽  
Study Designs

Agonal factors, the conditions that occur just prior to death, can impact the molecular quality of postmortem brains, influencing gene expression results. Our study used gene expression data of 262 samples from ROSMAP with the detailed terminal state recorded for each donor, such as fever, infection, and unconsciousness. Fever and infection were the primary contributors to brain gene expression changes, brain cell-type-specific gene expression, and cell proportion changes. Furthermore, we also found that previous studies of gene expression in postmortem brains were confounded by agonal factors. Therefore, correction for agonal factors is important in the step of data preprocessing. Our analyses revealed fever and infection contributing to gene expression changes in postmortem brains and emphasized the necessity of study designs that document and account for agonal factors.

scholarly journals Varying intolerance of gene pathways to mutational classes explain genetic convergence across neuropsychiatric disorders

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahar Shohat ◽  
Eyal Ben-David ◽  
Sagiv Shifman
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Genome Wide Association Study ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Disorders ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Missense Mutations ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Brain Gene Expression

AbstractGenetic susceptibility to Intellectual disability (ID), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) often arises from mutations in the same genes, suggesting that they share common mechanisms. We studied genes with de novo mutations in the three disorders and genes implicated by SCZ genome-wide association study (GWAS). Using biological annotations and brain gene expression, we show that mutation class explains enrichment patterns more than specific disorder. Genes with loss of function mutations and genes with missense mutations were enriched with different pathways, shared with genes intolerant to mutations. Specific gene expression patterns were found for each disorder. ID genes were preferentially expressed in fetal cortex, ASD genes also in fetal cerebellum and striatum, and genes associated with SCZ were most significantly enriched in adolescent cortex. Our study suggests that convergence across neuropsychiatric disorders stems from vulnerable pathways to genetic variations, but spatiotemporal activity of genes contributes to specific phenotypes.

scholarly journals Comparison of phenol-based and alternative RNA isolation methods for gene expression analyses

2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (8) ◽  
pp. 1053-1061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ksenija Jakovljevic ◽  
Milena Spasic ◽  
Emina Malisic ◽  
Jelena Dobricic ◽  
Ana Krivokuca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Expression Analysis ◽  
Whole Blood ◽  
Gene Expression Analysis ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Rna Extraction ◽  
Rna Isolation ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Isolation Methods ◽  
Gene Expression Analyses

The widespread use of gene expression analyses has been limited by the lack of a critical evaluation of the methods used to extract nucleic acids from human tissues. For evaluating gene expression patterns in whole blood or leukocytes, the method of RNA isolation needs to be considered as a critical variable in the design of the experiment. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) is widely used for the quantification of gene expression in today?s clinical practice. Blood samples as a preferred RNA source for qPCR should be carefully handled and prepared to not inhibit gene expression analyses. The present study was designed to compare the frequently used guanidine thiocyanate-phenol-chloroformbased method (TRI Reagent?) with two alternative RNA isolation methods (6100 PrepStation and QIAamp?) from whole blood or leukocytes for the purpose of gene expression analysis in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients. Based on the results of this study, for the best combination of yield and RNA extraction purity, taking into account the necessary amount of the clinical sample and performance time, the protocol using phenol-based TRI Reagent? for RNA extraction from leukocytes is suggested as the most suitable protocol for this specific gene expression analysis.

scholarly journals JSTA: joint cell segmentation and cell type annotation for spatial transcriptomics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Littman ◽  
Zachary Hemminger ◽  
Robert Foreman ◽  
Douglas Arneson ◽  
Guanglin Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Differential Gene Expression ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Granular Cell ◽  
Detection Sensitivity ◽  
Cell Segmentation ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Cell Type ◽  
Differential Gene

AbstractRNA hybridization based spatial transcriptomics provides unparalleled detection sensitivity. However, inaccuracies in segmentation of image volumes into cells cause misassignment of mRNAs which is a major source of errors. Here we develop JSTA, a computational framework for Joint cell Segmentation and cell Type Annotation that utilizes prior knowledge of cell-type specific gene expression. Simulation results show that leveraging existing cell type taxonomy increases RNA assignment accuracy by more than 45%. Using JSTA we were able to classify cells in the mouse hippocampus into 133 (sub)types revealing the spatial organization of CA1, CA3, and Sst neuron subtypes. Analysis of within cell subtype spatial differential gene expression of 80 candidate genes identified 43 with statistically significant spatial differential gene expression across 61 (sub)types. Overall, our work demonstrates that known cell type expression patterns can be leveraged to improve the accuracy of RNA hybridization based spatial transcriptomics while providing highly granular cell (sub)type information. The large number of newly discovered spatial gene expression patterns substantiates the need for accurate spatial transcriptomics measurements that can provide information beyond cell (sub)type labels.

scholarly journals Differential gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster and D. nigrosparsa infected with the same Wolbachia strain

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matsapume Detcharoen ◽  
Martin P. Schilling ◽  
Wolfgang Arthofer ◽  
Birgit C. Schlick-Steiner ◽  
Florian M. Steiner
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Differential Gene Expression ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Arthropod Species ◽  
Expression Of Genes ◽  
Novel Host ◽  
Differential Gene

AbstractWolbachia, maternally inherited endosymbionts, infect nearly half of all arthropod species. Wolbachia manipulate their hosts to maximize their transmission, but they can also provide benefits such as nutrients and resistance to viruses for their hosts. The Wolbachia strain wMel was recently found to increase locomotor activities and possibly trigger cytoplasmic incompatibility in the fly Drosophila nigrosparsa. Here, we compared differential gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster (original host) and D. nigrosparsa (novel host), both uninfected and infected with wMel, using RNA sequencing to see if the two Drosophila species respond to the infection in the same or different ways. A total of 2164 orthologous genes were used. We found species-specific gene expression patterns. Significant changes shared by the fly species were confined to the expression of genes involved in heme binding and oxidation-reduction; the two host species differently changed the expression of genes when infected. Some of the genes were down-regulated in the infected D. nigrosparsa, which might indicate small positive effects of Wolbachia. We discuss our findings also in the light of how Wolbachia survive within both the native and the novel host.

scholarly journals Spatial transcriptomics of C. elegans males and hermaphrodites identifies novel fertility genes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annabel Ebbing ◽  
Abel Vertesy ◽  
Marco Betist ◽  
Bastiaan Spanjaard ◽  
Jan Philipp Junker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Reproductive Tract ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Gene Expression Patterns ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Tissue Specific ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Differential Gene ◽  
Fertility Genes

SummaryTo advance our understanding of the genetic programs that drive cell and tissue specialization, it is necessary to obtain a comprehensive overview of gene expression patterns. Here, we have used RNA tomography to generate the first high-resolution, anteroposterior gene expression maps of C. elegans males and hermaphrodites. To explore these maps, we have developed computational methods for discovering region and tissue-specific genes. Moreover, by combining pattern-based analysis with differential gene expression analysis, we have found extensive sex-specific gene expression differences in the germline and sperm. We have also identified genes that are specifically expressed in the male reproductive tract, including a group of uncharacterized genes that encode small secreted proteins that are required for male fertility. We conclude that spatial gene expression maps provide a powerful resource for identifying novel tissue-specific gene functions in C. elegans. Importantly, we found that expression maps from different animals can be precisely aligned, which opens up new possibilities for transcriptome-wide comparisons of gene expression patterns.

A Global Vista of the Epigenomic State of the Mouse Submandibular Gland

2021 ◽  
pp. 002203452110120
Author(s):  
C. Gluck ◽  
S. Min ◽  
A. Oyelakin ◽  
M. Che ◽  
E. Horeth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Transcriptional Control ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Global Gene Expression ◽  
Regulatory Elements ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Submandibular Salivary Gland ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Sequencing

The parotid, submandibular, and sublingual glands represent a trio of oral secretory glands whose primary function is to produce saliva, facilitate digestion of food, provide protection against microbes, and maintain oral health. While recent studies have begun to shed light on the global gene expression patterns and profiles of salivary glands, particularly those of mice, relatively little is known about the location and identity of transcriptional control elements. Here we have established the epigenomic landscape of the mouse submandibular salivary gland (SMG) by performing chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing experiments for 4 key histone marks. Our analysis of the comprehensive SMG data sets and comparisons with those from other adult organs have identified critical enhancers and super-enhancers of the mouse SMG. By further integrating these findings with complementary RNA-sequencing based gene expression data, we have unearthed a number of molecular regulators such as members of the Fox family of transcription factors that are enriched and likely to be functionally relevant for SMG biology. Overall, our studies provide a powerful atlas of cis-regulatory elements that can be leveraged for better understanding the transcriptional control mechanisms of the mouse SMG, discovery of novel genetic switches, and modulating tissue-specific gene expression in a targeted fashion.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document