scholarly journals Chorionic somatomammotropin impacts early fetal growth and placental gene expression

2018 ◽  
Vol 237 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
K M Jeckel ◽  
A C Boyarko ◽  
G J Bouma ◽  
Q A Winger ◽  
R V Anthony

Several developmental windows, including placentation, must be negotiated to establish and maintain pregnancy. Impaired placental function can lead to preeclampsia and/or intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), resulting in increased infant mortality and morbidity. It has been hypothesized that chorionic somatomammotropin (CSH) plays a significant role in fetal development, potentially by modifying maternal and fetal metabolism. Recently, using lentiviral-mediated in vivo RNA interference in sheep, we demonstrated significant reductions in near-term (135 days of gestation; dGA) fetal and placental size, and altered fetal liver gene expression, resulting from CSH deficiency. We sought to examine the impact of CSH deficiency on fetal and placental size earlier in gestation (50 dGA), and to examine placental gene expression at 50 and 135 dGA. At 50 dGA, CSH-deficient pregnancies exhibited a 41% reduction (P ≤ 0.05) in uterine vein concentrations of CSH, and significant (P ≤ 0.05) reductions (≈21%) in both fetal body and liver weights. Placentae harvested at 50 and 135 dGA exhibited reductions in IGF1 and IGF2 mRNA concentrations, along with reductions in SLC2A1 and SLC2A3 mRNA. By contrast, mRNA concentrations for various members of the System A, System L and System y+ amino acid transporter families were not significantly impacted. The IUGR observed at the end of the first-third of gestation indicates that the near-term IUGR reported previously, began early in gestation, and may have in part resulted from deficits in the paracrine action of CSH within the placenta. These results provide further compelling evidence for the importance of CSH in the progression and outcome of pregnancy.

2016 ◽  
Vol 310 (9) ◽  
pp. R837-R846 ◽  
Author(s):  
Callie M. Baker ◽  
Lindsey N. Goetzmann ◽  
Jeremy D. Cantlon ◽  
Kimberly M. Jeckel ◽  
Quinton A. Winger ◽  
...  

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a leading cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity. Chorionic somatomammotropin hormone (CSH), a placenta-specific secretory product found at high concentrations in maternal and fetal circulation throughout gestation, is significantly reduced in human and sheep IUGR pregnancies. The objective of this study was to knock down ovine CSH ( oCSH) expression in vivo using lentiviral-mediated short-hairpin RNA to test the hypothesis that oCSH deficiency would result in IUGR of near-term fetal lambs. Three different lentiviral oCSH-targeting constructs were used and compared with pregnancies ( n = 8) generated with a scrambled control (SC) lentiviral construct. Pregnancies were harvested at 135 days of gestation. The most effective targeting sequence, “target 6” (tg6; n = 8), yielded pregnancies with significant reductions ( P ≤ 0.05) in oCSH mRNA (50%) and protein (38%) concentrations, as well as significant reductions ( P ≤ 0.05) in placental (52%) and fetal (32%) weights compared with the SC pregnancies. Fetal liver weights were reduced 41% ( P ≤ 0.05), yet fetal liver insulin-like growth factor-I ( oIGF1) and -II mRNA concentrations were reduced ( P ≤ 0.05) 82 and 71%, respectively, and umbilical artery oIGF1 concentrations were reduced 62% ( P ≤ 0.05) in tg6 pregnancies. Additionally, fetal liver oIGF-binding protein ( oIGFBP) 2 and oIGFBP3 mRNA concentrations were reduced ( P ≤ 0.05), whereas fetal liver oIGFBP1 mRNA concentration was not impacted nor was maternal liver o IGF and o IGFBP mRNA concentrations or uterine artery oIGF1 concentrations ( P ≥ 0.10). Based on our results, it appears that oCSH deficiency does result in IUGR, by impacting placental development as well as fetal liver development and function.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1222
Author(s):  
Cristina Cuello ◽  
Cristina A. Martinez ◽  
Josep M. Cambra ◽  
Inmaculada Parrilla ◽  
Heriberto Rodriguez-Martinez ◽  
...  

This study was designed to investigate the impact of vitrification on the transcriptome profile of blastocysts using a porcine (Sus scrofa) model and a microarray approach. Blastocysts were collected from weaned sows (n = 13). A total of 60 blastocysts were vitrified (treatment group). After warming, vitrified embryos were cultured in vitro for 24 h. Non-vitrified blastocysts (n = 40) were used as controls. After the in vitro culture period, the embryo viability was morphologically assessed. A total of 30 viable embryos per group (three pools of 10 from 4 different donors each) were subjected to gene expression analysis. A fold change cut-off of ±1.5 and a restrictive threshold at p-value < 0.05 were used to distinguish differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The survival rates of vitrified/warmed blastocysts were similar to those of the control (nearly 100%, n.s.). A total of 205 (112 upregulated and 93 downregulated) were identified in the vitrified blastocysts compared to the control group. The vitrification/warming impact was moderate, and it was mainly related to the pathways of cell cycle, cellular senescence, gap junction, and signaling for TFGβ, p53, Fox, and MAPK. In conclusion, vitrification modified the transcriptome of in vivo-derived porcine blastocysts, resulting in minor gene expression changes.


Author(s):  
Mandy Rauschner ◽  
Luisa Lange ◽  
Thea Hüsing ◽  
Sarah Reime ◽  
Alexander Nolze ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The low extracellular pH (pHe) of tumors resulting from glycolytic metabolism is a stress factor for the cells independent from concomitant hypoxia. The aim of the study was to analyze the impact of acidic pHe on gene expression on mRNA and protein level in two experimental tumor lines in vitro and in vivo and were compared to hypoxic conditions as well as combined acidosis+hypoxia. Methods Gene expression was analyzed in AT1 prostate and Walker-256 mammary carcinoma of the rat by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), qPCR and Western blot. In addition, the impact of acidosis on tumor cell migration, adhesion, proliferation, cell death and mitochondrial activity was analyzed. Results NGS analyses revealed that 147 genes were uniformly regulated in both cell lines (in vitro) and 79 genes in both experimental tumors after 24 h at low pH. A subset of 25 genes was re-evaluated by qPCR and Western blot. Low pH consistently upregulated Aox1, Gls2, Gstp1, Ikbke, Per3, Pink1, Tlr5, Txnip, Ypel3 or downregulated Acat2, Brip1, Clspn, Dnajc25, Ercc6l, Mmd, Rif1, Zmpste24 whereas hypoxia alone led to a downregulation of most of the genes. Direct incubation at low pH reduced tumor cell adhesion whereas acidic pre-incubation increased the adhesive potential. In both tumor lines acidosis induced a G1-arrest (in vivo) of the cell cycle and a strong increase in necrotic cell death (but not in apoptosis). The mitochondrial O2 consumption increased gradually with decreasing pH. Conclusions These data show that acidic pHe in tumors plays an important role for gene expression independently from hypoxia. In parallel, acidosis modulates functional properties of tumors relevant for their malignant potential and which might be the result of pH-dependent gene expression.


Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 116 (17) ◽  
pp. 3197-3207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsteen J. Campbell ◽  
Mary L. Bath ◽  
Marian L. Turner ◽  
Cassandra J. Vandenberg ◽  
Philippe Bouillet ◽  
...  

Abstract Diverse human cancers with poor prognosis, including many lymphoid and myeloid malignancies, exhibit high levels of Mcl-1. To explore the impact of Mcl-1 overexpression on the hematopoietic compartment, we have generated vavP-Mcl-1 transgenic mice. Their lymphoid and myeloid cells displayed increased resistance to a variety of cytotoxic agents. Myelopoiesis was relatively normal, but lymphopoiesis was clearly perturbed, with excess mature B and T cells accumulating. Rather than the follicular lymphomas typical of vavP-BCL-2 mice, aging vavP-Mcl-1 mice were primarily susceptible to lymphomas having the phenotype of a stem/progenitor cell (11 of 30 tumors) or pre-B cell (12 of 30 tumors). Mcl-1 overexpression dramatically accelerated Myc-driven lymphomagenesis. Most vavP-Mcl-1/ Eμ-Myc mice died around birth, and transplantation of blood from bitransgenic E18 embryos into unirradiated mice resulted in stem/progenitor cell tumors. Furthermore, lethally irradiated mice transplanted with E13 fetal liver cells from Mcl-1/Myc bitransgenic mice uniformly died of stem/progenitor cell tumors. When treated in vivo with cyclophosphamide, tumors coexpressing Mcl-1 and Myc transgenes were significantly more resistant than conventional Eμ-Myc lymphomas. Collectively, these results demonstrate that Mcl-1 overexpression renders hematopoietic cells refractory to many cytotoxic insults, perturbs lymphopoiesis and promotes malignant transformation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.


mBio ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Autumn T. LaPointe ◽  
V Douglas Landers ◽  
Claire E. Westcott ◽  
Kevin J. Sokoloski

ABSTRACT Alphaviruses are positive-sense RNA viruses that utilize a 5′ cap structure to facilitate translation of viral proteins and to protect the viral RNA genome. Nonetheless, significant quantities of viral genomic RNAs that lack a canonical 5′ cap structure are produced during alphaviral replication and packaged into viral particles. However, the role/impact of the noncapped genomic RNA (ncgRNA) during alphaviral infection in vivo has yet to be characterized. To determine the importance of the ncgRNA in vivo, the previously described D355A and N376A nsP1 mutations, which increase or decrease nsP1 capping activity, respectively, were incorporated into the neurovirulent AR86 strain of Sindbis virus to enable characterization of the impact of altered capping efficiency in a murine model of infection. Mice infected with the N376A nsP1 mutant exhibited slightly decreased rates of mortality and delayed weight loss and neurological symptoms, although levels of inflammation in the brain were similar to those of wild-type infection. Although the D355A mutation resulted in decreased antiviral gene expression and increased resistance to interferon in vitro, mice infected with the D355A mutant showed significantly reduced mortality and morbidity compared to mice infected with wild-type virus. Interestingly, expression of proinflammatory cytokines was found to be significantly decreased in mice infected with the D355A mutant, suggesting that capping efficiency and the production of ncgRNA are vital to eliciting pathogenic levels of inflammation. Collectively, these data indicate that the ncgRNA have important roles during alphaviral infection and suggest a novel mechanism by which noncapped viral RNAs aid in viral pathogenesis. IMPORTANCE Mosquito-transmitted alphaviruses have been the cause of widespread outbreaks of disease that can range from mild illness to lethal encephalitis or severe polyarthritis. There are currently no safe and effective vaccines or therapeutics with which to prevent or treat alphaviral disease, highlighting the need to better understand alphaviral pathogenesis to develop novel antiviral strategies. This report reveals production of noncapped genomic RNAs (ncgRNAs) to be a novel determinant of alphaviral virulence and offers insight into the importance of inflammation to pathogenesis. Taken together, the findings reported here suggest that the ncgRNAs contribute to alphaviral pathogenesis through the sensing of the ncgRNAs during alphaviral infection and are necessary for the development of severe disease.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Reid Alderson ◽  
Elias Adriaenssens ◽  
Bob Asselbergh ◽  
Iva Pritišanac ◽  
Heidi Y. Gastall ◽  
...  

HSP27 (HSPB1) is a systemically expressed human small heat-shock protein that forms large, dynamic oligomers and functions in various aspects of cellular homeostasis. Mutations in HSP27 cause Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, the most common inherited disorder of the peripheral nervous system. A particularly severe form of the disease is triggered by the P182L mutation within the highly conserved IxI/V motif of HSP27. Here, we observed that the P182L variant of HSP27 lacks the ability to prevent the aggregation of client proteins and formed significantly larger oligomers both in vitro and in vivo. NMR spectroscopy revealed that the P182L IxI/V motif binds its α-crystallin domain with significantly lower association rate, and thus affinity, rendering the binding site more available for other interactors. We identified 22 IxI/V-containing proteins that are known to interact with HSP27 and could therefore bind with enhanced affinity to the P182L variant. We validated this hypothesis through co-immunoprecipitation experiments, revealing that the IxI/V motif-bearing co-chaperone BAG3 indeed binds with higher affinity to the P182L variant. Our results provide a mechanistic basis for the impact of the P182L mutation on HSP27, and highlight the general importance of the IxI/V motif and its role in protein-protein interaction networks.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant Tarnow ◽  
Alan McLachlan

β-catenin (Ctnnb1) supports high levels of liver gene expression in hepatocytes in proximity to the central vein functionally defining zone 3 of the liver lobule. This region of the liver lobule supports the highest levels of viral biosynthesis in wildtype HBV transgenic mice. Liver-specific β-catenin-null HBV transgenic mice exhibit a stark loss of high levels of pericentral viral biosynthesis. Additionally, viral replication that does not depend directly on β-catenin activity appears to expand to include hepatocytes of zone 1 of the liver lobule in proximity to the portal vein, a region of the liver that typically lacks significant HBV biosynthesis in wildtype HBV transgenic mice. While the average amount of viral RNA transcripts does not change, viral DNA replication is reduced approximately three-fold. Together, these observations demonstrate that β-catenin signaling represents a major determinant of HBV biosynthesis governing the magnitude and distribution of viral replication across the liver lobule in vivo. Additionally, these findings reveal a novel mechanism for the regulation of HBV biosynthesis that is potentially relevant to the expression of additional liver-specific genes. IMPORTANCE Viral biosynthesis is highest around the central vein in the HBV transgenic mouse model of chronic infection. The associated HBV biosynthetic gradient across the liver lobule is primarily dependent upon β-catenin. In the absence of β-catenin, the gradient of viral gene expression spanning the liver lobule is absent and HBV replication is reduced. Therefore, therapeutically manipulating β-catenin activity in the liver of chronic HBV carriers may reduce circulating infectious virions without greatly modulating viral protein production. Together, these change in viral biosynthesis might limit infection of additional hepatocytes while permitting immunological clearance of previously infected cells, potentially limiting disease persistence.


Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 116 (21) ◽  
pp. 739-739
Author(s):  
Vijay P. S. Rawat ◽  
Natalia Arseni ◽  
Farid Ahmed ◽  
Medhanie A. Mulaw ◽  
Silvia Thoene ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 739 Recent studies suggest that a variety of regulatory molecules active in embryonic development such as clustered and non-clustered homeobox genes play an important role in normal and malignant hematopoiesis. Since it was shown that the Xvent-2 homeobox gene is part of the BMP-4 signalling pathway in Xenopus, it is of particular interest to examine the expression profile and function of its only recently discovered human homologue VENTX in hematopoietic development. Expression of the VENTX gene was analyzed in normal human hematopoiesis and AML patients samples by microarray and qPCR. To test the impact of the constitutive expression of VENTX on human progenitor cells, CD34+ cord blood (CB) cells were retrovirally transduced with VENTX or the empty control vector and analyzed using in vitro and in vivo assays. So far we and others have not been able to identify a murine Xenopus xvent gene homologue. However, we were able to document the expression of this gene by qPCR in human lineage positive hematopoietic subpopulations. Amongst committed progenitors VENTX was significantly 13-fold higher expressed in CD33+ BM myeloid cells (4/4 positive) compared to CD19+ BM lymphoid cells (5/7 positive, p=0.01). Of note, expression of VENTX was negligible in normal CD34+/CD38− but detectable in CD34+ BM human progenitor cells. In contrast to this, leukemic CD34+/CD38− from AML patients (n=3) with translocation t(8,21) showed significantly elevated expression levels compared to normal CD34+ BM cells (n=5) (50-fold higher; p≤0.0001). Furthermore, patients with normal karyotype NPM1c+/FLT3-LM− (n=9), NPM1c−/FLT3-LM+ (n=8) or patients with t(8;21) (n=9) had an >100-fold higher expression of VENTX compared to normal CD34+ BM cells and a 5- to 7.8-fold higher expression compared to BM MNCs. Importantly, lentivirus-mediated long-term silencing of VENTX in human AML cell lines (mRNA knockdown between 58% and 75%) led to a significant, reduction in cell number compared to the non-silencing control construct (>79% after 120h). Suggesting that growth of human leukemic cell lines depends on VENTX expression in vitro. As we observed that VENTX is aberrantly expressed in leukemic CD34+ cells with negligible expression in normal counterparts, we assessed the impact of forced VENTX gene expression in normal CD34+ human progenitor cells on the transcription program. Gene expression and pathway analysis demonstrated that in normal CD34+ cells enforced expression of VENTX initiates genes associated with myeloid development (CD11b, CD125, CD9,CD14 and M-CSF), and downregulates genes involved in early lymphoid development (IL-7, IL-9R, LEF1/TCF and C-JUN) and erythroid development such as EPOR, CD35 and CD36. We then tested whether enforced expression of VENTX in CD34+ cells is able to alter the hematopoietic development of early human progenitors as indicated by gene expression and pathway analyses. Functional analyses confirmed that aberrant expression of VENTX in normal CD34+ human progenitor cells induced a significant increase in the number of myeloid colonies compared to the GFP control with 48 ± 6.5 compared to 28.9 ± 4.8 CFU-G per 1000 initially plated CD34+ cells (n=11; p=0.03) and complete block in erythroid colony formation with an 81% reduction of the number of BFU-E compared to the control (n=11; p<0.003). In a feeder dependent co-culture system, VENTX impaired the development of B-lymphoid cells. In the NOD/SCID xenograft model, VENTX expression in CD34+ CB cells promoted generation of myeloid cells with an over 5-fold and 2.5-fold increase in the proportion of human CD15+ and CD33+ primitive myeloid cells compared to the GFP control (n=5, p=0.01). Summary: Overexpression of VENTX perturbs normal hematopoietic development, promotes generation of myeloid cells and impairs generation of lymphoid cells in vitro and in vivo. Whereas VENTX depletion in human AML cell lines impaired their growth.Taken together, these data extend our insights into the function of human embryonic mesodermal factors in human hematopoiesis and indicate a role of VENTX in normal and malignant myelopoiesis. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2017 ◽  
Vol 216 (7) ◽  
pp. 2217-2230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregoire Stik ◽  
Simon Crequit ◽  
Laurence Petit ◽  
Jennifer Durant ◽  
Pierre Charbord ◽  
...  

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been recently reported as crucial mediators in cell-to-cell communication in development and disease. In this study, we investigate whether mesenchymal stromal cells that constitute a supportive microenvironment for hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) released EVs that could affect the gene expression and function of HSPCs. By taking advantage of two fetal liver–derived stromal lines with widely differing abilities to maintain HSPCs ex vivo, we demonstrate that stromal EVs play a critical role in the regulation of HSPCs. Both supportive and nonsupportive stromal lines secreted EVs, but only those delivered by the supportive line were taken up by HSPCs ex vivo and in vivo. These EVs harbored a specific molecular signature, modulated the gene expression in HSPCs after uptake, and maintained the survival and clonogenic potential of HSPCs, presumably by preventing apoptosis. In conclusion, our study reveals that EVs are an important component of the HSPC niche, which may have major applications in regenerative medicine.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 12877-12885

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most common pathogenic bacteria that cause nosocomial infection. Unfortunately, the irrational use of antibiotics has created a surge in P. aeruginosa resistance nowadays. To overcome this situation, new antibacterial compounds are urgently needed. One of the potential sources to obtain such antibacterial compounds is roselle calyx. This research was carried out using two experimental approaches, survival assay and gene expression analysis, to examine the in vivo antibacterial effect of water fraction of roselle calyx (WFR) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Drosophila model of infection. Survival assay was used to demonstrate the impact of treatment on the lifespan of the infected host. The measurement of immune-related Dpt mRNA levels by reverse-transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to assess whether immunostimulation is involved in the antibacterial protection of WFR against P. aeruginosa. The result demonstrated that WFR at concentrations of 0.8% and 2% were able to enhance P. aeruginosa-infected flies' survival. Furthermore, gene expression analysis showed the insignificant difference between WFR-treated flies and healthy control flies at all tested concentrations, implying the non-involvement of Imd-Dpt-mediated pathway immunity in the antipseudomonal protection of WFR. Taken together, our data suggested the in vivo antibacterial activity of WFR against P. aeruginosa in the fruit fly model of infection.


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