RNA sequencing analysis reveals differential gene expression of CXCL2 in ACPA-positive and ACPA-negative rheumatoid arthritis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Sun ◽  
Xinyu Wang ◽  
Ning He ◽  
Zhuo An ◽  
Ruohan Yu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background. Anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPA) play important roles in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and are associated with RA severity. It has been suggested that ACPA-positive (ACPA+) and ACPA-negative (ACPA-) RA are different disease subsets with distinct differences in genetic variation and clinical outcomes. The aims of the present study were to compare gene expression profiles in ACPA + and ACPA- RA and identify novel candidate gene signatures that might serve as therapeutic targets. Methods. Comprehensive transcriptome analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from ACPA + and ACPA- RA patients, and healthy controls was performed via RNA sequencing. Genes with significantly different expressions were analyzed by cluster analysis, Gene Ontology analysis and Ingenuity Pathway analysis. A validation cohort was used to further investigate differentially expressed genes via real-time PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Spearman's correlation test was used to evaluate the correlation of differentially expressed genes and the clinical and laboratory data of the patients. The role of differentially expressed genes in osteoclastogenesis was further investigated. Results. There were significant differences in the expression levels of both genes and gene isoforms between ACPA + and ACPA- RA samples. Expression of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CXCL2) was significantly increased in ACPA + RA patients than in ACPA- RA patients and healthy controls. Validation of candidate genes expression showed that CXCL2 levels in PBMCs and serum were higher in ACPA + RA patients than in ACPA- RA patients and healthy controls. CXCL2 promoted the migration of CD14 + monocytes and increased osteoclast differentiation in RA patients. RAW264.7 macrophages were used to investigate specific mechanisms, and the results suggested that CXCL2 stimulated osteoclastogenesis via ERK MAPK and NFκB pathways. Conclusion. Novel pathways associated with ACPA + RA were identified via RNA sequencing, and CXCL2 was highly expressed in ACPA + RA than in ACPA- RA. These results reveal a previously unreported role of CXCL2 during osteoclastogenesis in RA, and suggest that the blockade of CXCL2 might be a novel strategy for the treatment of RA.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kunzhe Dong ◽  
Shuang Chang ◽  
Qingmei Xie ◽  
Peng Zhao ◽  
Huanmin Zhang

Abstract Very virulent plus Marek’s disease (MD) virus (vv + MDV) induces tumors in relatively resistant lines of chickens and early mortality in highly susceptible lines of chickens. The vv + MDV also triggers a series of cellular responses in both types of chickens. We challenged birds sampled from a highly inbred chicken line (line 63) that is relatively resistant to MD and from another inbred line (line 72) that is highly susceptible to MD with a vv + MDV. RNA-sequencing analysis was performed with samples extracted from spleen tissues taken at 10-day and 21-day post infection (dpi). A total of 64 and 106 differentially expressed genes was identified in response to the vv + MDV challenge at latent phase in the resistant and susceptible lines of chickens, respectively. Direct comparisons between samples of the two lines identified 90 and 126 differentially expressed genes for control and MDV challenged groups, respectively. The differentially expressed gene profiles illustrated that intensive defense responses were significantly induced by vv + MDV at 10 dpi and 21 dpi but with slight changes in the resistant line. In contrast, vv + MDV induced a measurable suppression of gene expression associated with host defense at 10 dpi but followed by an apparent activation of the defense response at 21 dpi in the susceptible line of chickens. The observed difference in gene expression between the two genetic lines of chickens in response to MDV challenge during the latent phase provided a piece of indirect evidence that time points for MDV reactivation differ between the genetic lines of chickens with different levels of genetic resistance to MD. Early MDV reactivation might be necessary and potent to host defense system readiness for damage control of tumorigenesis and disease progression, which consequently results in measurable differences in phenotypic characteristics including early mortality (8 to 20 dpi) and tumor incidence between the resistant and susceptible lines of chickens. Combining differential gene expression patterns with reported GO function terms and quantitative trait loci, a total of 27 top genes was selected as highly promising candidate genes for genetic resistance to MD. These genes are functionally involved with virus process (F13A1 and HSP90AB1), immunity (ABCB1LB, RGS5, C10ORF58, OSF-2, MMP7, CXCL12, GAL1, GAL2, GAL7, HVCN1, PDE4D, IL4I1, PARP9, EOMES, MPEG1, PDK4, CCLI10, K60 and FST), and tumor suppression (ADAMTS2, LXN, ARRDC3, WNT7A, CLDN1 and HPGD). It is anticipated that these findings will facilitate advancement in the fundamental understanding on mechanisms of genetic resistance to MD. In addition, such advancement may also provide insights on tumor virus-induced tumorigenesis in general and help the research community recognize MD study may serve as a good model for oncology study involving tumor viruses.


Rheumatology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Inamo

Abstract Objectives The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between the type of autoantibody and gene expression profile in skin lesions from patients with SSc, and to identify specific dysregulated pathways in SSc patients compared with healthy controls. Methods Sixty-one patients with SSc from the Genetics vs Environment in Scleroderma Outcome Study cohort and 36 healthy controls were included in this study. Differentially expressed genes were extracted and functional enrichment and pathway analysis were conducted. Results Compared with healthy controls, lists containing 2, 71, 10, 144 and 78 differentially expressed genes were created for patients without specific autoantibody, ACA, anti-U1 RNP antibody (RNP), anti-RNA polymerase III antibody (RNAP) and anti-topoisomerase I antibody (ATA), respectively. While part of the enriched pathways overlapped, distinct pathways were identified except in those patients lacking specific autoantibody. The distinct enriched pathways included ‘keratinocyte differentiation’ for ACA, ‘nuclear factor κB signalling’ and ‘cellular response to TGF-β stimulus’ for RNAP, ‘interferon α/β signalling’ for RNP, and ‘cellular response to stress’ for ATA. Cell type signature score analysis revealed that macrophages/monocytes, endothelial cells and fibroblasts were associated with ACA, RNAP, ATA and the severity of the SSc skin lesions. Conclusion Pathogenic pathways were identified according to the type of autoantibody by leveraging gene expression data of patients and controls from a multicentre cohort. The current study may promote the search for new therapeutic targets for SSc.


Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 104 (11) ◽  
pp. 136-136
Author(s):  
Craig E. Eckfeldt ◽  
Eric M. Mendenhall ◽  
Stephen C. Ekker ◽  
Catherine M. Verfaillie

Abstract Self-renewal and lineage differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) is likely regulated by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic signals. At present these signals are poorly understood. Recently, numerous groups have identified the expressed gene profile of HSC in an attempt to identify novel genes that regulate HSC fate decisions. Likewise, our group compared the expressed gene profiles of CD34+CD33−CD38−Rholoc-kit+ (Rholo) cells, enriched in primitive progenitors and presumed human HSC, compared to CD34+CD33−CD38−Rhohi (Rhohi) cells, depleted of such cells, from umbilical cord blood (UCB) and bone marrow (BM) to identify conserved signaling pathways active in these ontogenically distinct populations using the Afftymetrix™ HG-U133 GeneChip® set. We identified a putative molecular signature for human HSC containing 286 genes, expressed more highly in Rholo or Rhohi cells from both cell sources using a p<0.05 and fold change of 1.5 cutoff. To assess the role of this series of genes in a high-throughput fashion, we developed an in vivo functional genomics screen in the zebrafish that allows for the determination of hematopoietic function of the differentially expressed genes. Candidate gene expression was knocked down by injecting morpholino antisense oligonucleotides (MO) into 1–4 cell embryos from GATA1:DsRed transgenic zebrafish that have red fluorescent GATA1+ blood cells and blood production was scored by fluorescence microscopy at 30 and 48 hours post-fertilization. Of the 286 differentially expressed genes, 128 were deemed too universal or likely non-specific for hematopoiesis, and were not targeted. These included histones, HLA-antigens, hemoglobin genes, and genes encoding proteins involved in general cellular metabolism. Of the remaining 158, MO were designed for 70 (44%), no zebrafish ortholog could be identified for 72 (46%), inadequate sequence information was available to design morpholinos for 9 (6%) and multiple zebrafish orthologs were identified for 7 (4%). Fluorescence microscopy of GATA1:DsRed fish has revealed a reproducible reduction in GATA1+ blood cell number for 13 of 55 MO-targeted genes analyzed to date, giving a 24% frequency for hematopoietic phenotypes in the screen, that compares very favorably with the noted 0.5–1% frequency of hematopoietic genes identified in ENU mutagenesis screens that mutate genes in a near random fashion. The functionally-validated genes identified thus far include known genes that lack a known hematopoietic function such as SPRY1, CRTAP, IRAK3 and UCP2, as well as genes that currently lack a functional annotation such as C12orf2, DKFZp564D137, MGC15875 and FLJ21269. Hematopoietic phenotypes are being further characterized by whole-mount in situ hybridization for hematopoietic genes and rescue of hematopoietic phenotypes by co-injection of overexpression vectors in the zebrafish. In addition, we are confirming the role of the genes in mammalian hematopoiesis using overexpression and knockdown studies in murine and human repopulating HSC. This is the first description of a high-throughput functional genomics screen in the zebrafish to functionally validate differentially expressed genes, an essential step in obtaining meaningful functional data from global gene profiling studies.


Blood ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 120 (21) ◽  
pp. 4582-4582
Author(s):  
Wei Liao ◽  
Gwen Jordaan ◽  
Artur Jaroszewicz ◽  
Matteo Pellegrini ◽  
Sanjai Sharma

Abstract Abstract 4582 High throughput sequencing of cellular mRNA provides a comprehensive analysis of the transcriptome. Besides identifying differentially expressed genes in different cell types, it also provides information of mRNA isoforms and splicing alterations. We have analyzed two CLL specimens and a normal peripheral blood B cells mRNA by this approach and performed data analysis to identify differentially expressed and spliced genes. The result showed CLLs specimens express approximately 40% more transcripts compared to normal B cells. The FPKM data (fragment per kilobase of exon per million) revealed a higher transcript expression on chromosome 12 in CLL#1 indicating the presence of trisomy 12, which was confirmed by fluorescent in-situ hybridization assay. With a two-fold change in FPKM as a cutoff and a p value cutoff of 0.05 as compared to the normal B cell control, 415 genes and 174 genes in CLL#1 and 676 and 235 genes in CLL#2 were up and downregulated or differentially expressed. In these two CLL specimens, 45% to 75% of differentially expressed genes are common to both the CLL specimens indicating that genetically disparate CLL specimens have a high percentage of a core set of genes that are potentially important for CLL biology. Selected differentially expressed genes with increased expression (selectin P ligand, SELPLG, and adhesion molecule interacts with CXADR antigen 1, AMICA) and decreased (Fos, Jun, CD69 and Rhob) expression based on the FPKM from RNA-sequencing data were also analyzed in additional CLL specimens by real time PCR analysis. The expression data from RNA-seq closely matches the fold-change in expression as measured by RT-PCR analysis and confirms the validity of the RNA-seq analysis. Interestingly, Fos was identified as one of the most downregulated gene in CLL. Using the Cufflinks and Cuffdiff software, the splicing patterns of genes in CLL specimens and normal B cells were analyzed. Approximately, 1100 to 1250 genes in the two CLL specimens were significantly differentially spliced as compared to normal B cells. In this analysis as well, there is a core set of 800 common genes which are differentially spliced in the two CLL specimens. The RNA-sequencing analysis accurately identifies differentially expressed novel genes and splicing variations that will help us understand the biology of CLL. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Gao ◽  
Yong Jie Yang ◽  
En Qi Li ◽  
Jia Ning Mao

Objective Evidence indicates that physical activity influence bone health. However, the molecular mechanisms mediating the beneficial adaptations to exercise are not well understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the differentially expressed genes in PBMC between athletes and healthy controls, and to analyze the important functional genes and signal pathways that cause increased bone mineral density in athletes, in order to further reveal the molecular mechanisms of exercise promoting bone health. Methods Five professional trampoline athletes and five age-matched untrained college students participated in this study. Used the human expression Microarray V4.0 expression profiling chip to detect differentially expressed genes in the two groups, and performed KEGG Pathway analysis and application of STRING database to construct protein interaction Network; Real-Time PCR technology was used to verify the expression of some differential genes.  Results Compared with healthy controls, there were significant improvement in lumbar spine bone mineral density, and 236 up-regulated as well as 265 down-regulated in serum samples of athletes. The differentially expressed genes involved 28 signal pathways, such as cell adhesion molecules. Protein interaction network showed that MYC was at the core node position. Real-time PCR results showed that the expression levels of CD40 and ITGα6 genes in the athletes were up-regulated compared with the healthy controls, the detection results were consistent with that of the gene chip. Conclusions The findings highlight that long-term high-intensity trampoline training could induce transcriptional changes in PBMC of the athletes. These data suggest that gene expression fingerprints can serve as a powerful research tool to design novel strategies for monitoring exercise. The findings of the study also provide support for the notion that PBMC could be used as a substitute to study exercise training that affects bone health.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S32-S32
Author(s):  
Reza Yarani ◽  
Oana Palasca ◽  
Nadezhda Tsankova Doncheva ◽  
Christian Anthon ◽  
Bartosz Pilecki ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) ulcerative colitis (UC) murine models have long been used for in vivo studies. DSS is a negatively charged polysaccharide with colitogenic properties. Although the mechanisms by which DSS induces intestinal inflammation are not fully understood, there are several good reasons why the DSS chemical colitis model for investigating the immunopathogenesis mechanism of UC is widely used. These include strong phenotypic clinical manifestations which emulate numerous clinical and histopathological features of human UC, ease of use, low mortality rate and high reproducibility. Here, by using high-throughput RNA sequencing analysis we set to investigate the major predicted gene regulators (GRs) affected by differentially expressed genes in the DSS treated UC model in order to obtain regulatory insights into the pathogenic mechanisms of UC development. Methods A DSS-induced mouse model of UC was established. Total RNA from colon tissue and blood of 3 healthy and 3 DSS-treated mice was extracted and sequenced by Illumina HiSeq 4000. Gene expression levels were obtained by mapping and quantification to the annotated mouse genome. Subsequently, differential gene expression analysis between DSS-treated and control mice both in colon and blood was performed. Ingenuity pathway analysis software (IPA®, Qiagen) was used to predict/identify major GRs affected by significantly differentially expressed genes (SDEGs, FC > |2|, p ≤0.05) in both colon and blood. Results Our analysis revealed how many and which major GRs are affected in DSS-treated mice and also the direction of change as compared to healthy (untreated) mice. In colon, 595 activated and 198 inhibited major GRs (p-value of overlap ≤0.05) in relation to ∼ 3180 SDEGs were identified, while in blood, we identified 205 activated and 62 inhibited GRs (in relation to ∼650 SDEGs). Colon and blood share 181 activated and 41 inhibited GRs. Identified GRs include transcription regulators, cytokines, transmembrane receptors and enzymes that mainly contribute to the development of inflammatory/immune responses. In colon and blood, the top 10 activated and inhibited regulators with the highest positive and negative activation z-score with target molecules as well as expression in the datasets are indicated in Figure 1a and 1b, respectively. Conclusion In this study, we analyzed linkage of GRs to SDEGs through coordinated expression and identified potential major regulators that have significant effect on UC pathogenic-related gene expression. These GRs seem to be the key regulators of transcriptomic changes induced by inflammation. These findings expand our molecular understanding of putative new targets that may be important in the pathophysiology of UC and provide biological insights into the observed expression changes between the UC and healthy controls.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (12) ◽  
pp. 1067
Author(s):  
Wangsheng Zhao ◽  
Eugene Quansah ◽  
Meng Yuan ◽  
Pengcheng Li ◽  
Chuanping Yi ◽  
...  

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as potent regulators of gene expression and are widely expressed in biological systems. In reproduction, they have been shown to have a significant role in the acquisition and maintenance of male fertility, whereby deletion of Dicer in mouse germ cells leads to infertility. Evidence indicates that this role of miRNAs extends from the testis into the epididymis, controlling gene expression and contributing to regional variations in gene expression. In this study, RNA sequencing technology was used to investigate miRNA expression patterns in the yak epididymis. Region-specific miRNA expression was found in the yak epididymis. In all, 683 differentially expressed known miRNAs were obtained; 190, 186 and 307 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified for caput versus corpus, corpus versus cauda and caput versus cauda region pairs respectively. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes results showed endocytosis as the most enriched pathway across region pairs, followed by protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, phagosome, spliceosome and biosynthesis of amino acids in region pair-specific hierarchical order. Gene ontology results showed varied enrichment in terms including cell, biogenesis, localisation, binding and locomotion across region pairs. In addition, significantly higher miR-34c expression was seen in the yak caput epididymidis relative to the corpus and cauda epididymidis.


Blood ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 122 (21) ◽  
pp. 3671-3671
Author(s):  
Michael Getman ◽  
Jeffrey Malik ◽  
James Palis ◽  
Laurie A Steiner

Abstract The molecular mechanisms that drive the maturation of a committed erythroid progenitor to a functional red blood cell are incompletely understood. LSD1 (Lysine-Specific Histone Demethylase 1) is a widely expressed histone demethylase that plays an important role in erythroid maturation (Kereyni, elife, 2013). Although LSD1 is important for a number of biologic processes ranging from embryonic development to leukemogenesis, the molecular mechanisms underlying the influence of LSD1 on gene expression are incompletely understood. The goal of our study is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which LSD1 regulates erythroid gene expression and influences erythroid maturation. We hypothesize that LSD1 promotes specific patterns of histone and DNA methylation that facilitate gene expression changes necessary for normal erythroid maturation to occur. To address this hypothesis, the functional and molecular consequences of LSD1 knockdown were assessed in Extensively Self Renewing Erythroblasts (ESREs), a non-transformed, karyotypically normal model of terminal erythroid maturation (England, Blood, 2011). Primary fetal liver was cultured in the presence of EPO, SCF, IGF1 and dexamethasone to derive ESREs. The ESREs were capable of extensive ex-vivo expansion, doubling daily at the proerythroblast phase, however when matured, >90% of cells became benzidine positive and >65% enucleated within 3 days. Lentiviral-mediated shRNA was used to knock down LSD1 in expanding ESREs. Imaging flow cytometry done on maturation day 3 demonstrated that the knockdown cells had impairments in multiple facets of maturation, with larger cell and nuclear areas, higher kit expression, and lower rates of enucleation than the scramble control. LSD1 knockdown was also associated with impaired hemoglobin accumulation (78% vs. 95% benzidine positive; p<0.005). Treatment of ESREs with an inhibitor to LSD1 (Tranylcypromine; TCP) resulted in similar abnormalities in cell and nuclear size, kit expression, hemoglobin accumulation, and enucleation (40% vehicle vs.1% TCP). The functional deficits in maturation, including abnormal kit expression and low rates of enucleation, persisted on maturation day 4. To delineate the molecular mechanisms underlying this maturation impairment, RNA-seq was done in LSD1 knockdown and scramble control samples, and 230 differentially expressed genes (FDR<0.01) were identified using cuffdiff (Trapnell, Nat Biotech, 2013). Consistent with LSD1’s role in erythroid maturation, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis identified multiple networks involving hemoglobin synthesis, and GATA1, EPO, and KLF1 were all predicted as upstream regulators (p-values of 8.24e10-11, 7.25 e10-6, and 3.86e10-4, respectively). To better understand how LSD1 influences gene expression, chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with high throughput sequencing was used to identify sites of H3K4me2 binding in the differentially expressed genes. 214/230 differentially expressed genes were associated with sites of H3K4me2 occupancy. Quantitative ChIP demonstrated that LSD1 inhibition was associated with increases in H3K4me2 levels at a subset of these sites, however consistent with previous studies, global levels of H3K4me2, determined by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELIZA), did not change significantly. Although it is known that LSD1 demethylates and stabilizes the maintenance DNA methyltransferase DNMT1 (Wang, Nat Genet 2009), the consequences of LSD1 loss on DNA methylation (5-methyl cytosine; 5-mC) have yet to be investigated. To gain a comprehensive understanding of how LSD1 regulates erythroid gene expression, changes in the level of 5-mC were assessed after knockdown or inhibition of LSD1. Global 5-mC levels, determined by ELIZA assay, were ∼30% lower in TCP treated samples than vehicle treated control (p<0.02) and western blot demonstrated a 3-fold decrease in DNMT1 protein in the TCP treated samples. Both methyl binding domain pull-down coupled with quantitative PCR and genome-wide bisulfite sequencing were utilized to assess changes in 5-mC levels in the differentially expressed genes. Loss of LSD1 was associated with significantly lower levels of 5-mC at several differentially expressed, erythroid-specific genes, such as bh1. Taken together, these data support the hypothesis that LSD1 influences both histone and DNA methylation at genes important for erythroid maturation. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 373-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nada Lukkahatai ◽  
Brian Walitt ◽  
Alexandra Espina ◽  
Dan Wang ◽  
Leorey N. Saligan

Background: Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), a chronic musculoskeletal condition characterized by diffuse pain, fatigue, sleep impairment, and cognitive dysfunction, is associated with significant functional disability. Its underlying biological mechanisms are unknown. This study investigated differentially expressed genes between women with FMS and healthy volunteers. Methods: Women who met the 1990 or 2010 American College of Rheumatology fibromyalgia criteria were compared to age- and race-matched pain-free healthy women. Peripheral blood samples were collected, and a full genome microarray gene expression analysis was performed. One-way analysis of variance was used to identify differentially expressed genes using the filtering criterion of 1% false discovery rate. Analysis of canonical pathways associated with these genes was performed. Confirmatory quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay verified microarray results. Independent t-tests compared gene and protein expression between groups. Result: Participants were 54 women with FMS and 25 controls. Expression arrays from a subset of women with FMS ( n = 29) and controls ( n = 20) showed upregulation of 12 genes (>1.8-fold change, p < .05) in the FMS sample. Differentially expressed genes were related to B-cell development, primary immunodeficiency signaling, and mitotic roles of polo-like kinase. CENPK and HSP90AA1 were the most differentially expressed genes ( p < .01). Conclusion: Activity of interrelated pathways related to immune response, and homeostasis appears to be relevant to the experience of FMS. Replication and exploration of the relationship between gene expression and symptom severity will help determine clinical relevance of these findings.


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