scholarly journals Integrated Insight into the Molecular Mechanisms of Spontaneous Abortion during Early Pregnancy in Pigs

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 6644
Author(s):  
Xupeng Zang ◽  
Ting Gu ◽  
Wenjing Wang ◽  
Chen Zhou ◽  
Yue Ding ◽  
...  

Due to the high rate of spontaneous abortion (SAB) in porcine pregnancy, there is a major interest and concern on commercial pig farming worldwide. Whereas the perturbed immune response at the maternal–fetal interface is an important mechanism associated with the spontaneous embryo loss in the early stages of implantation in porcine, data on the specific regulatory mechanism of the SAB at the end stage of the implantation remains scant. Therefore, we used high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics tools to analyze the healthy and arresting endometrium on day 28 of pregnancy. We identified 639 differentially expressed lncRNAs (DELs) and 2357 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) at the end stage of implantation, and qRT-PCR was used to verify the sequencing data. Gene set variation analysis (GSVA), gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), and immunohistochemistry analysis demonstrated weaker immune response activities in the arresting endometrium compared to the healthy one. Using the lasso regression analysis, we screened the DELs and constructed an immunological competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network related to SAB, including 4 lncRNAs, 11 miRNAs, and 13 genes. In addition, Blast analysis showed the applicability of the constructed ceRNA network in different species, and subsequently determined HOXA-AS2 in pigs. Our study, for the first time, demonstrated that the SAB events at the end stages of implantation is associated with the regulation of immunobiological processes, and a specific molecular regulatory network was obtained. These novel findings may provide new insight into the possibility of increasing the litter size of sows, making pig breeding better and thus improving the efficiency of animal husbandry production.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran-ran Zhou ◽  
Hu Tian ◽  
Cheng Yang ◽  
Fan Peng ◽  
Hao-yu Yuan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Immunotherapy has been proved to be effective for bladder cancer (BLCA). However, the molecular network involved in BLCA tumor immune response remains unclear. This study aims to construct an immune-related ceRNA network and to identify the prognostic value. Methods: Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we used single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA), weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to determine immune-related mRNA, lncRNA and miRNA. Then least absolute shrinkage, and selection operator (LASSO) and Cox regression were performed to identify the mRNAs with high prognostic value, and accordingly, the risk score was calculated. Internal and external validation were performed both in TCGA and GSE13507 with Kaplan-Meier (KM) survival and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Using the immune-related mRNA, lncRNA and miRNA, a ceRNA network was established via MiRcode, starBase, miRDB, miRTarBase and TargetScan. Besides, we also explore the relationship between the risk score and immune cell infiltration via CIBERSORT algorithm. Results: 5 mRNAs (PCGF3, FASN, DPYSL2, TGFBI and NTF3) were ultimately identified, and KM survival analysis displayed the 5-mRNA risk signature could predict the prognosis of BLCA with high efficacy both in TCGA (p = 1.006e-13) and GSE13507 (p = 7.759e-04). Using miRNA targeting molecular prediction database, an immune-related ceRNA network, including 5 mRNAs, 24 miRNAs and 86 lncRNAs, was constructed. Memory B cells, activated dendritic cells, and regulatory T cells infiltration into tumors were negatively correlated with risk score, while the infiltration levels of macrophages M0, M1 and M2 were positively correlated with risk score. Conclusion: This study helped to better understand the molecular mechanisms of tumor immune response from the view of ceRNA hypothesis, and provided a novel prognostic signature for bladder cancer.


2018 ◽  
Vol 314 (4) ◽  
pp. L617-L625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjun Mohan ◽  
Anagha Malur ◽  
Matthew McPeek ◽  
Barbara P. Barna ◽  
Lynn M. Schnapp ◽  
...  

To advance our understanding of the pathobiology of sarcoidosis, we developed a multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-based murine model that shows marked histological and inflammatory signal similarities to this disease. In this study, we compared the alveolar macrophage transcriptional signatures of our animal model with human sarcoidosis to identify overlapping molecular programs. Whole genome microarrays were used to assess gene expression of alveolar macrophages in six MWCNT-exposed and six control animals. The results were compared with the transcriptional profiles of alveolar immune cells in 15 sarcoidosis patients and 12 healthy humans. Rigorous statistical methods were used to identify differentially expressed genes. To better elucidate activated pathways, integrated network and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was performed. We identified over 1,000 differentially expressed between control and MWCNT mice. Gene ontology functional analysis showed overrepresentation of processes primarily involved in immunity and inflammation in MCWNT mice. Applying GSEA to both mouse and human samples revealed upregulation of 92 gene sets in MWCNT mice and 142 gene sets in sarcoidosis patients. Commonly activated pathways in both MWCNT mice and sarcoidosis included adaptive immunity, T-cell signaling, IL-12/IL-17 signaling, and oxidative phosphorylation. Differences in gene set enrichment between MWCNT mice and sarcoidosis patients were also observed. We applied network analysis to differentially expressed genes common between the MWCNT model and sarcoidosis to identify key drivers of disease. In conclusion, an integrated network and transcriptomics approach revealed substantial functional similarities between a murine model and human sarcoidosis particularly with respect to activation of immune-specific pathways.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 11509-11509
Author(s):  
Christopher James Walker ◽  
Hua Chang ◽  
Jianjun Liu ◽  
Bruno Vincenzi ◽  
Andrea Napolitano ◽  
...  

11509 Background: Patients (pts) with recurrent inoperative DDLS have a poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Selinexor is an oral, selective inhibitor of nuclear export (SINE) compound approved for previously treated pts with myeloma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. SEAL was a Phase 2-3 randomized, double-blind, study of selinexor versus placebo in pts with progressive DDLS and 2-5 prior systemic therapies. SEAL showed significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS, HR = 0.70, p = 0.0228) with well managed toxicity. A biomarker predictive of clinical activity could be used to optimize selection of pts with DDLS for selinexor. Methods: Pts were randomized 2:1 for Phase 3: 188 received twice weekly selinexor (60mg) and 97 received placebo. Three exploratory biomarker analyses (RNA sequencing of biopsies) from selinexor-treated pts were performed: discovery set of sensitive (n = 8) or resistant (n = 9) tumors; a validation set of pts with favorable (n = 19) or poor (n = 14) tumor control based on PFS, and paired lesions from a pt who harbored both a responsive and resistant lesion. Tumor biopsies from 24 pts on placebo with short ( < 5 months, n = 18) and long ( > 6 months, n = 6) PFS were RNA sequenced. Gene expressions were compared using a negative binomial distribution with DeSeq2. Pathway analyses were performed using Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) with MSigDB Cancer Gene Neighborhoods. Results: RNA sequencing analysis comparing 17 sensitive and resistant tumors identified 114 differentially expressed genes (adjusted p-values < 0.05). Expression of CALB1, which encodes the calcium-binding protein calbindin, was significantly lower in sensitive tumors (adjusted P [Padj] = 7.5x10-20), and expression of GRM1, which encodes a metabotropic glutamate receptor that activates phospholipase C, was higher in selinexor sensitive tumors (Padj= 0.003). These findings were confirmed in an independent validation set (Padj = 0.01 – 0.02). In the pt with paired sensitive and resistant lesions, CALB1 expression was 52-fold lower in the sensitive tumor. In a comparison of placebo-treated pts, neither CALB1 or GRM1 was differentially expressed between pts with short or long PFS, indicating they are markers of response to selinexor treatment, rather than general markers of disease aggressiveness. Gene set enrichment analyses revealed that selinexor sensitive tumors in the discovery and validation sets showed upregulation of cancer genes related to SNRK and the netrin 1 receptor tumor suppressor DCC. The resistant tumors showed upregulated EIF3S2 translation initiator-related genes. Conclusions: Selinexor sensitive DDLS tumors showed low expression of CALB1 and high GRM1. If validated, pts with DDLS whose tumors match this expression profile are especially likely to benefit from selinexor. Clinical trial information: NCT02606461.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 205873842097630
Author(s):  
Li Jiang ◽  
Mengmeng Zhang ◽  
Sixue Wang ◽  
Yuzhen Xiao ◽  
Jingni Wu ◽  
...  

The current study intended to explore the interaction of the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), microRNA (miRNA), and messenger RNA (mRNA) under the background of competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network in endometriosis (EMs). The differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRs), differentially expressed lncRNA (DELs), and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between EMs ectopic (EC) and eutopic (EU) endometrium based on three RNA-sequencing datasets (GSE105765, GSE121406, and GSE105764) were identified, which were used for the construction of ceRNA network. Then, DEGs in the ceRNA network were performed with Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway, and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis. Besides, the DEmiRs in the ceRNA network were validated in GSE124010. And the target DELs and DEGs of verified DEmiRs were validated in GSE86534. The correlation of verified DEmiRs, DEGs, and DELs was explored. Moreover, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was applied to investigate the function of verified DEmiRs, DEGs, and DELs. Overall, 1352 DEGs and 595 DELs from GSE105764, along with 27 overlapped DEmiRs between GSE105765 and GSE121406, were obtained. Subsequently, a ceRNA network, including 11 upregulated and 16 downregulated DEmiRs, 7 upregulated and 13 downregulated DELs, 48 upregulated and 46 downregulated DEGs, was constructed. The GO and KEGG pathway analysis showed that this ceRNA network probably was associated with inflammation-related pathways. Furthermore, hsa-miR-182-5p and its target DELs (LINC01018 and SMIM25) and DEGs (BNC2, CHL1, HMCN1, PRDM16) were successfully verified in the validation analysis. Besides, hsa-miR-182-5p was significantly negatively correlated with these target DELs and DEGs. The GSEA analysis implied that high expression of LINC01018, SMIM25, and CHL1, and low expression of hsa-miR-182-5p would activate inflammation-related pathways in endometriosis EU samples. LINC01018 and SMIM25 might sponge hsa-miR-182-5p to upregulate downstream genes such as CHL1 to promote the development of endometriosis.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuangming Yue ◽  
Zhisheng Wang ◽  
Lizhi Wang ◽  
Quanhui Peng ◽  
Bai Xue

Heat stress (HS) exerts significant effects on the production of dairy animals through impairing health and biological functions. However, the molecular mechanisms related to the effect of HS on dairy cow milk production are still largely unknown. The present study employed an RNA-sequencing approach to explore the molecular mechanisms associated with a decline in milk production by the functional analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in mammary glands of cows exposed to HS and non-heat-stressed cows. The results of the current study reveal that HS increases the rectal temperature and respiratory rate. Cows under HS result in decreased bodyweight, dry matter intake (DMI), and milk yield. In the current study, a total of 213 genes in experimental cow mammary glands was identified as being differentially expressed by DEGs analysis. Among identified genes, 89 were upregulated, and 124 were downregulated. Gene Ontology functional analysis found that biological processes, such as immune response, chaperone-dependent refolding of protein, and heat shock protein binding activity, were notably affected by HS. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis found that almost all of the top-affected pathways were related to immune response. Under HS, the expression of heat shock protein 90 kDa beta I (HSP90B1) and heat shock 70 kDa protein 1A was upregulated, while the expression of bovine lymphocyte antigen (BoLA) and histocompatibility complex, class II, DRB3 (BoLA-DRB3) was downregulated. We further explored the effects of HS on lactation-related genes and pathways and found that HS significantly downregulated the casein genes. Furthermore, HS increased the expression of phosphorylation of mammalian target of rapamycin, cytosolic arginine sensor for mTORC1 subunit 2 (CASTOR2), and cytosolic arginine sensor for mTORC1 subunit 1 (CASTOR1), but decreased the phosphorylation of Janus kinase-2, a signal transducer and activator of transcription factor-5. Based on the findings of DMI, milk yield, casein gene expression, and the genes and pathways identified by functional annotation analysis, it is concluded that HS adversely affects the immune function of dairy cows. These results will be beneficial to understand the underlying mechanism of reduced milk yield in HS cows.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Panitch ◽  
Junming Hu ◽  
Weiming Xia ◽  
David A Bennett ◽  
Thor D Stein ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: While Alzheimer disease (AD) is generally considered as a brain disorder, blood biomarkers may be useful for diagnosis and prediction of AD brain pathology. The APOE ε4 allele has shown cerebrovascular effects including acceleration of blood brain barrier breakdown. Methods: We evaluated differential expression of previously established AD genes in brains from 344 pathologically confirmed AD cases and 232 controls and in blood from 112 pathologically confirmed AD cases and 67 controls from the Religious Orders Study and Memory and Aging Project. Differential gene expression between AD cases and controls was analyzed in the blood and brain jointly using a multivariate approach in the total sample and within APOE genotype groups. Gene set enrichment analysis was performed within APOE genotype groups using the results from the combined blood and brain analyses to identify biologically important pathways. Gene co-expression networks in brain and blood samples were investigated using weighted correlation network analysis. Top ranked genes from networks and pathways were further evaluated with vascular injury traits. Results: We observed differentially expressed genes with P<0.05 in both brain and blood for established AD genes INPP5D (upregulated) and HLA-DQA1 (downregulated). PIGHP1 and FRAS1 were differentially expressed at the transcriptome-wide level (P<3.3x10 -6 ) within ε2/ε3 and ε3/ε4 groups, respectively. Gene-set enrichment analysis revealed 21 significant pathways (false discovery rate P<0.05) in at least one APOE genotype group. Ten pathways were significantly enriched in the ε3/ε4 group, and six of these were unique to these subjects. Four pathways were enriched for AD upregulated genes in the ε3/ε4 group and AD downregulated genes in ε4 lacking subjects. We identified a co-expressed gene network in brain that reproduced in blood and showed higher average expression in ε4 carriers. Twenty-three genes from pathway and network analyses were significantly associated at P<0.05 with at least one vascular injury trait. Conclusion: These results suggest that APOE genotype contributes to unique expression network profiles in both blood and brain. Several genes in these networks are associated with measures of vascular injury and potentially contribute to ε4’s effect on the blood brain barrier.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Xinheng Liu ◽  
Yongxian Rong ◽  
Donglin Huang ◽  
Zhijie Liang ◽  
Xiaolin Yi ◽  
...  

Severe burns are acute wounds caused by local heat exposure, resulting in life-threatening systemic effects and poor survival. However, the specific molecular mechanisms remain unclear. First, we downloaded gene expression data related to severe burns from the GEO database (GSE19743, GSE37069, and GSE77791). Then, a gene expression analysis was performed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and construct protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. The molecular mechanism was identified by enrichment analysis and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis. In addition, STEM software was used to screen for genes persistently expressed during response to severe burns, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to identify key DEGs. A total of 2631 upregulated and 3451 downregulated DEGs were identified. PPI network analysis clustered these DEGs into 13 modules. Importantly, module genes mostly related with immune responses and metabolism. In addition, we identified genes persistently altered during the response to severe burns corresponding to survival and death status. Among the genes with high area under the ROC curve in the PPI network gene, CCL5 and LCK were identified as key DEGs, which may affect the prognosis of burn patients. Gene set variation analysis showed that the immune response was inhibited and several types of immune cells were decreased, while the metabolic response was enhanced. The results showed that persistent gene expression changes occur in response to severe burns, which may underlie chronic alterations in physiological pathways. Identifying the key altered genes may reveal potential therapeutic targets for mitigating the effects of severe burns.


Author(s):  
Ishtiaque Ahammad

Cocaine addiction is a global health problem that causes substantial damage to the health of addicted individuals around the world. Dopamine synthesizing neurons in the brain play a vital role in the addiction to cocaine. But the underlying molecular mechanisms that help cocaine exert its addictive effect have not been very well understood. Bioinformatics can be a useful tool in the attempt to broaden our understanding in this area. In the present study, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was carried out on the upregulated genes from a dataset of Dopamine synthesizing neurons of post-mortem human brain of cocaine addicts. As a result of this analysis, 3 miRNAs have been identified as having significant influence on transcription of the upregulated genes. These 3 miRNAs hold therapeutic potential for the treatment of cocaine addiction.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunirmal Sheet ◽  
Jong Seok Kim ◽  
Min Jeong Ko ◽  
Na Yeon Kim ◽  
Young Jo Lim ◽  
...  

Abstract As a companion and hunting dog, height, length, length to height ratio (LHR) and body-weight are the vital economic traits for Jindo dog. Artificial breeding has produced an extraordinary diversity in these traits. Therefore, the identification of causative markers, genes and pathways that led us to understand the genetic basis of this variability is essential for their selection purposes. Here, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) combined with pathway-based analysis on 757 dogs using 118,879 SNPs. A higher heritability (h2) was detected for height (0.33) and weight (0.28) trait in Jindo. At a threshold of p-value < 5E-05, 10, 6, 13, and 11 SNPs on different chromosomes were significantly associated with height, length, LHR and body-weight traits, respectively. Based on our result, HHIP, LCORL, and NCAPG for height, IGFI and FGFR3 for length, DLK1 and EFEMP1 for LHR, and PTPN2, IGFI, and RASAL2 for weight can be the potential candidate genes because the significant SNPs located in their intronic or upstream regions. An additive and dominant mode of inheritance was noticed from the phenotype-genotype correlation plot for top variants. The gene-set enrichment analysis highlighted here 9 and 7 overlapping significant (p < 0.05) GO terms and pathways among traits. Interestingly, the highlighted pathways were related to hormone synthesis, secretion and signaling were generally involved in the metabolism, growth and development process. Our data provide an insight into the significant genes and pathways if verified further, which will have a significant effect on the breeding /management of the Jindo dog’s population.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Zhao ◽  
Chen Wang ◽  
Wangxia Li ◽  
Bingyu Jin ◽  
Yang Xiang ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundThe mobidity and mortality of coronary artery disease (CAD) is increasing year by year. Hence it is urgent to probe into the molecular mechanism of CAD and seek new therapeutic strategies. The purpose of our study was to screen genes associated with the development of CAD by using bioinformatics tools and clinical samples. MethodsMicroarray datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database of peripheral blood cells (PBLs) were chosen for this study, and candidate differentially expressed microRNAs (DEMs) were screened using the limma and weighted co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) packages in R (v4.0). Subsequently, we construct a competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNA) network and perform enrichment analysis of genes in the network. Meanwhile, differentially methylated genes (DMGs) in PBLs were identified using the "ChAMP" package in a DNA methylation chip. We then constructed the methylation-associated ceRNA network in CAD. Eventually, the methylation levels of genes and the relationship with the expression of genes in ceRNA were validated in PBLs samples using the Illumina Methylation 850K chip and transcriptome sequencing, while gene expressions were verified by qRT-PCR. And the regulation of DNA methylation on gene expression was verified in the THP-1 cells treated with 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-AZA). ResultsA total of 71 differentially expressed miRNAs were screened by both WGCNA and limma. Then the ceRNA network in CAD was constructed with 269 nodes and 705 edges, which were significantly enriched in the chemokine-mediated signaling pathway and so on. Furthermore, from 4354 identified DMGs in a methylation data, 34 methylation-associated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 1 differentially expressed lncRNA (DEL) were obtained. After verification of methylation experiments in study population A, three genes were found to have altered methylation consistent with the bioinformatics results. And these genes were correlated in terms of methylation and expression levels. Corresponding with the bioinformatics results, qRT-PCR results in validation set B also showed that the expression of AGPAT4 and FAM169A were significantly lower in CAD. In addition, 5-AZA treatment could increase the expression of AGPAT4 and FAM169A in THP-1 cells. ConclusionsOur study deepens the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of CAD and provides new ideas for its treatment.


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