Acquisition and maintenance of vascular smooth muscle fate is essential for the morphogenesis and function of the circulatory system. Loss of contractile properties or changes in the identity of vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMC) can result in structural alterations associated with aneurysms and vascular wall calcifications. Here we report that maturation of sclerotome-derived vSMC is dependent on a transcriptional switch between mouse embryonic days 13 and 14.5. At this time point, Jag1-mediated repression of sclerotome transcription factors Pax1, scleraxis and Sox9 is necessary to fully enable vSMC maturation. Specifically, Notch signaling in vSMC antagonizes sclerotome and cartilage transcription factors, and promotes upregulation of contractile genes. In the absence of Jag1, vSMC acquire a chondrocytic transcriptional repertoire that can lead to ossification of the vascular wall. Importantly, our findings suggest that sustained Notch signaling is essential throughout vSMC life to maintain contractile function, prevent vSMC reprogramming and promote vascular wall integrity. Overall design: mRNA profile of vSMC from the descending aorta of 14.5 embryos Wild type (WT), SMC Jag1-heterozygous (HTZ) and SMC Jag1-null (KO) was generated by deep sequencing, in duplicate.
Repression of Sox9 by Jag1 is continuously required to suppress the default chondrogenic fate of vascular smooth muscle cells.
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View SamplesAcquisition and maintenance of vascular smooth muscle fate is essential for the morphogenesis and function of the circulatory system. Loss of contractile properties or changes in the identity of vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMC) can result in structural alterations associated with aneurysms and vascular wall calcifications. Here we report that maturation of sclerotome-derived vSMC is dependent on a transcriptional switch between mouse embryonic days 13 and 14.5. At this time point, Jag1-mediated repression of sclerotome transcription factors Pax1, scleraxis and Sox9 is necessary to fully enable vSMC maturation. Specifically, Notch signaling in vSMC antagonizes sclerotome and cartilage transcription factors, and promotes upregulation of contractile genes. In the absence of Jag1, vSMC acquire a chondrocytic transcriptional repertoire that can lead to ossification of the vascular wall. Importantly, our findings suggest that sustained Notch signaling is essential throughout vSMC life to maintain contractile function, prevent vSMC reprogramming and promote vascular wall integrity. Overall design: mRNA profile of vascular Smooth Muscle Cells, isolated from the descending aorta of Immorto mouse, treated or not with gamma-secretase inhibitor was generated by deep sequencing, in triplicate.
Repression of Sox9 by Jag1 is continuously required to suppress the default chondrogenic fate of vascular smooth muscle cells.
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View SamplesThe murine model of Lyme disease provides a unique opportunity to study the localized host response to similar stimulus, B. burgdorferi, in the joints of mice destined to develop severe arthritis (C3H) or mild disease (C57BL/6). Pathways associated with the response to infection and the development of Lyme arthritis were identified by global gene expression patterns using oligonucleotide microarrays. A robust induction of IFN responsive genes was observed in severely arthritic C3H mice at one week of infection, which was absent from mildly arthritic C57BL/6 mice. In contrast, infected C57BL/6 mice displayed a novel expression profile characterized by genes involved in epidermal differentiation and wound repair, which were decreased in the joints of C3H mice. These expression patterns were associated with disease state rather than inherent differences between C3H and C57BL/6 mice, as C57BL/6-IL10-/- mice infected with B. burgdorferi develop more severe arthritis that C57BL/6 mice and displayed an early gene expression profile similar to C3H mice. Gene expression profiles at two and four weeks post infection revealed a common response of all strains that was likely to be important for the host defense to B. burgdorferi and mediated by NF-kB-dependent signaling. The gene expression profiles identified in this study add to the current understanding of the host response to B. burgdorferi and identify two novel pathways that may be involved in regulating the severity of Lyme arthritis.
Gene expression profiling reveals unique pathways associated with differential severity of lyme arthritis.
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View SamplesGene expression profile of joint tissue from C3H and interval specific congenic mouse lines (ISCL) following infection with Borrelia burgdorferi
Interval-specific congenic lines reveal quantitative trait Loci with penetrant lyme arthritis phenotypes on chromosomes 5, 11, and 12.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe neurite outgrowth inhibitory myelin protein Nogo-A has been well studied in the context of central nervous system (CNS) injury and disease. We studied the effects of the application of neutralizing anti-Nogo-A antibodies (11C7 and 7B12) in intact CNS tissue in vitro using rat organotypic hippocampal slice cultures. This study had the purpose of elucidating the role of Nogo-A in the adult intact CNS and determining the consequences of its neutralization through antibody application.
Neutralization of the membrane protein Nogo-A enhances growth and reactive sprouting in established organotypic hippocampal slice cultures.
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View SamplesSmall interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) guide catalytic sequence-specific cleavage of fully or nearly fully complementary target mRNAs or control translation and/or stability of many mRNAs that share 6-8 nucleotides (nt) of complementarity to the siRNA and miRNA 5' end. siRNA- and miRNA-containing ribonucleoprotein silencing complexes are assembled from double-stranded 21- to 23-nt RNase III processing intermediates that carry 5' phosphates and 2-nt overhangs with free 3' hydroxyl groups. Despite the structural symmetry of a duplex siRNA, the nucleotide sequence asymmetry can generate a bias for preferred loading of one of the two duplex-forming strands into the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). Here we show that the 5'-phosphorylation status of the siRNA strands also acts as an important determinant for strand selection. 5'-O-methylated siRNA duplexes refractory to 5' phosphorylation were examined for their biases in siRNA strand selection. Asymmetric, single methylation of siRNA duplexes reduced the occupancy of the silencing complex by the methylated strand with concomitant elimination of its off-targeting signature and enhanced off-targeting signature of the phosphorylated strand. Methylation of both siRNA strands reduced but did not completely abolish RNA silencing, without affecting strand selection relative to that of the unmodified siRNA. We conclude that asymmetric 5' modification of siRNA duplexes can be useful for controlling targeting specificity.
Strand-specific 5'-O-methylation of siRNA duplexes controls guide strand selection and targeting specificity.
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View SamplesDysregulation of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway is associated with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and its mouse model, Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE). Suppressors Of Cytokine Signaling (SOCS) negatively regulate the JAK/STAT pathway. We previously reported a severe, brain-targeted, atypical form of EAE in mice lacking Socs3 in myeloid cells (Socs3?LysM), which is associated with cerebellar neutrophil infiltration. There is emerging evidence that neutrophils are detrimental in the pathology of MS/EAE, however, their exact function is unclear. Here we demonstrate that neutrophils from the cerebellum of Socs3?LysM mice show a hyper-activated phenotype with excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) at the peak of EAE. Neutralization of ROS in vivo delayed the onset and reduced severity of atypical EAE. Mechanistically, Socs3-deficient neutrophils exhibit enhanced STAT3 activation, a hyper-activated phenotype in response to G-CSF, and upon G-CSF priming, increased ROS production. Neutralization of G-CSF in vivo significantly reduced the incidence and severity of the atypical EAE phenotype. Overall, our work elucidates that hypersensitivity of G-CSF/STAT3 signaling in Socs3?LysM mice leads to atypical EAE by enhanced neutrophil activation and increased oxidative stress, which may explain the detrimental role of G-CSF in MS patients. Overall design: Bone marrow cells were isolated from the femurs of Socs3fl/fl or Socs3?LysM mice. Red blood cells were lysed by incubation in ACK lysis buffer for 1 min. CD45+CD11b+Ly6G+ neutrophils were flow sorted and stimulated with or without G-CSF (10 ng/ml) for 8 hours. Total RNA was purified from cells using Trizol reagent extraction, and 500 ng–2 µg of RNA was sent to GENEWIZ (South Plainfield, NJ) for RNA-seq and bioinformatics analysis.
Deficiency of Socs3 leads to brain-targeted EAE via enhanced neutrophil activation and ROS production.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesWe report that CK2 inhibition with CX-4945 broadly suppresses Th17-associated effector and metabolic gene expression. CD4+ T cells were cultured in IL-6, IL-23 and TGFb1 for 72 h, in the absence of presence of 2 mM CX-4945, RNA-seq was performed and gene expression compared between the control and treatment groups. Overall design: RNA-seq was performed on 3 biological replicates in the control and treatment groups.
Protein Kinase CK2 Controls the Fate between Th17 Cell and Regulatory T Cell Differentiation.
Specimen part, Treatment, Subject
View SamplesT lymphocytes are essential contributors to the adaptive immune system and consist of multiple lineages that serve various effector and regulatory roles. As such, precise control of gene expression is essential to the proper development and function of these cells. Previously, we identified Snai2 and Snai3 as being essential regulators of immune tolerance partly due to the impaired function of CD4+ regulatory T cells in Snai2/3 conditional double knockout mice. Here we extend those previous findings using a bone marrow transplantation model to provide an environmentally unbiased view of the molecular changes imparted onto various T lymphocyte populations once Snai2 and Snai3 are deleted. The data presented here demonstrate that Snai2 and Snai3 transcriptionally regulate the cellular fitness and functionality of not only CD4+ regulatory T cells but effector CD8a+ and CD4+ conventional T cells as well. This is achieved through the modulation of gene sets unique to each cell type and includes transcriptional targets relevant to the survival and function of each T cell lineage. As such, Snai2 and Snai3 are essential regulators of T cell immunobiology. Overall design: GFP- CD3e+ CD8a+ CD4-, GFP- CD3e+ CD8a- CD4+ CD25- and GFP- CD3e+ CD8a- CD4+ CD25+ T cells were isolated from spleens of UBC-GFP mice transplanted with WT or cDKO lineage-depleted donor bone marrow following lethal irradiation of recipient mice. RNA-seq was performed on 3-4 biological replicates from each genotype for all T cell populations analyzed.
Snai2 and Snai3 transcriptionally regulate cellular fitness and functionality of T cell lineages through distinct gene programs.
Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View SamplesSmall regulatory RNAs including small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) guide Argonaute (Ago) proteins to specific target RNAs leading to mRNA destabilization or translational repression. We recently reported the identification of Importin 8 (Imp8) as a novel component of miRNA-guided regulatory pathways. Imp8 interacts with Ago proteins and localizes to cytoplasmic processing bodies (P-bodies), structures involved in RNA metabolism. For this micro-array dataset, we used immunoprecipitations of Ago2-associated mRNAs followed by micro-array analysis. The results demonstrate that Imp8 is required for recruiting Ago protein complexes to a large set of Ago2-associated target mRNAs allowing for efficient and specific gene silencing. Therefore, we provide evidence that Imp8 is required for cytoplasmic miRNA-guided gene silencing.
Importin 8 is a gene silencing factor that targets argonaute proteins to distinct mRNAs.
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