Increasing evidence across malignancies suggests that infiltrating T cells at the site of disease are crucial to tumor control. We hypothesized that marrow-infiltrating immune populations play a critical role in response to donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI), an established and potentially curative immune therapy whose precise mechanism remains unknown. We therefore analyzed marrow-infiltrating immune populations in 29 patients (22 responders, 7 nonresponders) with relapsed chronic myelogenous leukemia who received CD4+ DLI in the pre-tyrosine kinase inhibitor era.
Reversal of in situ T-cell exhaustion during effective human antileukemia responses to donor lymphocyte infusion.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesPurpose: Black/African American (AA) women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) compared to whites, an aggressive breast cancer subtype associated with poor prognosis. There are no routinely used targeted clinical therapies for TNBC; thus there is a clear need to identify prognostic markers and potential therapeutic targets. Methods: We evaluated expression of 27,016 genes in 155 treatment-naïve TN tumors from AA women in Detroit. Associations with survival were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for stage and age at diagnosis, and p-values were corrected using a false discovery rate. Our validation sample consisted of 158 TN tumors (54 AA) from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Meta-analyses were performed to obtain summary estimates by combining TCGA and Detroit AA cohort results. Results: In the Detroit AA cohort, CLCA2 [Hazard ratio (HR)=1.56, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.31-1.86, nominal p=5.1x10-7, FDR p=0.014], SPIC [HR=1.47, 95%CI 1.26-1.73, nominal p=1.8x10-6, FDR p=0.022], and MIR4311 [HR=1.57, 95% CI 1.31-1.92, nominal p=2.5x10-5, FDR p=0.022] expression were associated with overall survival. Further adjustment for treatment and breast cancer specific survival analysis did not substantially alter effect estimates. Meta-analysis with TCGA data showed that CLCA2 and SPIC were associated with overall survival for TNBC among AA women. Conclusions: We identified three potential prognostic markers for TNBC in AA women, for which SPIC may be an AA-specific prognostic marker.
CLCA2 expression is associated with survival among African American women with triple negative breast cancer.
Age, Treatment, Race
View SamplesRecent data from our group, demonstrate that infusion of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG35-55) peptide, leads to induction of MOG35-55-specific Tregs and subsequent suppression of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE), the mouse model of multiple sclerosis. Amelioration of EAE was accompanied by reduced MOG-specific Th1 and Th17 responses in the draining lymph nodes (dLNs). Phenotypic analysis of the dLNs of MOG-infused mice revealed a significant Treg-mediated reduction in the recruitment of 7AAD-CD3-CD19-CD11c+CD11bhighGr-1+ iDCs compared to non-infused control immunized mice. Focusing on the delineation of novel molecules/genes that are involved in the MOG-specific Treg-mediated suppression of autoimmune responses, we have isolated highly purified iDCs from MOG infused and non-infused control immunized mice.
De novo-induced self-antigen-specific Foxp3+ regulatory T cells impair the accumulation of inflammatory dendritic cells in draining lymph nodes.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesWe performed a whole-transcriptome analysis of the peripheral blood of untreated patients with stage 1 PD (HoehnYahr scale).
Involvement of endocytosis and alternative splicing in the formation of the pathological process in the early stages of Parkinson's disease.
Specimen part, Disease
View SamplesIt is fundamentally unknown how normal cellular processes or responses to extracellular stimuli may invoke polyadenylation and degradation of ncRNA substrates or if human disease processes exhibit defects in polyadenylation of ncRNA substrates as part of their pathogenesis. Our results demonstrate that mononuclear cells from subjects with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) exhibit pervasive increases in levels of polyadenylated ncRNAs including Y1 RNA, 18S and 28S rRNA, and U1, U2, and U4 snRNAs and these defects are unique to RRMS. Defects in expression of both Ro60 and La proteins in RRMS appear to contribute to increased polyadenylation of ncRNAs. Further, IFN-ß1b, a common RRMS therapy, restores both Ro60 and La levels to normal as well as levels of polyadenylated Y1 RNA and U1 snRNA suggesting that aberrant polyadenylation of ncRNA substrates may have pathogenic consequences. Overall design: We extracted RNA from peripheral whole blood in healthy control subjects and patients with established relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis using PaxGene tubes.
Defective structural RNA processing in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesTo improve our understanding of lncRNA expression in T cells, we used whole genome sequencing (RNA-seq) to identify lncRNAs expressed in human T cells and those selectively expressed in T cells differentiated under TH1, TH2, or TH17 polarizing conditions. The majority of these lineage-specific lncRNAs are co-expressed with lineage-specific protein-coding genes. These lncRNAs are predominantly intragenic with co-expressed protein-coding genes and are transcribed in sense and antisense orientations with approximately equal frequencies. Further, genes encoding TH lineage specific mRNAs are not randomly distributed across the genome but are highly enriched in the genome in genomic regions also containing genes encoding TH lineage-specific lncRNAs. Our analyses also identify a cluster of antisense lncRNAs transcribed from the RAD50 locus that are selectively expressed under TH2 polarizing conditions and co-expressed with IL4, IL5 and IL13 genes. Depletion of these lncRNAs via selective siRNA treatment demonstrates the critical requirement of these lncRNAs for expression of the TH2 cytokines, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13. Collectively, our analyses identify new lncRNAs expressed in a TH lineage specific manner and identify a critical role for a cluster of lncRNAs for expression of genes encoding TH2 cytokines. Overall design: Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were cultured under TH1, TH2, and TH17 polarizing conditions. TH1, TH2, and TH17 primary and effector cultures were isolated and poly(A)+ and total RNA sequencing performed.
Expression and functions of long noncoding RNAs during human T helper cell differentiation.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesWe used Affymetrix DNA arrays to investigate the extent to which nuclear HDAC4 accumulation affects neuronal gene expression.
HDAC4 governs a transcriptional program essential for synaptic plasticity and memory.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe Carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA Polymerase II (RNAPII) in mammals undergoes extensive post-translational modification, which is essential for transcriptional initiation and elongation. Here, we show that the CTD of RNAPII is methylated at a single arginine (R1810) by the transcriptional co-activator CARM1. Although methylation at R1810 is present on the hyper-phosphorylated form of RNAPII in vivo, Ser-2 or Ser-5 phosphorylation inhibit CARM1 activity towards this site in vitro, suggesting that methylation occurs before transcription initiation. Mutation of R1810 results in the mis-expression of a variety of snRNAs and snoRNAs, an effect that is also observed in Carm1-/- MEFs. These results demonstrate that CTD methylation facilitates the expression of select RNAs, perhaps serving to discriminate the RNAPII-associated machinery recruited to distinct gene types. Overall design: To address the function of RNAPII methylation, we generated Raji cell lines expressing an RNA Polymerase II resistant to a-amanitin and carrying either wild-type R1810 or an arginine to alanine substitution at that same residue, abolishing R1810 methylation of the CTD. In cells cultured in a-amanitin, the a-amanitin-resistant mutants fully replaced the functions of endogenous RNAPII, allowing us to study if gene-expression is affected by the absence of R1810me
The C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II is modified by site-specific methylation.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesTransplantation with low numbers of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), found in many of the publically accessible cryopreserved umbilical cord blood (UCB) units, leads to delayed time to engraftment, high graft failure rates, and early mortality in many patients. A chemical screen in zebrafish identified the prostaglandin compound, 16,16 dimethyl prostaglandin E2 (dmPGE2), to be a critical regulator of hematopoietic stem cell homeostasis. We hypothesized that an ex vivo modulation with dmPGE2 prior to transplantation would lead to enhanced engraftment by increasing the effective dose of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in cord blood. A phase I trial of reduced-intensity double UCB transplantation was performed to evaluate safety, rates of engraftment and fractional chimerism of dmPGE2 enhanced UCB units. To explore potential causes of the lack of enhanced efficacy in the first cohort, we characterized HSCs to determine whether the prostaglandin pathway was being activated under the ex vivo incubation conditions (4C, 10M dmPGE2, 60 minutes). Incubation conditions were identified (37C, 10M dmPGE2, 120 minutes) that maximize the activation of the prostaglandin pathway by dmPGE2 in human CD34+ cells.
Prostaglandin-modulated umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesUmbilical cord blood (UCB) is a valuable source of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for use in allogeneic transplantation. Key advantages of UCB are rapid availability and less stringent requirements for HLA matching. However, UCB contains an inherently limited HSC count, which is associated with delayed time to engraftment, high graft failure rates and early mortality. 16,16 dimethyl prostaglandin E2 (dmPGE2) was previously identified to be a critical regulator of HSC homeostasis and we hypothesized that a brief ex vivo modulation could improve patient outcomes by increasing the effective dose of HSCs.
Prostaglandin-modulated umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Specimen part
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