Purpose: Controlling the balance between immunity and immunopathology is crucial for host resistance to pathogens. Upon infection, activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis leads to the production of glucocorticoids (GCs). However, the pleiotropic effects of these steroid hormones make it difficult to decipher their precise role in vivo. Our purpose was to study how GCs regulate the function of group 1 ILCs in spleen and liver upon Murine Cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection. Methods: We studied the in vivo effect of endogenous GCs released upon MCMV infection on NK cells in spleen and liver and ILC1s in the liver. We compared WT mice with GRNcr1-iCre mice, in which the gene encoding for GC receptor (GR) is selectively deleted in Ncr1+ cells. Results: We found that the regulation of NK function by the GR is required for host protection against MCMV. Mechanistically, endogenous GCs produced shortly after infection induce the selective and tissue-specific expression of the immune checkpoint PD1 on NK cells. This GC-PD1 pathway mediates its immunoregulatory functions by limiting interferon (IFN)-g production by splenic NK cells, preventing lethal immunopathology. Importantly, this regulation does not compromise viral clearance. Conclusions:The fine-tuning of a selective subset of ILCs by the HPA axis preserves tissue integrity without impairing pathogen elimination, revealing a novel aspect of neuro-immune regulation. Overall design: Splenocytes (after NK cell enrichment with the mouse NK Cell Isolation Kit II, Miltenyi Biotec) and liver lymphocytes were pooled from three mice for each genotype. A FACS Aria III (BD Biosciences) was used to sort approximately 5 x 10^5 NK cells from the spleen and liver and 5 x 10^4 liver-resident ILC1s 44h post MCMV infection. We compared gene expression between glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-sufficient and deficient ILCs to identify the genes whose expression is regulated by GCs. Three biological replicates were generated for all samples except for the GRNcr1-iCre liver ILC1s sample (two biological replicates).
Endogenous glucocorticoids control host resistance to viral infection through the tissue-specific regulation of PD-1 expression on NK cells.
Sex, Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesCommunity-acquired pneumonia is a widespread disease with significant morbidity and mortality. Alveolar macrophages are tissue-resident lung cells that play a crucial role in innate immunity against bacteria causing pneumonia. We hypothesized that alveolar macrophages display adaptive characteristics after resolution of bacterial pneumonia. We studied mice one to six months after self-limiting lung infection due to Streptococcus pneumoniae, the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia. Among the myeloid cells recovered from the lung, only alveolar macrophages showed long-term modifications of their surface marker phenotype. The remodeling of alveolar macrophages was: (i) long-lasting (still observed 6 months post infection), (ii) regionally localized (only observed in the affected lobe after lobar pneumonia), and (iii) associated with a macrophage-dependent enhanced lung protection to another pneumococcal serotype. Metabolomic and transcriptomic profiling revealed that alveolar macrophages of mice which recovered from pneumonia had new baseline activities and altered responses to infection. Thus, the enhanced lung protection after mild and self-limiting respiratory infection includes a profound remodeling of alveolar macrophages that is long-lasting, compartmentalized, and manifest across surface receptors, metabolites, and both resting and stimulated transcriptomes.
Pneumonia recovery reprograms the alveolar macrophage pool.
Specimen part, Treatment
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Phenotypic, transcriptomic, and genomic features of clonal plasma cells in light-chain amyloidosis.
Specimen part, Disease
View SamplesImmunoglobulin light-chain amyloidosis (AL) is a rare clonal plasma cell (PC) disorder that remains largely incurable. AL and multiple myeloma (MM) share the same cellular origin, but while knowledge about MM PC biology has improved significantly, the same does not apply for AL. Here, we undertook an integrative phenotypic, molecular, and genomic approach to study clonal PCs from 22 newly-diagnosed AL patients. Through principal-component-analysis, we demonstrated highly overlapping phenotypic profiles between AL and MGUS or MM patients. However, in contrast to MM, highly-purified FACSs-sorted clonal PCs in AL (n=9/22) show virtually normal transcriptomes with only 68 deregulated genes as compared to normal PCs, including a few tumor suppressor (CDH1, RCAN) and pro-apoptotic (GLIPR1, FAS) genes. Notwithstanding, clonal PCs in AL (n=11/22) were genomically unstable with a median of 9 copy-number-abnormities (CNAs) per case; many of which similar to those found in MM. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed in three AL patients and revealed a median of 10 non-recurrent mutations per case. Altogether, we showed that although clonal PCs in AL display phenotypic and CNA profiles similar to MM, their transcriptome is remarkably similar to that of normal PCs. First-ever WES revealed the lack of a unifying mutation in AL
Phenotypic, transcriptomic, and genomic features of clonal plasma cells in light-chain amyloidosis.
Specimen part, Disease
View SamplesMouse Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs) express PDGFRa heterogeneously, fluctuating between a PDGFRa+ (PrE-primed) and a Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule 1 (PECAM1)-positive state (epiblast-primed). The two surface markers can be co-detected on a third subpopulation, expressing epiblast and PrE determinants. Overall design: Three different subpopulatiosn were sorted based on PECAM1/PDGFRa expression and analyzed by NGS
PDGFRα<sup>+</sup> Cells in Embryonic Stem Cell Cultures Represent the In Vitro Equivalent of the Pre-implantation Primitive Endoderm Precursors.
No sample metadata fields
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The cellular origin and malignant transformation of Waldenström macroglobulinemia.
Specimen part, Disease stage, Subject
View SamplesAlthough information on the molecular pathogenesis of Waldenstrms Macroglobulinemia (WM) has greatly improved in recent years, the exact cellular origin and the mechanisms behind WM transformation from IgM MGUS remain undetermined. Here, we undertook an integrative phenotypic, molecular and genomic approach to study clonal B-cells from newly-diagnosed patients with IgM MGUS (n=22), smoldering (n=17), and symptomatic WM (n=10). Through principal-component-analysis of multidimensional flow cytometry data, we demonstrated overlapping phenotypic profiles between clonal B-cells from IgM MGUS, smoldering and symptomatic WM patients. Similarly, virtually no genes were significantly deregulated between FACS-sorted clonal B-cells from the three disease stages. Interestingly, while the transcriptome of the Waldenstrms clone was highly deregulated as compared to CD25-CD22+ normal B-cells, significantly less genes were differentially expressed and specific WM pathways down-regulated while comparing the transcriptome of the Waldenstrms clone vs. its normal phenotypic counterpart: CD25+CD22+dim B-cells. The frequency of specific copy number abnormalities [+4, del(6q23.3-6q25.3), +12, and +18q11-18q23] progressively increased from IgM MGUS and smoldering WM vs. symptomatic WM (18% vs. 20% and 73%, respectively; P =.008), suggesting a multistep transformation of clonal B-cells that albeit benign (i.e.: IgM MGUS and smoldering WM), already harbor the phenotypic and molecular signatures of the malignant Waldenstrms clone.
The cellular origin and malignant transformation of Waldenström macroglobulinemia.
Specimen part, Disease stage, Subject
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Endometrial-peritoneal interactions during endometriotic lesion establishment.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe pathophysiology of endometriotic lesion development remains unclear but involves a complex interaction between ectopic endometrium and host peritoneal tissues. We hypothesised that disruption of this interaction was likely to suppress endometriotic lesion formation. We hoped to delineate the molecular and cellular dialogue between ectopic human endometrium and peritoneal tissues in nude mice, as a first step towards testing this hypothesis. Human endometrium was xenografted into nude mice and the resulting lesions were analysed using microarrays. A novel technique was developed that unambiguously determined whether RNA transcripts identified by the microarray analyses originated from human cells (endometrium) or mouse cells (stroma). Four key pathways (ubiquitin/proteosome, inflammation, tissue remodelling/repair and ras-mediated oncogenesis) were revealed, that demonstrated communication between host stromal cells and ectopic endometrium.
Endometrial-peritoneal interactions during endometriotic lesion establishment.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe pathophysiology of endometriotic lesion development remains unclear but involves a complex interaction between ectopic endometrium and host peritoneal tissues. We hypothesised that disruption of this interaction was likely to suppress endometriotic lesion formation. We hoped to delineate the molecular and cellular dialogue between ectopic human endometrium and peritoneal tissues in nude mice, as a first step towards testing this hypothesis. Human endometrium was xenografted into nude mice and the resulting lesions were analysed using microarrays. A novel technique was developed that unambiguously determined whether RNA transcripts identified by the microarray analyses originated from human cells (endometrium) or mouse cells (stroma). Four key pathways (ubiquitin/proteosome, inflammation, tissue remodelling/repair and ras-mediated oncogenesis) were revealed, that demonstrated communication between host stromal cells and ectopic endometrium.
Endometrial-peritoneal interactions during endometriotic lesion establishment.
No sample metadata fields
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