Purpose: To compare the transcriptomes of IL-21-expressing, IL-21 and IL-4-expressing, and IL-4 expressing follicular helper T (Tfh) cells and Th2 cells in the spleen at 8 days following helminth infection Methods: Cell sorting of the populations was done for CD4+B220-CD44hiCXCR5hiPD-1hi cells of the various types, followed by mRNA purification. Overall design: CD4+Splenic T cell mRNA profiles 8 days post-infection of IL-21/IL-4 dual reporter mice with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis were generated by mRNA sequencing using Illumina HiSeq 2000.
TFH cells progressively differentiate to regulate the germinal center response.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Research resource: progesterone receptor targetome underlying mammary gland branching morphogenesis.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesProgesterone (P) acting through its cognate nuclear receptors (PRs) plays an essential role in driving pregnancy-associated branching morphogenesis of the mammary gland. However, the fundamental mechanisms, including global cistromic and acute genomic transcriptional responses that are required to elicit active branching morphogenesis in response to P, have not been elucidated. We used microarray analysis to identify global gene expression signatures that are acutely regulated by PRs in the mouse mammary gland after acute P treatment.
Research resource: progesterone receptor targetome underlying mammary gland branching morphogenesis.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Prenatal arsenic exposure and the epigenome: altered microRNAs associated with innate and adaptive immune signaling in newborn cord blood.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe Biomarkers of Exposure to ARsenic (BEAR) pregnancy cohort in Gmez Palacio, Mexico was recently established to better understand the impacts of prenatal exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs). In this study, we examined a subset (n=40) of newborn cord blood samples for microRNA (miRNA) expression changes associated with in utero arsenic exposure. Levels of iAs in maternal drinking water (DW-iAs) and maternal urine were assessed. Levels of DW-iAs ranged from below detectable values to 236 g/L (mean=51.7 g/L). Total arsenic in maternal urine (U-tAs) was defined as the sum of iAs and its monomethylated and dimethylated metabolites (MMAs and DMAs, respectively) and ranged from 6.2 to 319.7 g/L (mean=64.5 g/L). Genome-wide miRNA expression analysis of cord blood revealed 12 miRNAs with increasing expression associated with U-tAs. Transcriptional targets of the miRNAs were computationally predicted and subsequently assessed using transcriptional profiling. Pathway analysis demonstrated that the U-tAs-associated miRNAs are involved in signaling pathways related to known health outcomes of iAs exposure including cancer and diabetes mellitus. Immune response-related mRNAs were also identified with decreased expression levels associated with U-tAs, and predicted to be mediated in part by the arsenic-responsive miRNAs. Results of this study highlight miRNAs as novel responders to prenatal arsenic exposure that may contribute to associated immune response perturbations.
Prenatal arsenic exposure and the epigenome: altered microRNAs associated with innate and adaptive immune signaling in newborn cord blood.
Specimen part
View SamplesWe apply the cellular reprogramming experimental paradigm to two disorders caused by symmetrical copy number variations (CNV) of 7q11.23 and displaying a striking combination of shared as well as symmetrically opposite phenotypes: Williams Beuren syndrome (WBS) and 7q microduplication syndrome (7dupASD). Through a uniquely large and informative cohort of transgene-free patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), along with their differentiated derivatives, we find that 7q11.23 CNV disrupt transcriptional circuits in disease-relevant pathways already at the pluripotent state. These alterations are then selectively amplified upon differentiation into disease-relevant lineages, thereby establishing the value of large iPSC cohorts in the elucidation of disease-relevant developmental pathways. In addition, we functionally define the quota of transcriptional dysregulation specifically caused by dosage imbalances in GTF2I (also known as TFII-I), a transcription factor in 7q11.23 thought to play a critical role in the two conditions, which we found associated to key repressive chromatin modifiers. Finally, we created an open-access web-based platform (accessible at http://bio.ieo.eu/wbs/ ) to make accessible our multi-layered datasets and integrate contributions by the entire community working on the molecular dissection of the 7q11.23 syndromes. Overall design: We reprogrammed skin fibroblasts from patients harbouring a 7q11.23 hemi-deletion (WBS, 4 patients; +1 atypical deletion, AtWBS) or microduplication (7dupASD; 2 patients), as well as from one unaffected relative and two unrelated controls, using integration-free mRNA-reprogramming, leading to the establishment of a total of 27 characterized iPSC clones. We profiled these by RNAseq (either polyA or ribo-zero). To isolate the contribution of GTF2I to the transcriptional dysregulation, we created stable lines expressing a short hairpin against GTF2I from a representative subset of these iPSC clones, and profiled by RNAseq 7 such lines along with their respective scramble controls. Finally, we also profiled by RNAseq mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) derived from a representative subset of the lines.
RNAontheBENCH: computational and empirical resources for benchmarking RNAseq quantification and differential expression methods.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesMajor roadblocks to developing effective progesterone receptor (PR)-targeted therapies in breast cancer include the lack of highly-specific PR modulators, a poor understanding of the pro- or anti-tumorigenic networks for PR isoforms and ligands, and an incomplete understanding of the cross talk between PR and estrogen receptor (ER) signaling. Through genomic analyses of xenografts treated with various clinically-relevant ER and PR-targeting drugs, we describe how the activation or inhibition of PR dictates distinct ER and PR chromatin binding and differentially reprograms estrogen signaling, resulting in the segregation of transcriptomes into separate PR agonist and antagonist-mediated groups. These findings address an ongoing controversy regarding the clinical utility of PR agonists and antagonists, alone or in combination with tamoxifen, for breast cancer management. Genomic analyses of the two PR isoforms, PRA and PRB, indicate that these isoforms bind distinct genomic sites and interact with different sets of co-regulators to differentially modulate gene expression as well as pro- or anti-tumorigenic phenotypes. Of the two isoforms, PRA inhibited gene expression and ER chromatin binding significantly more than PRB. Of note, the two isoforms reprogrammed estrogen activity to be either pro or anti-tumorigenic. In concordance to the in-vitro observations, differential gene expression was observed in PRA and PRB-rich patient tumors and importantly, PRA-rich gene signatures had poorer survival outcomes. In support of antiprogestin responsiveness of PRA-rich tumors, gene signatures associated with PR antagonists, but not PR agonists, predicted better survival outcomes. This differential of better patient survival associated with PR antagonists versus PR agonists treatments was further reflected in the higher anti-tumor activity of combination therapies of tamoxifen with PR antagonists and modulators. Knowledge of various determinants of PR action and their interactions with estrogen signaling to differentially modulate breast cancer biology should serve as a guide to the development of biomarkers for patient selection and translation of PR-targeted therapies to the clinic. Overall design: For in-vitro experiments, cells were grown in steroid-deprived RPMI for 48 hours to 80% confluence, before being treated for with the hormones of interest (vehicle, 10 nM estrogen, 10 nM R5020 or both estrogen +R5020). Cells were then fixed with 1% formaldehyde for 10 minutes and the crosslinking was quenched with 0.125 M glycine for 5 minutes. Fixed cells were suspended in ChIP lysis buffer (1 ml 1M Tris pH 8.0; 200 µl 5M NaCl; 1 ml 0.5M EDTA; 1 ml NP-40; 1 g SDS, 0.5 g deoxycholate) and sheared in the Diagenode Biorupter for 20 minutes (30 second cycles). 100 µl of sheared chromatin was removed as input control. A 1:10 dilution of sheared chromatin in ChIP dilution buffer (1.7 ml 1M Tris pH 8.0; 3.3 ml 5M NaCl; 5 ml 10% NP-40; 200 µl 10% SDS; to 100 ml with H2O), 4 µg antibody and 30 µl magnetic DynaBeads were incubated in a rotator at 4oC overnight. Chromatin was immunoprecipitated overnight using anti-ER (Santa Cruz Biotechnology HC-20), anti-PR (in-house made KD68) or rabbit IgG (Santa Cruz Biotechnology SC-2027). Next, the immunoprecipitated chromatin was washed with ChIP wash buffer I (2 ml 1M Tris pH 8.0; 3 ml 5M NaCl; 400 µl 0.5M EDTA; 10 ml 10% NP-40; 1 ml 10% SDS; to 100 ml with H2O), ChIP wash buffer II (2 ml 1M Tris pH 8.0; 10 ml 5M NaCl; 400 µl 0.5M EDTA; 10 ml 10% NP-40; 1 ml 10% SDS; to 100 ml with H2O), ChIP wash buffer III (1 ml 1M Tris pH 8.0; 5 ml of 5M LiCl; 200 µl 0.5M EDTA; 10 ml 10% NP-40; 10 ml 10% deoxycholate; to 100 ml with H2O) and TE (pH 8.0). Elution was performed twice from beads by incubating them with 100 µl ChIP-elution buffer (1% SDS, 0.1 M NaHCO3) at 65oC for 15 minutes each. The eluted protein-DNA complexes were de-crosslinked overnight at 65oC in 200 µM NaCl. After de-crosslinking, the mixture was treated with proteinase K for 45 minutes followed by incubation with RNase A for 30 minutes. Finally, DNA fragments were purified using Qiagen PCR purification kit and reconstituted in 50 µl nuclear-free water. Real time PCR was performed using SYBR green. For ChIP-seq library preparations, libraries were prepared using KapaBiosystems LTP library preparation kit (#KK8232) according to the manufacturer's protocol.
Progesterone receptor isoforms, agonists and antagonists differentially reprogram estrogen signaling.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe NEWEST (Neoadjuvant Endocrine Therapy for Women with Estrogen-Sensitive Tumours) trial compared the clinical and biological activity of fulvestrant 500 mg vs 250 mg in the neoadjuvant setting. In this multi-centre phase II study, post-menopausal women with operable, locally advanced (T2, 3, 4b; N0-3; M0) ER-positive breast tumours were randomised to receive neoadjuvant treatment with either dose of fulvestrant for 16 weeks before surgery.
Development and validation of a gene expression score that predicts response to fulvestrant in breast cancer patients.
Sex
View SamplesOne of sleep's putative functions is mediation of adaptation to waking experiences. Chronic stress is a common waking experience, however, which specific aspect of sleep is most responsive, and how sleep changes relate to behavioral disturbances and molecular correlates remain unknown. We quantified sleep, physical, endocrine, and behavioral variables, as well as the brain and blood transcriptome in mice exposed to 9 weeks of unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS). Comparing 46 phenotypical variables revealed that rapid-eye-movement sleep (REMS), corticosterone regulation, and coat state were most responsive to UCMS. REMS theta oscillations were enhanced, whereas delta oscillations in non-REMS were unaffected. Transcripts affected by UCMS in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and blood were associated with inflammatory and immune responses. A machine-learning approach controlling for unspecific UCMS effects identified transcriptomic predictor sets for REMS parameters that were enriched in 193 pathways, including some involved in stem cells, immune response, apoptosis, and survival. Only three pathways were enriched in predictor sets for non-REMS. Transcriptomic predictor sets for variation in REMS continuity and theta activity shared many pathways with corticosterone regulation, in particular pathways implicated in apoptosis and survival, including mitochondrial apoptotic machinery. Predictor sets for REMS, and anhedonia shared pathways involved in oxidative stress, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. These data identify REMS as a core and early element of the response to chronic stress, and identify apoptosis and survival pathways as a putative mechanism by which REMS may mediate the response to stressful waking experiences. Overall design: Study of transcriptomic changes in three stress- and sleep-related brain regions (prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus) and blood following 9 weeks of Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress (UCMS) in mice.
REM sleep's unique associations with corticosterone regulation, apoptotic pathways, and behavior in chronic stress in mice.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View SamplesMalignant gliomas constitute one of the most significant areas of unmet medical need, due to the invariable failure of surgical eradication and their marked molecular heterogeneity. Accumulating evidence has revealed a critical contribution by the Polycomb axis of epigenetic repression. However, a coherent understanding of the regulatory networks affected by Polycomb during gliomagenesis is still lacking. Here we integrate transcriptomic and epigenomic analyses to define Polycomb-dependent networks that promote gliomagenesis, validating them both in two independent mouse models and in a large cohort of human samples. We found that Polycomb dysregulation in gliomagenesis affects transcriptional networks associated to invasiveness and de-differentiation. The dissection of these networks uncovers Zfp423 as a crtitical Polycomb-dependent transcription factor whose silencing negatively impacts survival. The anti-gliomagenic activity of Zfp423 requires interaction with the SMAD proteins within the BMP signaling pathway, pointing to a novel synergic circuit through which Polycomb inhibits BMP signaling. Overall design: Transcriptomic analysis of two different stages of gliomagenesis
Polycomb dysregulation in gliomagenesis targets a Zfp423-dependent differentiation network.
Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View Samples