T follicular helper CD4 T cells (Tfh) provide requisite help to B cells in the germinal centers (GC) of lymphoid tissue. GC Tfh are identified by high expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR5 and the inhibitory molecule PD-1. Although more accessible, blood contains lower frequencies of CXCR5+ and PD-1+ cells that have been termed circulating Tfh (cTfh). However, it remains unclear whether GC Tfh exit lymphoid tissues and populate this cTfh pool. To examine exiting cells, we assessed the phenotype of Tfh present within the major conduit of efferent lymph from lymphoid tissues into blood, the human thoracic duct. Unlike blood, we consistently identified a CXCR5-Bright PD-1-Bright (CXCR5BrPD-1Br) Tfh population in thoracic duct lymph (TDL). These CXCR5BrPD-1Br TDL Tfh shared phenotypic and transcriptional similarities with GC Tfh. Moreover, components of the epigenetic profile of GC Tfh could be detected in CXCR5BrPD-1Br TDL Tfh, and the transcriptional imprint of this epigenetic signature was enriched in an activated cTfh subset known to contain vaccine-responding cells. Together with data showing shared TCR sequences between the CXCR5BrPD-1Br TDL Tfh and cTfh, these studies identify a population in TDL as a circulatory intermediate connecting the biology of Tfh in blood to Tfh in lymphoid tissue. Overall design: Transcriptional features of germinal center Tfh were detected in a population of Tfh in the efferent lymph of the human thoracic duct and can be traced to an activated subset of circulating Tfh in blood.
T follicular helper cells in human efferent lymph retain lymphoid characteristics.
Specimen part, Subject
View SamplesBackground: The first step in SARS-CoV-2 infection is binding of the virus to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on the airway epithelium. Asthma affects over 300 million people world-wide, many of whom may encounter SARS-CoV-2. Epidemiologic data suggests that asthmatics who get infected may be at increased risk of more severe disease. Our objective was to assess whether maintenance inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), a major treatment for asthma, is associated with airway ACE2 expression in asthmatics.
Up-regulation of ACE2, the SARS-CoV-2 receptor, in asthmatics on maintenance inhaled corticosteroids.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesAirway remodelling in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) originates, in part, from smoking-induced changes in airway basal stem/progenitor cells (BCs). Based on the knowledge that bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) influences epithelial progenitor function in the developing and adult mouse lung, we hypothesised that BMP4 signalling may regulate the biology of adult human airway BCs relevant to COPD.
Expression of the SARS-CoV-2 ACE2 Receptor in the Human Airway Epithelium.
Specimen part
View SamplesEpidemiological studies have demonstrated that exposure to particulate matter (PM) ambient pollution has adverse effects on lung health, exacerbated by cigarette smoking. Fine airborne particles <2.5 m (PM2.5) are the most harmful of the urban pollutants, and the most closely linked to respiratory disease. Based on the knowledge that the small airway epithelium (SAE) plays a central role in pathogenesis of smoking-related lung disease, we hypothesized that elevated PM2.5 levels are associated with dysregulation of SAE gene expression.
Ambient Pollution-related Reprogramming of the Human Small Airway Epithelial Transcriptome.
Specimen part
View SamplesBackground: Metabolic plasticity involving shifts between mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis is emerging as a crucial component of efficient innate immune cell responses. Alveolar macrophages (AMs), the most abundant antigen-presenting cells in the lung, are dramatically increased in the lungs of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, COPD AMs exhibit dysfunctional responses to infection with lower phagocytic ability and impairment of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Little is known about the mitochondrial function or respiration of these cells and whether alterations in their mitochondrial or glycolytic activities may contribute to the pathogenesis of COPD.
Alveolar Macrophage Immunometabolism and Lung Function Impairment in Smoking and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Race
View SamplesDuring the peri-partum period, the lung must respond to many factors with potential to impact protein synthesis via regulation of translation initiation. Microarray analysis of polysomal versus total RNA from fetal day (FD) 19, FD22 and postnatal day 1 (P1) rat lungs was used to identify genes whose association with large polysomes changed either pre- or postnatally.
Global and gene-specific translational regulation in rat lung development.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesPurpose: Marked extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling occurs in the human optic nerve head in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). The glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) negative lamina cribrosa cell may play an important role in this remodeling process. The authors report the first study of global and ECM-focused gene transcription differentials between GFAP-negative negative lamina cribrosa (LC) cells from normal and POAG human donors. Methods: GFAP-negative LC cell lines were generated from the optic nerve tissue of three normal (n=3) and three POAG (n=3) human donors. Using Affymetrix U133A arrays the transcriptional profile between the normal and diseased groups were compared. Bioinformatic analysis was carried out using robust multichip average (RMA Express) and EASE/David. Real time TaqMan PCR and immunohistochemistry analyses were performed to validate the microarray data. Results: 285 genes were up regulated by greater than 1.5 fold and 413 were down regulated by greater than 1.5 fold in the POAG LC cells versus normal controls. Upregulated genes in POAG LC cells included, SPARC, periostin, thrombospondin, CRTL-1, CTGF and collagen types I, III, V and VIII. Downregulated ECM genes in POAG included MMP-1, fibulin, decorin and tenacsin XB. All TaqMan PCR validation assays were significant (*p<0.05) and consistent with the array data. Immunohistochemistry of one target (periostin) confirmed its differential expression at the protein level in POAG optic nerve head tissue compared with non-glaucomatous controls. Functional annotation and over-representation analysis identified ECM genes as a statistically over-represented class of genes in POAG LC cells compared with normal LC cells. Conclusions: This study reports for the first time that POAG LC cells in-vitro demonstrate up regulated ECM and pro-fibrotic gene expression compared with normal LC cells. This may be a pathological characteristic of this cell type in POAG in-vivo. We believe that the LC cell may be a pivotal regulator of optic nerve head ECM remodeling and an attractive target for future therapeutic strategies in POAG.
Differential global and extra-cellular matrix focused gene expression patterns between normal and glaucomatous human lamina cribrosa cells.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe retinas of simian primates include a specialized, cone-rich, macula which regards the central visual field and mediates high acuity and colour vision. A prominent feature of the macula is the fovea centralis - a 1 mm-wide, avascular depression in the inner retinal surface that corresponds with a local absence of rods and a peak spatial density of cones in the outer photoreceptor layer. The arrangement of macular photoreceptors, and their specialized midget circuits, are the neural substrate for high resolution vision in primates. Macular-specific photoreceptor loss and abnormal blood vessel growth within the macula are the major causes of untreatable vision loss worldwide. However, the genes that regulate specialization of the macula, and the causes of its vulnerability to degeneration, remain obscure. Microarrays were used to compare gene expression between macula and non-macular regions during a critical phase of human retinal vascular development.
Differential expression of anti-angiogenic factors and guidance genes in the developing macula.
Specimen part
View SamplesVascular hypoperfusion is a pathological phenomenon in the glaucomatous optic nerve head. We report transcriptional responses in GFAP-negative LC cells exposed to in-vitro hypoxic stress (1%O2).
Hypoxia regulated gene transcription in human optic nerve lamina cribrosa cells in culture.
Specimen part
View SamplesIn this study we tested the ability to predict organ injury from transcriptomics data in Sprague-Dawley rats at early time points after exposure to thioacetmide (8 and 24 hours). We selected thioacetamide, an organosulfur compound extensively used in animal studies as a hepatotoxin and carcinogen for its ability to cause acute liver damage. Overall design: We treated 30 Sprague-Dawley rats with saline solution (control), 25 mg/kg (low dose), and 100 mg/kg (high dose) to produce different degrees of injury. RNA samples for gene expression analysis were collected from the liver, kidney, and heart at 8 and 24 hours. Number of repicates were five.
Concordance between Thioacetamide-Induced Liver Injury in Rat and Human In Vitro Gene Expression Data.
Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
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