To follow-up findings that miR-9 was abundantly expressed in control NPCs, significantly down-regulated in a subset of SZ NPCs, and that miR-9 levels/activity, neural migration and diagnosis were strongly correlated, we tested the effect of manipulating miR-9 at cellular, proteomic and transcriptomic levels. Unexpectedly, proteomic- and RNAseq-based analysis revealed that these effects were mediated primarily by small changes in expression of indirect miR-9 targets, rather than large changes in direct miR-9 targets; these indirect targets are enriched for migration-associated genes. Together these data indicate that aberrant levels and activity of miR-9 may be one of the many factors that contribute to SZ risk, at least in a subset of patients. Methods: We compared global transcription of forebrain NPCs from two control and two SZ patients with manipulated miR-9 levels by RNAseq. Results: Although RNAseq analysis revealed large inter-individual heterogeneity, we were able to resolve several functional consistencies in the effects of our miR-9 perturbations: i) the change in miR-9 activity was consistent with the inhibitory role of miR-9, ii) the gene expression fold-change of miR-9 target genes (between each perturbation and its corresponding control, summarized by the first principal component) was correlated (r=0.95, p=3.92e-04) with miR-9 fold change and iii) the differentially expressed (DE; p <0.01) gene list resulting from miR-9 perturbation (paired t-test) was enriched for miR-9 targets (1.53-fold, p=1.2e-5). Conclusions: We integrated the miR-9 perturbation RNAseq data with our existing RNAseq datasets contrasting control and SZ hiPSC NPC expression from our cohort 1 (six controls, four patients), to ask whether there was any relationship between the “SZ NPC signature” and “miR-9 perturbation” datasets; we observed that the DE (p-value <0.01) in “SZ NPC signature” is enriched for DE (fdr<0.01) in “miR-9 perturbation” (the overall enrichment is 2.31-fold (p=9.39e-09)); there is significant correlation between DE fold-change in these two datasets (overall genes r=0.188; p<10e-50). Effects were mediated primarily by small changes in expression of indirect miR-9 targets, rather than large changes in direct miR-9 targets; these indirect targets are enriched for migration-associated genes Overall design: Biological duplicates of passage-matched NPCs from 1 control (female) and 1 SZ patient (female) were transduced with either RV-GFP or RV-miR-9-GFP; GFP-positive NPCs were purified by fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACS) and expanded for two passages. In parallel, passage-matched NPCs from 2 controls (1 male, 1 female) and 2 SZ patients (1 male, 1 female) were transiently transfected with either scrambled or miR-9 LNA probes. In both instances, miR-9 perturbation was confirmed by qPCR.
Dysregulation of miRNA-9 in a Subset of Schizophrenia Patient-Derived Neural Progenitor Cells.
Sex, Specimen part, Disease, Subject
View SamplesCell-based models of many neurological and psychiatric diseases, established by reprogramming patient somatic cells into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), have now been reported. While numerous reports have demonstrated that neuronal cells differentiated from hiPSCs are electrophysiologically active mature neurons, the “age” of these cells relative to cells in the human brain remains unresolved. Comparisons of gene expression profiles of hiPSC-derived neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and neurons to the Allen BrainSpan Atlas indicate that hiPSC neural cells most resemble first trimester neural tissue. Consequently, we posit that hiPSC-derived neural cells may most accurately be used to model the early developmental defects that contribute to disease predisposition rather than the late features of the disease. Though the characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia SZ generally appear late in adolescence, it is now thought to be a neurodevelopmental condition, often predated by a prodromal period that can appear in early childhood. Postmortem studies of SZ brain tissue typically describe defects in mature neurons, such as reduced neuronal size and spine density in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, but abnormalities of neuronal organization, particularly in the cortex, have also been reported. We postulated that defects in cortical organization in SZ might result from abnormal migration of neural cells. To test this hypothesis, we directly reprogrammed fibroblasts from SZ patients into hiPSCs and subsequently differentiated these disorder-specific hiPSCs into NPCs. SZ hiPSC differentiated into forebrain NPCs have altered expression of a number of cellular adhesion genes and WNT signaling. Methods: We compared global transcription of forebrain NPCs from six control and four SZ patients by RNAseq. Results: Multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) resolved most SZ and control hiPSC NPC samples; 848 genes were significantly differentially expressed (FDR<0.01) Conclusions: The WNT signaling pathway was enriched 2-fold (fisher exact test p-value = 0.031). Overall design: 1-2 independent differentiations (biological replicates) for each of four control and four schizophrenia patients were analyzed; samples were generated in parallel to neuron RNAseq data.
Dysregulation of miRNA-9 in a Subset of Schizophrenia Patient-Derived Neural Progenitor Cells.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe aim of this study was to quantify the impact of chimeric Foxp3-GFP protein on the Treg cell transcriptional program.
An N-terminal mutation of the Foxp3 transcription factor alleviates arthritis but exacerbates diabetes.
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View SamplesThe transcription factor Foxp3 is indispensible for the differentiation and function of regulatory T cells (Treg cells). To gain insights into the molecular mechanisms of Foxp3 mediated gene expression we purified Foxp3 complexes and explored their composition. Biochemical and mass-spectrometric analyses revealed that Foxp3 forms multi-protein complexes of 400-800 kDa or larger and identified 361 associated proteins ~30% of which are transcription-related. Foxp3 directly regulates expression of a large proportion of the genes encoding its co-factors. Reciprocally, some transcription factor partners of Foxp3 facilitate its expression. Functional analysis of Foxp3 cooperation with one such partner, Gata3, provided further evidence for a network of transcriptional regulation afforded by Foxp3 and its associates to control distinct aspects of Treg cell biology.
Transcription factor Foxp3 and its protein partners form a complex regulatory network.
Specimen part
View SamplesAnalysis of Foxp3 ablated peripheral regulatory T cells. Regulatory T cells require the expression of the transcription factor Foxp3 for thymic development. It is not known whether continuous expression of Foxp3 is required for the maintained function of mature regulatory T cells in the periphery. Results indicate changes to the regulatory T cell developmental program in the absence of Foxp3.
Maintenance of the Foxp3-dependent developmental program in mature regulatory T cells requires continued expression of Foxp3.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesThe goal was to study the effects of lead exposure on gene expression and identify the lead-responsive genes. After detecting 1,536 cis-eQTLs (FDR = 10%) and 952 trans-eQTLs, we focused our analysis on Pb-sensitive “trans-eQTL hotspots”. Overall design: 158 randomly selected Drosophila Synthetic Population Resource (A2) samples (control 79 samples and Pb-treated) without replicates
Identification of Splicing Quantitative Trait Loci (sQTL) in <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> with Developmental Lead (Pb<sup>2+</sup>) Exposure.
Cell line, Subject
View SamplesTuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a rare genetic disease characterized by mTOR hyperfunction induced benign tumor growths in multiple organs and neurological symptoms. Because the molecular pathology is highly complex and the etiology poorly understood we employed a defined human neuronal model with a single mTOR activating mutation to dissect the disease-relevant molecular responses driving the neuropathology. TSC2 deficient neural stem cells showed severely reduced neuronal functional maturation and characteristics of astrogliosis instead. Accordingly, transcriptome analysis uncovered an inflammatory response and increased metabolic activity, while ribosome profiling revealed excessive translation of ribosomal transcripts and higher synthesis rates of angiogenic growth factors. Treatment with mTOR inhibitors corrected translational alterations but not transcriptional dysfunction. These results extend our understanding of the molecular pathophysiology of TSC brain lesions, and suggest phenotype-tailored pharmacological treatment strategies. Overall design: Two TSC+/- cell lines and two TSC-/- cell lines were independently generated from wild-type human embryonic stem cells by genome editting with zinc finger nucleases. Two cell lines were handled in the same way but without any known human gene editted and they are used as negative controls. Two independent biological replicates of each of the six cell lines are profiled with ribosome profiling technique.
Genomic analysis of the molecular neuropathology of tuberous sclerosis using a human stem cell model.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesNumerous microRNAs and their target mRNAs are co-expressed across diverse cell types. However, it is unknown whether they are regulated in a cellular context-independent or -dependent manner. Here, we explored transcriptome-wide targeting and gene regulation by miR-155, whose activation-induced expression plays important roles in innate and adaptive immunity. Through mapping of miR-155 targets using differential Argonaute iCLIP, mRNA quantification with RNA-Seq, and 3'UTR usage analysis using polyadenylation (polyA)-Seq in activated miR-155-sufficient and deficient macrophages, dendritic cells, T and B lymphocytes, we identified numerous targets differentially bound by miR-155. While alternative cleavage and polyadenylation (ApA) contributed to differential miR-155 binding to some transcripts, in a majority of cases identical 3'UTR isoforms were differentially regulated across cell types, suggesting ApA-independent and cellular context-dependent miR-155-mediated gene regulation reminiscent of sequence-specific transcription factors. Our study provides comprehensive maps of miR-155 regulatory RNA networks and offers a valuable resource for dissecting context-dependent and -independent miRNA-mediated gene regulation in key cell types of the adaptive and innate immune systems. Overall design: Primary dendritic cells, B cells, CD4 T cells, and macrophages from C57BL/6J wild type and miR-155 KO mice were cultured in RPMI medium with 10% FBS. Prior to harvesting primary dendritic cells, mice were subcutaneously injected with one million B16 melanoma cells expressing Flt3 ligand for about two weeks. After purification of splenic CD11c+ dendritic cells by CD11c microbeads (Miltenyi Biotec), dendritic cells were activated in a medium containing 100 ng/ml LPS (SIGMA) and 20 ng/ml GMSCF (Tonbo). Splenic primary B cells were purified by negative selection using Dynabeads Mouse CD43 (Invitrogen), and activated in a medium containing 25 ug/ml LPS and 6.5 ng/ml mIL4 (PeproTech). CD4 T cells from lymph node and spleen were purified with Dynabeads FlowComp Kit (Invitrogen). CD4+CD25-CD44- T cells were then activated with Dynabeads Mouse T-Activator CD3/CD28 (Invitrogen). Intraperitoneal macrophages, induced by thioglycollate injection, were harvested and activated with 100 ng/ml LPS.
The effect of cellular context on miR-155-mediated gene regulation in four major immune cell types.
Specimen part, Cell line, Treatment, Subject
View SamplesNumerous microRNAs and their target mRNAs are co-expressed across diverse cell types. However, it is unknown whether they are regulated in a cellular context-independent or -dependent manner. Here, we explored transcriptome-wide targeting and gene regulation by miR-155, whose activation-induced expression plays important roles in innate and adaptive immunity. Through mapping of miR-155 targets using differential Argonaute iCLIP, mRNA quantification with RNA-Seq, and 3'UTR usage analysis using polyadenylation (polyA)-Seq in activated miR-155-sufficient and deficient macrophages, dendritic cells, T and B lymphocytes, we identified numerous targets differentially bound by miR-155. While alternative cleavage and polyadenylation (ApA) contributed to differential miR-155 binding to some transcripts, in a majority of cases identical 3'UTR isoforms were differentially regulated across cell types, suggesting ApA-independent and cellular context-dependent miR-155-mediated gene regulation reminiscent of sequence-specific transcription factors. Our study provides comprehensive maps of miR-155 regulatory RNA networks and offers a valuable resource for dissecting context-dependent and -independent miRNA-mediated gene regulation in key cell types of the adaptive and innate immune systems. Overall design: Primary dendritic cells, B cells, CD4 T cells, and macrophages from C57BL/6J wild type and miR-155 KO mice were cultured in RPMI medium with 10% FBS. Prior to harvesting primary dendritic cells, mice were subcutaneously injected with one million B16 melanoma cells expressing Flt3 ligand for about two weeks. After purification of splenic CD11c+ dendritic cells by CD11c microbeads (Miltenyi Biotec), dendritic cells were activated in a medium containing 100 ng/ml LPS (SIGMA) and 20 ng/ml GMSCF (Tonbo). Splenic primary B cells were purified by negative selection using Dynabeads Mouse CD43 (Invitrogen), and activated in a medium containing 25 ug/ml LPS and 6.5 ng/ml mIL4 (PeproTech). CD4 T cells from lymph node and spleen were purified with Dynabeads FlowComp Kit (Invitrogen). CD4+CD25-CD44- T cells were then activated with Dynabeads Mouse T-Activator CD3/CD28 (Invitrogen). Intraperitoneal macrophages, induced by thioglycollate injection, were harvested and activated with 100 ng/ml LPS. Each condition has 3 sequencing replicates.
The effect of cellular context on miR-155-mediated gene regulation in four major immune cell types.
Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View SamplesFoxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg cells) maintain immunological tolerance and their deficiency results in fatal multi-organ autoimmunity. Although heightened T cell receptor (TCR) signaling is critical for the differentiation of Treg cells, the role of TCR signaling in Treg cell function remains largely unknown. Here we demonstrate inducible ablation of the TCR results in Treg cell dysfunction which cannot be attributed to impaired Foxp3 expression, decreased expression of Treg cell signature genes or altered ability to sense and consume interleukin 2. Rather, TCR signaling was required for maintaining the expression of a limited subset of genes comprising 25% of the activated Treg cell transcriptional signature. Our results reveal a critical role for the TCR in Treg cell suppressor capacity.
Continuous requirement for the TCR in regulatory T cell function.
Specimen part
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