Smoking represents a major risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but it is difficult to characterize smoke-induced injury responses under physiological breathing conditions in humans. Here we generated small airway-on-a-chip microdevices lined by living human bronchiolar epithelium from normal or COPD patients and connected them to an instrument that 'breathes' whole cigarette smoke in and out of the chips to study smoke-induced pathophysiology in vitro. We used microarrays to detail the global program of gene expression in well-differentiated epithelial cells following smoke exposure to recapitulate clinical pathologies and identify disease-specific responses.
Matched-Comparative Modeling of Normal and Diseased Human Airway Responses Using a Microengineered Breathing Lung Chip.
Specimen part, Disease, Treatment
View SamplesRecent studies showing involvement of iNKT cells in lung viral infections and airway inflammation suggest that these cells are key players in both prevention and generation of immune-pathology in the lungs. It is not fully understood how iNKT cells are activated in the lungs and if this relied solely on lung dendritic cells. We recently showed that CD1d is expressed on airway epithelium, and now demonstrate that iNKT cells can be activated by primary airway epithelial cells, via both CD1d dependent and independent processes. Transcriptional analysis of human iNKT cells reveals that direct contact with lipid-pulsed primary human airway epithelial cells results in initiation of a programme of activation comprising rapid and concomitant induction of cytokine genes and genes to switch off this response. These findings establish a new mode of activation within the lungs for iNKT cells, and further enhance the role of airway epithelium in innate lung immunity.
No associated publication
Specimen part
View SamplesClinical application of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells is limited by low efficiency of iPS derivation, and protocols that permanently modify the genome to effect cellular reprogramming. Moreover, safe and effective means of directing the fate of patient-specific iPS cells towards clinically useful cell types are lacking. Here we describe a simple, non-mutagenic strategy for reprogramming cell fate based on administration of synthetic mRNA modified to overcome innate anti-viral responses. We show that this approach can reprogram multiple human cell types to pluripotency with efficiencies that greatly surpass established protocols. We further show that the same technology can be used to efficiently direct the differentiation of RNA-induced pluripotent stem (RiPS) cells into terminally differentiated myogenic cells. Our method represents a safe, efficient strategy for somatic cell reprogramming and directing cell fates that has broad applicability for basic research, disease modeling and regenerative medicine.
Highly efficient reprogramming to pluripotency and directed differentiation of human cells with synthetic modified mRNA.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesHuman induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells derived from somatic cells of patients hold great promise for modelling human diseases. Dermal fibroblasts are frequently used for reprogramming, but require an invasive skin biopsy and a prolonged period of expansion in cell culture prior to use. Here, we report the derivation of iPS cells from multiple human blood sources including peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) harvested by routine venipuncture. Peripheral blood-derived human iPS lines are comparable to human embryonic stem (ES) cells with respect to morphology, expression of surface antigens, activation of endogenous pluripotency genes, DNA methylation and differentiation potential. Analysis of Immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor gene rearrangement revealed that some of the PBMC iPS cells were derived from T-cells, documenting derivation of iPS cells from terminally differentiated cell types. Importantly, peripheral blood cells can be isolated with minimal risk to the donor and can be obtained in sufficient numbers to enable reprogramming without the need for prolonged expansion in culture. Reprogramming from blood cells thus represents a fast, safe and efficient way of generating patient-specific iPS cells.
Reprogramming of T cells from human peripheral blood.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Intersection of population variation and autoimmunity genetics in human T cell activation.
Sex, Age, Race, Subject
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Polarization of the effects of autoimmune and neurodegenerative risk alleles in leukocytes.
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View SamplesGene-expression microarray datasets generated as part of the Immunological Genome Project (ImmGen). Primary cells from multiple immune lineages are isolated ex-vivo, primarily from young adult B6 male mice, and double-sorted to >99% purity. RNA is extracted from cells in a centralized manner, amplified and hybridized to Affymetrix 1.0 ST MuGene arrays. Protocols are rigorously standardized for all sorting and RNA preparation. Data is released monthly in batches of cell populations.
Transcriptomes of the B and T lineages compared by multiplatform microarray profiling.
Sex, Age
View SamplesGene expression profiling of CD4 T-Cells (CD4+CD62L+) from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). PBMCs were isolated from healthy individuals from the Boston area.
Polarization of the effects of autoimmune and neurodegenerative risk alleles in leukocytes.
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View SamplesGene expression profiling of Monocytes (CD14+CD16-) from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). PBMCs were isolated from healthy individuals from the Boston area.
Polarization of the effects of autoimmune and neurodegenerative risk alleles in leukocytes.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Network pharmacology of JAK inhibitors.
Sex, Age, Specimen part, Compound
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