Immune deficiency is common in cancer, but the biological basis for this and ways to reverse it remains elusive. Here we present a mouse model of B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) that recapitulates changes in the non-malignant circulating T cells seen in patients with this illness.1 To validate this model, we examined changes in T cell gene expression, protein expression and function in Em-TCL1 transgenic mice as they developed CLL 2,3 and demonstrate that development of CLL in these transgenic mice is associated with changes in impaired T cell function and in gene expression in CD4 and CD8 T cells similar to those observed in patients with this disease. Infusion of CLL cells into non-leukemia bearing Em-TCL1 mice rapidly induces these changes, demonstrating a causal relationship between leukemia and the induction of T cell changes. This model allows dissection of the molecular changes induced in CD4 and CD8 T cells by interaction with leukemia cells and further supports the concept that cancer results in complex abnormalities in the immune microenvironment.
E(mu)-TCL1 mice represent a model for immunotherapeutic reversal of chronic lymphocytic leukemia-induced T-cell dysfunction.
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View SamplesThe relative contribution of induced and natural Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (iTreg and nTreg cells, respectively) to the maintenance of tolerance is unknown. We examined their respective roles by in vivo adoptive transfer immunotherapy of newborn Foxp3-deficient BALB/c mice. Survival, weight gain, tissue infiltration, T cell activation, and the concentration of proinflammatory cytokines were used as outcome measurements. Treatment with iTreg cells alone was not successful. While effective in preventing death, treatment with nTreg cells alone was associated with chronic inflammation and autoimmunity. Outcomes markedly improved when conventional T (Tconv) cells were transferred together with the nTreg cells, where 10% of the peripheral Treg cell pool was derived by in-situ conversion. This enhancement depended upon the capacity of Tconv cells to express Foxp3.
A requisite role for induced regulatory T cells in tolerance based on expanding antigen receptor diversity.
Age, Specimen part
View SamplesWe compared gene expression in the small intestine (ileum) of mice that were either (i) germ-free, (ii) colonized with a conventional mouse cecal microbiota, (iii) colonized with a conventional zebrafish gut microbiota, or (iv) colonized with Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1.
Reciprocal gut microbiota transplants from zebrafish and mice to germ-free recipients reveal host habitat selection.
Specimen part
View SamplesTo characterize genes, pathways, and transcriptional regulators enriched in the mouse cornea, we compared the expression profiles of whole mouse cornea, bladder, esophagus, lung, proximal small intestine, skin, stomach, and trachea.
The Ets transcription factor EHF as a regulator of cornea epithelial cell identity.
Specimen part
View SamplesHelicobacter pylori clinical isolates can establish themselves in gastric epithelial stem cells and this interaction may have implications for gastric tumorigenesis. Mouse gastric epithelial progenitor cells (mGEPs) and non-progenitor gastric epithelial cells (npGECs) were infected for 24hrs with Helicobacter pylori clinical isolates Kx1 and Kx2. Kx1 was isolated from a patient with chronic atrophic gastritis (ChAG) and Kx2 from the same patient 4 years later, when he progressed to gastric adenocarcinoma.
Helicobacter pylori evolution during progression from chronic atrophic gastritis to gastric cancer and its impact on gastric stem cells.
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View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Response of gastric epithelial progenitors to Helicobacter pylori Isolates obtained from Swedish patients with chronic atrophic gastritis.
Age, Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesHelicobacter pylori infection is associated with development of gastric adenocarcinoma in a subset of infected humans, especially those that develop an antecedent condition, chronic atrophic gastritis (ChAG) characterized by loss of acid-producing parietal cells. Studies in a gnotobiotic transgenic mouse model of ChAG, with an engineered ablation of parietal cells and an associated expansion of gastric epithelial progenitors (GEPs), have shown that a subset of GEPs is able to harbor intracellular collections of H. pylori. To better understand H. pyloris adaptation to ChAG, we sequenced the genomes of 24 isolates, obtained from 6 individuals, each sampled over a 4-year interval, as they maintained normal gastric histology, or progressed from normal histology to ChAG, or experienced worsening ChAG, or proceeded from ChAG to cancer. Analyses of gene content and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) demonstrated that H. pylori populations within study participants were largely clonal, and remarkably stable over the 4-year interval, regardless of disease state. Because they exhibited such broad inter-host variation (38.64.7 SNPs/1000bp of genome), and did not cluster according to host pathology, we sought to identify common functional properties by performing GeneChip studies of the responses of a cultured mouse gastric stem cell-like line (mGEPs) to infection with sequenced strains. The results yielded a shared 695-member set of genes differentially expressed after infection with ChAG-associated, but not normal or heat killed strains: 434 of these genes were also represented in dataset of responses to the cancer-associated strain. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis revealed that ChAG- and ChAG/cancer- associated responses were significantly enriched in genes associated with tumorigenesis in general, and gastric carcinogenesis in specific cases. Whole genome transcriptional profiling of a sequenced ChAG strain during mGEP infection disclosed a set of responses that included upregulation of hopZ, an adhesin belonging to a family of outer membrane proteins. Expression profiles of wild-type and hopZ strains revealed a number of pH-regulated genes affected by loss of HopZ, including HopP which binds sialylated glycans produced by GEPs in vivo. Genetic inactivation of hopZ produces a fitness defect in gnotobiotic transgenic mice but not their wild-type littermates. This study illustrates an approach for identifying GEP responses specific to ChAG, and bacterial genes important for survival in a gastric ecosystem that lacks parietal cells.
Response of gastric epithelial progenitors to Helicobacter pylori Isolates obtained from Swedish patients with chronic atrophic gastritis.
Age, Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesThe etiology of autoimmune hepatitis is poorly understood but likely involves Th1 cells producing IFN-. BALB/c background TGF-1-/- mice rapidly develop fulminant Th1-mediated autoimmune hepatitis. Our aims are to profile liver gene expression in TGF-1-/- mice, to identify gene expression pathways dependent on IFN- as possible targets for rational therapy, and to test potential targets directly in vivo in mice.
The role of Ifng in alterations in liver gene expression in a mouse model of fulminant autoimmune hepatitis.
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View SamplesMEG3 (Maternally Expressed Gene 3) is a non-coding RNA that is highly expressed in the normal human brain and pituitary. Expression of MEG3 is lost in gonadotroph-derived clinically non-functioning pituitary adenomas. Meg3 knock-out mice were generated to identify targets and potential functions of this gene in embryonic development and tumorigenesis. Gene expression profiles were compared in the brains of Meg3-null embryos and wild-type litter-mate controls using microarray analysis. Microarray data were analyzed with GeneSifter which uses Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways and Gene Ontology (GO) classifications to identify signaling cascades and functional categories of interest within the data set. Differences were found in signaling pathways and ontologies related to angiogenesis between wild-type and knock-out embryos. Quantitative RT-PCR and histological staining showed increased expression of some VEGF pathway genes and increased cortical microvessel density in the knock-out embryos. These results are consistent with reported increases in VEGF signaling observed in human clinically non-functioning pituitary adenomas. In conclusion, Meg3 may play an important role in control of vascularization in the brain and may function as a tumor suppressor by preventing angiogenesis.
Increased expression of angiogenic genes in the brains of mouse meg3-null embryos.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe intermediate filament protein Nestin serves as a biomarker for stem cells and has been used to identify subsets of cancer stem-like cells. However, the mechanistic contributions of Nestin to cancer pathogenesis are not understood. Here we report that Nestin binds the hedgehog pathway transcription factor Gli3 to mediate the development of medulloblastomas of the hedgehog subtype. In a mouse model system, Nestin levels increased progressively during medulloblastoma formation resulting in enhanced tumor growth. Conversely, loss of Nestin dramatically inhibited proliferation and promoted differentiation. Mechanistic investigations revealed that the tumor-promoting effects of Nestin were mediated by binding to Gli3, a zinc finger transcription factor that negatively regulates hedgehog signaling. Nestin binding to Gli3 blocked Gli3 phosphorylation and its subsequent proteolytic processing, thereby abrogating its ability to negatively regulate the hedgehog pathway. Our findings show how Nestin drives hedgehog pathway-driven cancers and uncover in Gli3 a therapeutic target to treat these malignancies.
Nestin Mediates Hedgehog Pathway Tumorigenesis.
Specimen part
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