A soy diet worsens the progression of an inherited form of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in male mice when compared to casein-fed mice. Females are largely resistant to this diet effect and better preserve cardiac function. We hypothesized that the abundant phytoestrogens found in soy are mainly responsible for this diet-dependent phenotype. Indeed, feeding male mice a phytoestrogen-supplemented casein-based diet can recapitulate the negative outcome seen when male mice are fed a standard soy-based diet.
Estrogenic compounds are not always cardioprotective and can be lethal in males with genetic heart disease.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesInflammation has pleiotropic effects on carcinogenesis and tumor progression. Signaling through the adaptor protein MyD88 promotes carcinogenesis in several chemically induced cancer models. Interestingly, we observed a protective role for MyD88 in the development of AOM/DSS colitis-associated cancer. The inability of Myd88-/- mice to heal ulcers generated upon injury creates an inflammatory environment that increases the frequency of mutations and results in a dramatic increase in adenoma formation and cancer progression. Susceptibility to colitis development and enhanced polyp formation were also observed in Il18-/- mice upon AOM/DSS treatment, suggesting that the phenotype of MyD88 knockouts is in part due to their inability to signal through the IL-18 receptor. This study revealed a previously unknown level of complexity surrounding MyD88 activities downstream of different receptors that differentially impact tissue homeostasis and carcinogenesis.
MyD88-mediated signaling prevents development of adenocarcinomas of the colon: role of interleukin 18.
Specimen part, Disease, Disease stage
View SamplesUsing killer cell lectin-like receptor G1 as a marker to distinguish terminal effector cells from memory precursors, we found that despite their diverse cell fates both subsets possessed remarkably similar gene expression profiles and functioned as equally potent killer cells. However, only the memory precursors were capable of making IL-2 thus defining a novel effector cell that was cytotoxic, expressed granzyme B, and produced inflammatory cytokines in addition to IL-2. This effector population then differentiated into long-lived protective memory T cells capable of self-renewal and rapid re-call responses. Mechanistic studies showed that cells that continued to receive antigenic stimulation during the later stages of infection were more likely to become terminal effectors. Importantly, curtailing antigenic stimulation towards the tail-end of the acute infection enhanced the generation of memory cells. These studies support the decreasing potential model of memory differentiation and show that the duration of antigenic stimulation is a critical regulator of memory formation
Functional and genomic profiling of effector CD8 T cell subsets with distinct memory fates.
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View SamplesCD25, the high affinity interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor alpha-chain, is rapidly upregulated by antigen-specific CD8+ T cells after T cell receptor stimulation. We demonstrated that during an acute viral infection, CD25 expression was dynamic, and a subset of virus-specific CD8+ T cells sustained CD25 expression longer than the rest. Examination of the in vivo fate of effector CD8+ T cells exhibiting differential responsiveness to IL-2 revealed that CD25lo cells, which were relatively less sensitive to IL-2, preferentially upregulated CD127 and CD62L and gave rise to the functional long-lived memory pool. In contrast, CD25hi cells that accumulate enhanced IL-2 signals, proliferated more rapidly, were prone to apoptosis, exhibited a more pronounced effector phenotype, and appeared to be terminally differentiated. Sustained IL-2 receptor signaling resulted in increased CD8+ T cell proliferation, higher granzyme B expression and exaggerated contraction after antigen clearance. These data support the hypothesis that prolonged IL-2 signals during priming promote terminal effector differentiation of CD8+ T cells.
Prolonged interleukin-2Ralpha expression on virus-specific CD8+ T cells favors terminal-effector differentiation in vivo.
Specimen part
View SamplesUnderstanding the response of memory CD8 T cells to persistent antigen re-stimulation and the role of CD4 T cell help is critical to the design of successful vaccines for chronic diseases. However, studies comparing the protective abilities and qualities of memory and nave cells have been mostly performed in acute infections, and little is known about their roles during chronic infections. Herein, we show that memory cells dominate over nave cells and are protective when present in large enough numbers to quickly reduce infection. In contrast, when infection is not rapidly reduced, memory cells are quickly lost, unlike nave cells. This loss of memory cells is due to (i) an early block in cell proliferation, (ii) selective regulation by the inhibitory receptor 2B4, and (iii) increased reliance on CD4 T cell help. These findings have important implications towards the design of T cell vaccines against chronic infections and tumors.
Tight regulation of memory CD8(+) T cells limits their effectiveness during sustained high viral load.
Specimen part
View SamplesCD4+ T cell help is critical for optimal CD8+ T cell expansion after priming in many experimental systems. However, a role for CD4+ T cells in regulating the initial steps of CD8+ T cell effector differentiation is not well established. Here we demonstrate that absence of CD4+ T cells at the time of replication-incompetent adenovirus vector immunization of C57BL/6 mice led to immediate CD8+ T cell dysfunction characteristic of exhaustion at the first detectable timepoints as well as impaired expansion of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells. The absence of CD4+ T cell help resulted in antigen-specific CD8+ T cells that had reduced ex vivo cytotoxicity and decreased capacity to produce IFN- and TNF-. CD8+ T cells primed in the absence of CD4+ T cells expressed elevated levels of the inhibitory receptors PD-1, LAG-3, and Tim-3, and these cells exhibited transcriptomic exhaustion profiles by gene set enrichment analysis. This dysfunctional state was imprinted within 3 days of immunization and could not be reversed by provision of CD4+ T cell help after priming. Partial rescue of unhelped CD8+ T cell expansion and effector differentiation could be achieved by PD-1 pathway blockade or recombinant IL-2 administration.
Immediate Dysfunction of Vaccine-Elicited CD8+ T Cells Primed in the Absence of CD4+ T Cells.
Specimen part, Time
View SamplesBRCA1, a well-known breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene with multiple interacting partners, is predicted to have diverse biological functions. However, to date its only well-established role is in the repair of damaged DNA and cell cycle regulation. In this regard, the etiopathological study of low penetrant variants of BRCA1 provides an opportunity to uncover its other physiologically important functions. Using this rationale, we studied the R1699Q variant of BRCA1, a potentially moderate risk variant, and found that it does not impair DNA damage repair but abrogates the repression of miR-155, a bona fide oncomir. We further show that in the absence of functional BRCA1, miR-155 is up-regulated in BRCA1-deficient mouse mammary epithelial cells, human and mouse BRCA1-deficienct breast tumor cell lines as well as tumors. Mechanistically, we found that BRCA1 represses miR-155 expression via its association with HDAC2, which deacetylates H2A and H3 on the miR-155 promoter. Finally, we show that over-expression of miR-155 accelerates whereas the knockdown of miR-155 attenuates the growth of tumor cell lines in vivo. Taken together, our findings demonstrate a new mode of tumor suppression by BRCA1 and reveal miR-155 as a potential therapeutic target for BRCA1-deficient tumors.
Tumor suppressor BRCA1 epigenetically controls oncogenic microRNA-155.
Specimen part
View SamplesWe examined the functional significance of the R1699Q variant of human BRCA1 gene using a mouse ES cell-based assay.
Tumor suppressor BRCA1 epigenetically controls oncogenic microRNA-155.
Specimen part
View SamplesInduced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells were produced from reprogramming of somatic cells, and they are shown to possess pluripotent properties similar to embryonic stem (ES) cells. Here we used microarrays to detail the global expression pattern among the ES cells and iPS cells, as well as the original mouse embryo fibroblast (MEF), to identify important players involved in the reprogramming process.
iPS cells produce viable mice through tetraploid complementation.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesCalorie restriction (CR) is a dietary intervention that extends lifespan and healthspan in a variety of organisms. CR improves mitochondrial energy production, fuel oxidation and reactive oxygen species scavenging in skeletal muscle and other tissues, and these processes are thought to be critical to the benefits of CR. PGC-1a is a transcriptional coactivator that regulates mitochondrial function and is induced by CR. Consequently, many of the mitochondrial and metabolic benefits of CR are attributed to increased PGC-1a activity. To test this model for the first time, we examined the metabolic and mitochondrial response to CR in mice lacking skeletal muscle PGC-1a (MKO). Surprisingly, MKO mice demonstrated a normal improvement in glucose homeostasis in response to CR, indicating that skeletal muscle PGC-1a is dispensable for the whole-body benefits of CR. In contrast, gene expression profiling and electron microscopy demonstrated that PGC-1a is required for the full CR-induced increases in mitochondrial gene expression and mitochondrial density in skeletal muscle. These results demonstrate that PGC-1a is a major regulator of the mitochondrial response to CR in skeletal muscle, but surprisingly show that neither PGC-1a nor mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle are required for the metabolic benefits of CR.
Skeletal muscle transcriptional coactivator PGC-1α mediates mitochondrial, but not metabolic, changes during calorie restriction.
Specimen part
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