Purpose: To identify the changes in postnatal mouse conjunctival forniceal gene expression and their regulation by Klf4 around eye opening stage when the goblet cells first appear.
Mouse conjunctival forniceal gene expression during postnatal development and its regulation by Kruppel-like factor 4.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesA 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 SamplesOcular immune privilege (IP) limits immune surveillance of intraocular tumors as certain immunogenic tumor cell lines (P815, E.G7-OVA) that are rejected when transplanted in the skin grow progressively when placed in the anterior chamber (a.c.) of the eye. As splenectomy (SPLNX) is known to terminate ocular IP, we characterized immune mechanisms responsible for spontaneous rejection of intraocular tumors in SPLNX mice as a first step toward identifying how to restore tumoricidal activity within the eye. Microarray data showed a 3-fold increase in interferon (IFN)- and a 2.7-fold increase in Fas ligand (FasL). There was a robust increase in transcripts (127 of 408 surveyed) from interferon (IFN)-stimulated genes and a marked decrease (in 40 of 192 surveyed) in the expression of cell-cycle-associated genes. Non-microarray data confirmed that IFN, FasL and CD8+ T cells but not perforin or TNF were required for elimination of intraocular E.G7-OVA tumors that culminated in destruction of the eye (ocular phthsis). IFN and FasL did not target tumor cells directly as the majority of SPLNX IFNR1-/- mice and Fas-defective lpr mice failed to eliminate ocular E.G7-OVA tumors that expressed Fas and IFNR1. Bone marrow chimeras showed that immune cell expression of IFNR1 and Fas was critical and that SPLNX increased the frequency of activated macrophages within ocular tumors in an IFN- and Fas/FasL-dependent manner. Rejection of intraocular tumors was associated with increased ocular mRNA expression of several inflammatory genes including FasL, NOS2, CXCL2 and T-bet. Our data support a model in which IFN- and Fas/FasL-dependent activation of intratumoral macrophage by CD8+ T cells promotes severe intraocular inflammation that indirectly eliminates intraocular tumors by inducing phthisis. The immunosuppressive mechanisms which maintain ocular IP likely interfere with the interaction between CD8+ T cells and macrophage to limit immunosurveillance of intraocular tumors.
Splenectomy promotes indirect elimination of intraocular tumors by CD8+ T cells that is associated with IFNγ- and Fas/FasL-dependent activation of intratumoral macrophages.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesPrions consist of aggregates of abnormal conformers of cellular prion protein (PrPC). They propagate by recruiting host-encoded PrPC although the critical interacting proteins and the reasons for the differences in susceptibility of distinct cell lines and populations are unknown. We derived a lineage of cell lines with markedly differing susceptibilities, unexplained by PrPC expression differences, to identify such factors. We examined the transcriptomes of prion-resistant revertants, isolated from highly susceptible cells, and identified a gene expression signature associated with susceptibility. Several of these genes encode proteins with a role in extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling, a compartment in which disease-related PrP deposits. Loss-of-function of nine of these genes significantly increased susceptibility. Remarkably, inhibition of fibronectin 1 binding to integrin 8 by RGD peptide inhibited metalloproteinases (MMP)-2/9 whilst increasing prion propagation rates. This indicates that prion replication may be controlled by MMPs at the ECM in an integrin-dependent manner.
Identification of a gene regulatory network associated with prion replication.
Treatment
View SamplesCD38, a multi-functional membrane receptor and enzyme, consumes NAD+ to generate products such as cyclic-ADP-ribose. CD38 knockout mice show elevated tissue and blood NAD+ level. Chronic feeding of high-fat, high-sucrose diet to wild type mice leads to exercise intolerance and reduced metabolic flexibility. Loss of CD38 by genetic mutation protects mice from diet-induced metabolic deficit. These animal model results suggest that elevation of tissue NAD+ through genetic ablation of CD38 can profoundly alter energy homeostasis in animals that are maintained on a calorically-excessive Western diet.
Genetic Ablation of CD38 Protects against Western Diet-Induced Exercise Intolerance and Metabolic Inflexibility.
Specimen part
View SamplesDespite advances in investigating functional aspects of osteoblast (OB) differentiation, especially studies on how bone proteins are deposited and mineralized, there has been little research on the intracellular trafficking of bone proteins during OB differentiation. Collagen synthesis and secretion is markedly upregulated upon Ascorbic Acid (AA) stimulation. Understanding the mechanism by which collagen is mobilized in specialized OB cells is important for both basic cell biology and diseases involving defects in bone secretion and deposition. RabGTPases are major regulators on protein trafficking throughout the cell. In this study, we identified the Rab GTPases that are upregulated during 5-day AA differentiation of OBs using microarray analysis, namely Rab1, Rab3d and Rab27b.
Rab GTPase mediated procollagen trafficking in ascorbic acid stimulated osteoblasts.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesThere are a few markers for embryonic hepatic stellate cells in mouse embryonic livers
Isolation of a unique hepatic stellate cell population expressing integrin α8 from embryonic mouse livers.
Specimen part
View SamplesType I IFN-signaling suppresses an excessive IFN-{gamma} response and prevents lung damage and chronic inflammation following Pneumocystis (PC)-infection and clearance in CD4 T cell-competent mice.
Type-I IFN signaling suppresses an excessive IFN-gamma response and thus prevents lung damage and chronic inflammation during Pneumocystis (PC) clearance in CD4 T cell-competent mice.
Specimen part
View SamplesRationale: While modulation of the serotonin transporter (5HTT) has shown to be a risk factor for pulmonary arterial hypertension for almost 40 years, there is a lack of in vivo data about the broad molecular effects of pulmonary inhibition of 5HTT. Previous studies have suggested effects on inflammation, proliferation, and vasoconstriction. The goal of this study was to determine which of these were supported by alterations in gene expression in serotonin transporter knockout mice. Methods: Eight week old normoxic mice with a 5-HTT knock-out (5HTT-/-) and their heterozygote(5HTT+/-) or wild-type(5HTT+/+) littermates had right ventricular systolic pressure(RVSP) assessed, lungs collected for RNA, pooled, and used in duplicate in Affymetrix array analysis. Representative genes were confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR and western blot. Results: RVSP was normal in all groups. Only 124 genes were reliably changed between 5HTT-/- and 5HTT+/+ mice. More than half of these were either involved in inflammatory response or muscle function and organization; in addition, some matrix, heme oxygenase, developmental, and energy metabolism genes showed altered expression. Quantitative RT-PCR for examples from each major group confirmed changes seen by array, with an intermediate level in 5HTT+/- mice. Conclusions: These results for the first time show the in vivo effects of 5HTT knockout in lungs, and show that many of the downstream mechanisms suggested by cell culture and ex vivo experiments are also operational in vivo. This suggests that the effect of 5HTT on pulmonary vascular function arises from its impact on several systems, including vasoreactivity, proliferation, and immune function.
Gene expression in lungs of mice lacking the 5-hydroxytryptamine transporter gene.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesSingle O-GlcNAc modification orchestrate by O-GlcNAc Transferase (OGT) and O-GlcNAcase (OGA alias MGEA5) enzymes, affects signal transduction and gene expression by chromatin modulation. We developed Oga deleted MEF (mouse embryonic fibroblast) cells to investigate effects of O-GlcNAc modification in mice. RNA isolated from Mouse Embryonic Fibroblast cells generated from Oga Knock out (KO) Heterozygous (Het) and wild type (WT) cells and subjected to microarray analysis.
Conditional knock-out reveals a requirement for O-linked N-Acetylglucosaminase (O-GlcNAcase) in metabolic homeostasis.
Sex, Specimen part
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