During development of the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), neurons and glial cells (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes) are generated from common neural precursor cells (NPCs). However, neurogenesis precedes gliogenesis, which normally commences at later stages of fetal telencephalic development. Astrocyte differentiation of mouse NPCs at embryonic day (E) 14.5 (relatively late gestation) is induced by activation of the transcription factor STAT3, whereas at E11.5 (mid-gestation) NPCs do not differentiate into astrocytes even when stimulated by STAT3-activating cytokines such as leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). This can be explained in part by the fact that astrocyte-specific gene promoters are highly methylated in NPCs at E11.5, but other mechanisms are also likely to play a role. We therefore sought to identify genes involved in the inhibition of astrocyte differentiation of NPCs at midgestation. We first examined gene expression profiles in E11.5 and E14.5 NPCs, using Affymetrix GeneChip analysis, applying the Percellome method to normalize gene expression level. We then conducted in situ hybridization analysis for selected genes found to be highly expressed in NPCs at midgestation. Among these genes, we found that N-myc and high mobility group AT-hook 2 (Hmga2) were highly expressed in the E11.5 but not the E14.5 ventricular zone of mouse brain, where NPCs reside. Transduction of N-myc and Hmga2 by retroviruses into E14.5 NPCs, which normally differentiate into astrocytes in response to LIF, resulted in suppression of astrocyte differentiation. However, sustained expression of N-myc and Hmga2 in E11.5 NPCs failed to maintain the hypermethylated status of an astrocyte-specific gene promoter. Taken together, our data suggest that astrocyte differentiation of NPCs is regulated not only by DNA methylation but also by genes whose expression is controlled spatio-temporally during brain development.
Identification of genes that restrict astrocyte differentiation of midgestational neural precursor cells.
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View SamplesGene expression in wild-type and p38a-knockout dendritic cells (DCs) were compared. Lymph node dendritic cells were isolated from mice, and left unstimulated and stimulated with Pam3CSK4, a toll-like receptor 2 agonist.
Cell type-specific targeting dissociates the therapeutic from the adverse effects of protein kinase inhibition in allergic skin disease.
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Reprogramming of the microRNA transcriptome mediates resistance to rapamycin.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesThe mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a central regulator of cell proliferation. Inhibitors of mTOR are being evaluated as anti-tumor agents. Given the emerging role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in tumorgenesis we hypothesized that miRNAs could play important roles in the response of tumors to mTOR inhibitors. Rapamycin resistant myogenic cells developed by long-term rapamycin treatment showed extensive reprogramming of miRNAs expression, characterized by up-regulation of the mir-17~92 and related clusters and down-regulation of tumor-suppressor miRNAs. Antagonists of oncogenic miRNA families and mimics of tumor suppressor miRNAs (let-7) restored rapamycin sensitivity in resistant tumor cells. This study identified miRNAs as new downstream components of the mTOR-signaling pathway, which may determine the response of tumors to mTOR inhibitors.
Reprogramming of the microRNA transcriptome mediates resistance to rapamycin.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesComparative analysis of gene expression in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) from trsp knockout mice (Trspfl/fl-LysM-Cre+/-) and Control (Trspfl/fl-LysM-Cre-/-) mice.
Selenoproteins regulate macrophage invasiveness and extracellular matrix-related gene expression.
Sex, Treatment
View SamplesActivation of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway is commonly observed in pancreatic cancer. We therefore sought to identify a gene expression profile associated with the activation of this pathway in pancreatic cancer cells.
Activation of WNT/β-Catenin Signaling Enhances Pancreatic Cancer Development and the Malignant Potential Via Up-regulation of Cyr61.
Specimen part, Cell line
View SamplesThe gastrointestinal (GI) tract can have significant impact on the regulation of the whole body metabolism and may contribute to the development of obesity and diabetes. To systemically elucidate the role of the GI tract in obesity, we performed a transcriptomic analyses in different parts of the GI tract of two obese mouse models: ob/ob and high-fat diet (HFD) fed mice. Compared to their lean controls, both obese mouse groups had significant amount of gene expression changes in the stomach (ob/ob: 959; HFD: 542), much more than the number of changes in the intestine. Despite the difference in genetic background, the two mouse models shared 296 similar gene expression changes in the stomach. Among those genes, some had known associations to obesity, diabetes and insulin resistance. In addition, the gene expression profile strongly suggested an increased gastric acid secretion in both obese mouse models, probably through an activation of the gastrin pathway. In conclusion, our data reveal a previously unknown dominant connection between the stomach and obesity.
Significant obesity-associated gene expression changes occur in the stomach but not intestines in obese mice.
Specimen part
View SamplesDevelopment of a suitable mouse model would facilitate the investigation of pathomechanisms underlying human psoriasis and would also assist in development of therapeutic treatments. However, while many psoriasis mouse models have been proposed, no single model recapitulates all features of the human disease, and standardized validation criteria for psoriasis mouse models have not been widely applied. In this study, whole-genome transcriptional profiling is used to compare gene expression patterns manifested by human psoriatic skin lesions with those that occur in five psoriasis mouse models (K5-Tie2, imiquimod, K14-AREG, K5-Stat3C and K5-TGFbeta1). While the cutaneous gene expression profiles associated with each mouse phenotype exhibited statistically significant similarity to the expression profile of psoriasis in humans, each model displayed distinctive sets of similarities and differences in comparison to human psoriasis. For all five models, correspondence to the human disease was strong with respect to genes involved in epidermal development and keratinization. Immune and inflammation-associated gene expression, in contrast, was more variable between models as compared to the human disease. These findings support the value of all five models as research tools, each with identifiable areas of convergence to and divergence from the human disease. Additionally, the approach used in this paper provides an objective and quantitative method for evaluation of proposed mouse models of psoriasis, which can be strategically applied in future studies to score strengths of mouse phenotypes relative to specific aspects of human psoriasis.
Genome-wide expression profiling of five mouse models identifies similarities and differences with human psoriasis.
Specimen part
View SamplesBACKGROUND: p53 is an important tumor suppressor with a known role in the later stages of colorectal cancer, but its relevance to the early stages of neoplastic initiation remains somewhat unclear. Although p53-dependent regulation of Wnt signalling activity is known to occur, the importance of these regulatory mechanisms during the early stages of intestinal neoplasia has not been demonstrated.
A limited role for p53 in modulating the immediate phenotype of Apc loss in the intestine.
Specimen part
View SamplesDysregulated Wnt signalling is seen in approximately 30% of hepatocellular cancers, thus finding pathways downstream of activation of Wnt signalling is key. Using cre lox technology we have deleted the the adenomatous polyposis coli tumour suppressor protein (Apc) within the adult mouse liver and observed a rapid increase in nuclear beta-catenin and C-Myc. This is associated with an induction of proliferation leading to hepatomegally within 4 days of gene deletion. To investigate the downstream pathways responsible for these phenotypes we analysed the impact of inactivating Apc in the context of deficiency of the potentially key effectors beta-catenin and c-Myc. beta-catenin loss rescues both the proliferation and hepatomegally phenotypes following Apc loss. However c-Myc deletion, which rescues the phenotypes of Apc loss in the intestine, had no effect on the phenotypes of Apc loss. The consequences of deregulation the Wnt pathway within the liver are therefore strikingly different to those observed within the intestine, with the vast majority of Wnt targets beta-catenin dependent but c-Myc independent in the liver.
B-catenin deficiency, but not Myc deletion, suppresses the immediate phenotypes of APC loss in the liver.
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