This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
The transcription factor prospero homeobox protein 1 is a direct target of SoxC proteins during developmental vertebrate neurogenesis.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe HMG-domain containing SoxC transcription factors Sox4 and Sox11 are expressed in the vertebrate central nervous system in neuronal precursors and neuroblasts. They are required during early stages of neurogenesis.
The transcription factor prospero homeobox protein 1 is a direct target of SoxC proteins during developmental vertebrate neurogenesis.
Specimen part
View SamplesSTAT3 is a pleiotropic transcription factor with important functions in cytokine signalling in a variety of tissues. However, the role of STAT3 in the intestinal epithelium is not well understood. Here we demonstrate that development of colonic inflammation is associated with the induction of STAT3 activity in intestinal epithelial cells (IEC). Studies in genetically engineered mice showed that epithelial STAT3 activation in DSS colitis is dependent on IL-22 rather than IL-6. IL-22 was secreted by colonic CD11c+ cells in response to Toll-like receptor stimulation. Conditional knockout mice with an IEC specific deletion of STAT3 activity were highly susceptible to experimental colitis, indicating that epithelial STAT3 regulates gut homeostasis. STAT3IEC-KO mice, upon induction of colitis, showed a striking defect of epithelial restitution. Gene chip analysis indicated that STAT3 regulates the cellular stress response, apoptosis and pathways associated with wound healing in IEC. Consistently, both IL-22 and epithelial STAT3 were found to be important in wound-healing experiments in vivo. In summary, our data suggest that intestinal epithelial STAT3 activation regulates immune homeostasis in the gut by promoting IL-22-dependent mucosal wound healing.
STAT3 links IL-22 signaling in intestinal epithelial cells to mucosal wound healing.
Specimen part
View SamplesPlasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) efficiently produce large amounts of type I interferon in response to TLR7 and TLR9 ligands, whereas conventional DCs (cDC) predominantly secrete high levels of the cytokines IL-10 and IL-12. The molecular basis underlying this distinct phenotype is not well understood. Here, we identified the MAPK phosphatase Dusp9/MKP-4 by transcriptome analysis as selectively expressed in pDC, but not cDC. We confirmed the constitutive expression of Dusp9 at the protein level in pDC generated in vitro by culture with Flt3L and ex vivo in sorted splenic pDC. Dusp9 expression was low in B220- bone marrow precursors and was up-regulated during pDC differentiation, concomitant with established pDC markers. Higher expression of Dusp9 in pDC correlated with impaired phosphorylation of the MAPK ERK1/2 upon TLR9 stimulation. Notably, Dusp9 was not expressed at detectable levels in human pDC, although these displayed similarly impaired activation of ERK1/2 MAPK compared to cDC. Enforced retroviral expression of Dusp9 in mouse GM-CSF-induced cDC increased the expression of TLR7/9-induced IL-12p40 and IFNwhereas IL-10 levels were diminished. Taken together, our results suggest that the species-specific, selective expression of Dusp9 in murine pDC contributes to the differential cytokine/interferon output of pDC and cDC.
Selective Expression of the MAPK Phosphatase Dusp9/MKP-4 in Mouse Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells and Regulation of IFN-β Production.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesEmbryonic stem cells (ESCs) cells run a self-renewal gene expression program, requiring the expression of certain transcription factors accompanied by a particular chromosome organization to maintain a balance between pluripotency and the capacity for rapid differentiation. However, how transcriptional regulation is linked to chromosome organization in ESCs remains enigmatic. Here we show that Cohesin exhibits a functional role in maintaining ESC identity through association with the pluripotency transcriptional network. ChIP-seq analyses of the cohesin subunit Rad21 reveal an ESC specific cohesin binding pattern that is characterized by a CTCF independent colocalization of cohesin with pluripotency related transcription factors. Upon ESC differentiation, these binding sites disappear and instead new CTCF independent Rad21 binding sites emerge, which are enriched for binding sites of transcription factors implicated in early differentiation. Furthermore, knock-down of cohesin subunits causes expression changes that are reminiscent of the depletion of key pluripotency transcription factors, demonstrating the functional relevance of the cohesin - pluripotency transcriptional network association. Finally, we show that Nanog physically interacts with the cohesin interacting proteins Stag1 and Wapl, further substantiating this association. Based on these findings we propose that a dynamic placement of cohesin by pluripotency transcription factors contributes to a chromosome organization supporting the ESC expression program.
No associated publication
Specimen part
View SamplesThe Cohesin complex has recently been described to regulate gene expression. We wanted to determine the gene expression profile specific in mouse ES cells after depletion of the Cohesin subunit Rad21.
No associated publication
Specimen part
View SamplesLong non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate diverse biological pathways. Unlike protein coding genes, where methods to comprehensibly study their functional roles in cellular systems are available, techniques to systematically investigate lncRNAs have largely remained unexplored. Here, we report a technology for combined Knockdown and Localization Analysis of Non-coding RNAs (c-KLAN) that merges phenotypic characterization and localization approaches to study lncRNAs. Using a library of endoribonuclease prepared short interfering RNAs (esiRNAs) coupled with a pipeline for synthesizing labeled riboprobes for RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), we demonstrate the utility of c-KLAN by identifying a novel transcript Panct1 (Pluripotency associated non-coding transcript 1) that regulates embryonic stem cell identity. We postulate that c-KLAN should be generally useful in the discovery of lncRNAs implicated in various biological processes.
Combined RNAi and localization for functionally dissecting long noncoding RNAs.
Specimen part
View SamplesLoss and heterozygosity for NDR1 predisposes mice to T-cell lymphoma development. To analyze mechanisms of tumor development in these mice chemically (ENU)-induced tumors were collected and RNA was extracted.
Ablation of the kinase NDR1 predisposes mice to the development of T cell lymphoma.
Sex, Specimen part, Disease, Treatment
View SamplesWe have analyzed the transcript expression levels in Dicer knock-out embryonic stem (ES) cells 24 hours after transfection with either control siRNA agains Renilla luciferase or miRNA Mimics (Dharmacon) of mmu-miR-290 cluster members in order to identify primary targets of miR-290 cluster miRNAs.
MicroRNAs control de novo DNA methylation through regulation of transcriptional repressors in mouse embryonic stem cells.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesTertiary lymphoid organs (TLOs) emerge in response to nonresolving inflammation but their roles in adaptive immunity remain unknown. Here, we explored artery TLOs (ATLOs) to delineate atherosclerosis T cell responses in apoe-/- mice during aging. Though the T cell repertoire showed systemic age-associated contractions in size and modifications in subtype composition and activation, wt and apoe-/- mice were equally affected. In contrast, ATLOs - but not wt aortae, apoe-/- aorta segments without ATLOs or atherosclerotic plaques - promoted T cell recruitment, altered characteristics of T cell motility, primed and imprinted T cells in situ, generated CD4+/FoxP3-, CD4+/FoxP3+, CD8+/FoxP3- effector and central memory cells, and converted nave CD4+/FoxP3- T cells into induced Treg cells. ATLOs also showed substantially increased antigen presentation capability by conventional dendritic cells (DCs) and monocyte-derived DCs but not by plasmacytoid DCs. Thus, the senescent immune system specifically employs ATLOs to control dichotomic atherosclerosis T cell immune responses. We assembled transcriptome maps of wt and apoe-/- aortae and aorta-draining RLNs and identified ATLOs as major sites of atherosclerosis-specific T cell responses during aging: Transcriptome atlases of wt and apoe-/- abdominal aortae and associated draining RLNs were constructed from laser capture microdissection (LCM)-based whole genome mRNA expression microarrays yielding 6 maps: wt adventitia (tissue-1); wt RLN (tissue-2); apoe-/- ATLOs (tissue-3); apoe-/- RLN (tissue-4); apoe-/- adventitia without adjacent plaques (tissue-5), and plaques (tissue-6). Several two-tissue comparisons within the transcriptome atlases are noteworthy: Unexpectedly, transcriptomes of wt and apoe-/- RLNs were virtually identical; additonal data revealed that transcriptomes of RLNs were strikingly similar to those of inguinal LNs which do not drain the aorta adventitia (as shown of India ink injection experiments of surgically exposed aortae); in sharp contrast, wt adventitia versus ATLOs revealed 1405 differentially expressed transcripts many of which encoded members of GO terms immune response and inflammatory response; the ATLO-plaque comparison also showed > 1000 differentially expressed transcripts; however, wt adventitia versus apoe-/- adventitia without plaque showed few genes (< 5 % of differentially expressed transcripts of the wt adventitia-ATLO comparison). Thus, the aorta transcriptome atlases support the conclusion that neither aorta-draining apoe-/- RLNs nor ILNs participate in atherosclerosis-specific T cell responses. In addition, they demonstrate that T cell responses in the diseased aorta are highly territorialized. Finally, these data show that the immune responses carried out in ATLOs differ significantly from those carried out in plaques. We next identified three major clusters within the transcriptome atlases through ANOVA analyses and application of strict filters: An adventitia cluster, a plaque/ATLO cluster, and a LN/plaque cluster. The total number of differentially expressed genes in each cluster were examined for GO terms immune response, inflammatory response, T cell activation, positive regulation of T cell response, and T cell proliferation. Within the adventitia cluster, similarities of transcriptomes of wt adventitia and apoe-/- adventitia without associated plaque versus ATLOs indicate that a robust number of immune response-regulating genes are selectively expressed in ATLOs which are located within a distance of few m of the adventitia without associated plaques indicating a very high degree of territoriality of the atherosclerosis T cell response. Furthermore, unlike the total number of differentially regulated transcripts, the majority of transcripts among GO terms immune response and inflammatory response, was up-regulated. Inspection of the plaque/ATLO cluster provided further information: The majority of immune response regulating genes where expressed at a higher level in ATLOs when compared to plaques though plaques also contained a significant number of immune response regulating genes; the reverse is true for genes regulating inflammation. Finally, the lymph node cluster revealed that though the majority of immune response regulating genes resides in both wt and apoe-/- RLNs (with little differences between them) ATLOs express a selected set of immune response regulating genes at a higher level when compared to LNs. In addition, the inflammatory component of ATLOs when compared to LNs is documented by the finding that many more genes regulating inflammation reside in ATLOs even when compared to those of plaques.
Generation of Aorta Transcript Atlases of Wild-Type and Apolipoprotein E-null Mice by Laser Capture Microdissection-Based mRNA Expression Microarrays.
Sex, Age, Specimen part
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