Clinical studies have revealed that social support improves the outcome of cancer patients while epidemiological studies suggest that social isolation increases the risk of death associated with several chronic diseases. However, the precise biological consequences of an unfavorable social environment have not been defined. To do so, robust, reproducible pre-clinical models are needed to study the mechanisms whereby an adverse environment impacts on gene expression and cancer biology. Because random assignment of inbred laboratory mice to well-defined social environments allows accurate and repeated measurements of behavioral and endocrine parameters, transgenic mice provide a pre-clinical framework with which to begin to determine gene-environment mechanisms. In this study, we found that female C3(1)/SV40 T-antigen mice deprived of social interaction from weaning exhibited increased expression of genes encoding key metabolic pathway enzymes in the pre-malignant mammary gland. Chronic social isolation was associated with upregulated fatty acid synthesis and glycolytic pathway gene expression - both pathways known to contribute to increased breast cancer growth. Consistent with the expression of metabolic genes, isolated mice subsequently developed significantly larger mammary gland tumors compared to group-housed mice. Endocrine evaluation confirmed that isolated mice developed a heightened corticosterone stress response compared to group-housed mice. Together, these transdisciplinary studies show for the first time that an adverse social environment is associated with altered mammary gland gene expression and tumor growth. Moreover, the identification of specific alterations in metabolic pathways favoring tumor growth suggests potential molecular biomarkers and/or targets (e.g. fatty acid synthesis) for preventive intervention in breast cancer.
No associated publication
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Transcription factor ID2 prevents E proteins from enforcing a naïve T lymphocyte gene program during NK cell development.
Specimen part
View SamplesAll innate lymphoid cells (ILC) constitutively express and require the small helix-loop-helix protein ID2 but the functions of ID2 are not well understood in these cells. Here we show that natural killer (NK) cells, the prototypic ILC, can develop in the absence of ID2 but lose their innate properties and remain as CD27+CD11b- cells that fail to mature into cytotoxic effectors. We show that ID2 broadly limited chromatin accessibility at E protein binding sites near T lymphocyte-associated genes including multiple chemokine receptors, cytokine receptors, and signaling molecules. Moreover, ID2 prevented the conversion of CD27+CD11b- NK cells from a CD8 memory precursor-like chromatin accessibility state toward a nave-like chromatin accessibility state, and altered their functional capacity. Finally, we demonstrate that increased expression of the nave T cell-associated helix-loop-helix protein ID3 was required for development of ID2-deficient NK cells, indicating that completely unfettered E protein function is incompatible with NK cell development. These data solidify the roles of ID2 and ID3 as mediators of effector and nave gene programs, respectively, and revealed a critical role for ID2 in promoting a chromatin state and transcriptional program in CD27+CD11b- NK cells that supports the innate properties of these cells and their ability to undergo cytotoxic effector differentiation.
No associated publication
Specimen part
View SamplesEndothelial inflammation contributes to the pathogenesis of numerous human diseases; however, the role of tumor endothelial inflammation in the growth of experimental tumors and its influence on the prognosis of human cancers is less understood. TNF-, an important mediator of tumor stromal inflammation, is known to target the tumor vasculature. In this study, we demonstrate that B16-F1 melanomas grew more rapidly in C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) mice than in syngeneic mice with germline deletions of both TNF- receptors (KO). This enhanced tumor growth was associated with increased COX2 inflammatory expression in WT tumor endothelium compared to endothelium in KO mice. We purified endothelial cells from WT and KO tumors and characterized dysregulated gene expression, which ultimately formed the basis of a 6-gene Inflammation-Related Endothelial-derived Gene (IREG) signature. This inflammatory signature expressed in WT tumor endothelial cells was trained in human cancer datasets and predicted a poor clinical outcome in breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer and glioma. Consistent with this observation, conditioned media from human endothelial cells treated with pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF- and interferons) accelerated the growth of human colon and breast tumors in immune-deprived mice as compared with conditioned media from untreated endothelial cells. These findings demonstrate that activation of endothelial inflammatory pathways contributes to tumor growth and progression in diverse human cancers.
Tumor endothelial inflammation predicts clinical outcome in diverse human cancers.
Specimen part
View SamplesParticulate Matter Triggers Carotid Body Dysfunction, Respiratory Dysynchrony and Cardiac Arrhythmias in Mice with Cardiac Failure
Particulate matter induces cardiac arrhythmias via dysregulation of carotid body sensitivity and cardiac sodium channels.
Age, Specimen part
View SamplesWe have previously demonstrated that pre-B-cell colony enhancing factor (PBEF) ais a biomarker in sepsis and sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI) with genetic variants conferring ALI susceptibility118. In the current study, we explored the mechanistic participation of PBEF in ALI and ventilator-induced associated lung injury (VIALI). Initial in vitro studies and demonstrated rhPBEF aas a direct rat neutrophil chemotactic factor in vitro producing marked in vivo increases in BAL leukocytes (PMNs) in vivo following (intratracheal injection (,IT) in C57B6 mice. These latter changes were accompanied by increased BAL levels of the PMN chemoattractants (, KC and MIP2), and modest changes in lung vascular and but were not associated with significant increasesin alveolar permeability. We next explored the potential synergism between rhPBEF administration (IT) and a mechanical ventilation model of modest VILI lung injury (4 hours, 30 ml/kg tidal volume). We and observed dramatic synergistic increases in BAL PMNs, and both BAL protein and cytokine levels (IL-6, TNF-?, KC). Gene expression profiling Microarray analysis further supported a major role for PBEF in the induction of gene modules associated with ALI and VALI (NFkB pathway, leukocyte extravasation, apoptosis, toll receptor signaling). Finally, we exposed wild type and heterozygous PBEF+/- mice (targeted deletion of a single PBEF allele deletion) to a model of severe VILImechanical ventilation-induced lung injury (4 hours, 40 ml/kg tidal volume). PBEF+/- mice were significantly protected from VIALI-associated increases in BAL protein and BAL IL-6 levels and exhibited significantly reduced expression of ALI-associated gene expression modules. Together, these results indicate that PBEF is a key inflammatory mediator intimately involved in both the development and severity of ventilator-induced ALI.
Essential role of pre-B-cell colony enhancing factor in ventilator-induced lung injury.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesBackground: Microvascular injury and increased vascular leakage are prominent features of the radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) which follows cancerassociated thoracic irradiation. The mechanisms of RILI are incompletely understood and therapeutic strategies to limit RILI are currently unavailable. We established a murine model of radiation pneumonitis in order to assess mechanism-based therapies for RILI-induced inflammation and vascular barrier dysfunction. Based on prior studies, we investigated the therapeutic potential of simvastatin as a vascular barrier protective agent in RILI.
Simvastatin attenuates radiation-induced murine lung injury and dysregulated lung gene expression.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesDiet-induced obesity (DIO) is rapidly becoming a global health problem, particularly as Westernization of emerging nations continues. Currently, one third of adult Americans are considered obese and, if current trends continue, >90% of US citizens are predicted to be affected by 2050. However, efforts to fight this epidemic have not yet produced sound solutions for prevention or treatment. Our studies reveal a balanced and chronobiological relationship between food consumption, daily variation in gut microbial evenness and function, basomedial hypothalamic circadian clock (CC) gene expression, and key hepatic metabolic regulatory networks , including CC and nuclear receptors (NR), that is are essential for metabolic homeostasis. Western diets high in saturated fats dramatically alter diurnal variation in microbial composition and function, which in turn lead to uncoupling of the hepatic CC and NR networks from central CC control in ways that offset the timing and types of regulatory factors directing metabolic function. These signals include microbial metabolites such as short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) that can directly regulate or disrupt metabolic networks of the hepatocyte. Our study therefore provides insights into the complex and dynamic relationships between diet, gut microbes, and the host that are critical for maintenance of health. Perturbations of this constellation of processes, in this case by diet-induced dysbiosis and its metabolomic signaling, can potentially promote metabolic imbalances and disease. This knowledge opens up many possibilities for novel therapeutic and interventional strategies to treat and prevent DIO, ranging from the manipulation of gut microbial function to pharmacological targeting of host pathways to restore metabolic balance.
Effects of diurnal variation of gut microbes and high-fat feeding on host circadian clock function and metabolism.
Specimen part
View SamplesGata5 is a zinc finger transcription factor that is expressed in embryonic pulmonary mesenchyme and becomes upregulated in the lungs, gut, and bladder during postnatal development. We used microarray to comapre gene expression profiles of mouse lung between Gata5 knockout and wild type mice. We hope to identify the differentially expressed genes that affected by Gata5 gene deletion and their functional clusters or pathways.
No associated publication
Specimen part
View Sampleseffect of over-expression LIGHT on T cells for the liver gene expression
Lymphotoxin beta receptor-dependent control of lipid homeostasis.
No sample metadata fields
View Samples