人肾上腺基因表达谱的建立及其功能的新认识

为深入理解人类肾上腺（AD）的功能,构建了正常人肾上腺cDNA文库,并利用大规模表达序列标签（ESTs）测序和生物信息学技术,研究显示参与基因/蛋白表达的基因类型表达最多,其次为能量代谢类.肾上腺中表达丰度最高的3个基因均为参与类固醇合成的酶类和蛋白.一些重要的基因首次显示在肾上腺表达,包括神经激素和神经肽,如促肾上腺皮质激素释放激素（CRH）,黑色素浓激素（MCH）,urocortin,可卡因和安非他明调节肽（CART）和垂体腺苷酸环化酶激活肽（PACAP）;许多重要介质的受体,如细胞因子、神经肽及神经递质受体;参与胆固醇代谢的基因,如LDL受体、HDL结合蛋白和胆固醇合成酶.研究结果表明在肾上腺表达丰度最高的基因与该器官的功能特异性有关,除类固醇激素外,许多神经肽、细胞因子在肾上腺产生,肾上腺与体内其他重要的系统间存在广泛的应答,而且在人肾上腺局部可能存在一个CRH-ACTH-皮质醇调节网络.     

Synthesis and Expression of Some Genes for Human Cytokines

Abstract

Intronless genes for human mature interleukin 1a (IL1a) and its receptor antagonist (IL1ra) have been synthesized and efficiently expressed in a specially devised bacterial plasmid vector as part of a versatile two-cistron prokaryotic expression system.     

MicroRNA Expression Profiling in Mild Asthmatic Human Airways and Effect of Corticosteroid Therapy

Background

Asthma is a common disease characterised by reversible airflow obstruction, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and chronic inflammation, which is commonly treated using corticosteroids such as budesonide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a recently identified family of non-protein encoding genes that regulate protein translation by a mechanism entitled RNA interference. Previous studies have shown lung-specific miRNA expression profiles, although their importance in regulating gene expression is unresolved. We determined whether miRNA expression was differentially expressed in mild asthma and the effect of corticosteroid treatment.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We have examined changes in miRNA using a highly sensitive RT-PCR based approach to measure the expression of 227 miRNAs in airway biopsies obtained from normal and mild asthmatic patients. We have also determined whether the anti-inflammatory action of corticosteroids are mediated through miRNAs by determining the profile of miRNA expression in mild asthmatics, before and following 1 month twice daily treatment with inhaled budesonide. Furthermore, we have analysed the expression of miRNAs from individual cell populations from the airway and lung.We found no significant difference in the expression of 227 miRNAs in the airway biopsies obtained from normal and mild asthmatic patients. In addition, despite improved lung function, we found no significant difference in the miRNA expression following one month treatment with the corticosteroid, budesonide. However, analysis of bronchial and alveolar epithelial cells, airway smooth muscle cells, alveolar macrophages and lung fibroblasts demonstrate a miRNA expression profile that is specific to individual cell types and demonstrates the complex cellular heterogeneity within whole tissue samples.

Conclusions

Changes in miRNA expression do not appear to be involved in the development of a mild asthmatic phenotype or in the anti-inflammatory action of the corticosteroid budesonide.     

RNA Expression Profiling of Human iPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes in a Cardiac Hypertrophy Model

Cardiac hypertrophy is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and heart failure. There is increasing evidence that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in the regulation of messenger RNA (mRNA) and the pathogenesis of various cardiovascular diseases. However, the ability to comprehensively study cardiac hypertrophy on a gene regulatory level is impacted by the limited availability of human cardiomyocytes. Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) offer the opportunity for disease modeling. Here we utilize a previously established in vitro model of cardiac hypertrophy to interrogate the regulatory mechanism associated with the cardiac disease process. We perform miRNA sequencing and mRNA expression analysis on endothelin 1 (ET-1) stimulated hiPSC-CMs to describe associated RNA expression profiles. MicroRNA sequencing revealed over 250 known and 34 predicted novel miRNAs to be differentially expressed between ET-1 stimulated and unstimulated control hiPSC-CMs. Messenger RNA expression analysis identified 731 probe sets with significant differential expression. Computational target prediction on significant differentially expressed miRNAs and mRNAs identified nearly 2000 target pairs. A principal component analysis approach comparing the in vitro data with human myocardial biopsies detected overlapping expression changes between the in vitro samples and myocardial biopsies with Left Ventricular Hypertrophy. These results provide further insights into the complex RNA regulatory mechanism associated with cardiac hypertrophy.     

New Insight on FGFR3-Related Chondrodysplasias Molecular Physiopathology Revealed by Human Chondrocyte Gene Expression Profiling

Endochondral ossification is the process by which the appendicular skeleton, facial bones, vertebrae and medial clavicles are formed and relies on the tight control of chondrocyte maturation. Fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)3 plays a role in bone development and maintenance and belongs to a family of proteins which differ in their ligand affinities and tissue distribution. Activating mutations of the FGFR3 gene lead to craniosynostosis and multiple types of skeletal dysplasia with varying degrees of severity: thanatophoric dysplasia (TD), achondroplasia and hypochondroplasia. Despite progress in the characterization of FGFR3-mediated regulation of cartilage development, many aspects remain unclear. The aim and the novelty of our study was to examine whole gene expression differences occurring in primary human chondrocytes isolated from normal cartilage or pathological cartilage from TD-affected fetuses, using Affymetrix technology. The phenotype of the primary cells was confirmed by the high expression of chondrocytic markers. Altered expression of genes associated with many cellular processes was observed, including cell growth and proliferation, cell cycle, cell adhesion, cell motility, metabolic pathways, signal transduction, cell cycle process and cell signaling. Most of the cell cycle process genes were down-regulated and consisted of genes involved in cell cycle progression, DNA biosynthesis, spindle dynamics and cytokinesis. About eight percent of all modulated genes were found to impact extracellular matrix (ECM) structure and turnover, especially glycosaminoglycan (GAG) and proteoglycan biosynthesis and sulfation. Altogether, the gene expression analyses provide new insight into the consequences of FGFR3 mutations in cell cycle regulation, onset of pre-hypertrophic differentiation and concomitant metabolism changes. Moreover, impaired motility and ECM properties may also provide clues about growth plate disorganization. These results also suggest that many signaling pathways may be directly or indirectly altered by FGFR3 and confirm the crucial role of FGFR3 in the control of growth plate development.     

人胚胎干细胞和拟胚体基因表达谱的初步分析

利用人类全基因组Affymetrix芯片检测人胚胎干细胞与其自发分化7d的拟胚体之间的差异表达基因.结果显示:与未分化的人胚胎干细胞相比.在分化7d的拟胚体中表达下调2倍及以上的已知和未知基因共有1100个,表达上调2倍及以上的已知或未知基因共有2283个.利用Gostat对这些差异表达基因进行功能分析,发现它们分别与细胞的生物代谢过程、信号传导通路、系统发育、细胞分化、分子功能及亚细胞组分相关.胚胎干细胞具有自我更新能力,是研究早期胚胎发育理想的细胞模型,因此对差异表达基因的功能研究有助于了解维持人胚胎干细胞自我更新的分子机制以及胚胎发育早期的分子事件.     

Gene Expression Profiling in Human Lung Development: An Abundant Resource for Lung Adenocarcinoma Prognosis

A tumor can be viewed as a special “organ” that undergoes aberrant and poorly regulated organogenesis. Progress in cancer prognosis and therapy might be facilitated by re-examining distinctive processes that operate during normal development, to elucidate the intrinsic features of cancer that are significantly obscured by its heterogeneity. The global gene expression signatures of 44 human lung tissues at four development stages from Asian descent and 69 lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) tissue samples from ethnic Chinese patients were profiled using microarrays. All of the genes were classified into 27 distinct groups based on their expression patterns (named as PTN1 to PTN27) during the developmental process. In lung ADC, genes whose expression levels decreased steadily during lung development (genes in PTN1) generally had their expression reactivated, while those with uniformly increasing expression levels (genes in PTN27) had their expression suppressed. The genes in PTN1 contain many n-gene signatures that are of prognostic value for lung ADC. The prognostic relevance of a 12-gene demonstrator for patient survival was characterized in five cohorts of healthy and ADC patients [ADC_CICAMS (n = 69, p = 0.007), ADC_PNAS (n = 125, p = 0.0063), ADC_GSE13213 (n = 117, p = 0.0027), ADC_GSE8894 (n = 62, p = 0.01), and ADC_NCI (n = 282, p = 0.045)] and in four groups of stage I patients [ADC_CICAMS (n = 22, p = 0.017), ADC_PNAS (n = 76, p = 0.018), ADC_GSE13213 (n = 79, p = 0.02), and ADC_qPCR (n = 62, p = 0.006)]. In conclusion, by comparison of gene expression profiles during human lung developmental process and lung ADC progression, we revealed that the genes with a uniformly decreasing expression pattern during lung development are of enormous prognostic value for lung ADC.     

抑制Hedgehog信号通路改变结肠癌细胞基因表达谱

Hedgehog（Hh）信号通路在机体发育和肿瘤发生中发挥着重要作用。在该研究中,Western blot检测三株结肠癌细胞Hedgehog信号通路组分的表达,结果表明三株结肠癌细胞中HT-29细胞Hedgehog信号通路组分较完整。采用MTT和BrdU法检测Hedgehog信号通路膜受体Smo特异性抑制剂环杷明和末端转录因子Gli1/2的特异性抑制剂GANT61对HT-29细胞的影响,提示这两种抑制剂均显著抑制HT-29细胞生存率和细胞增殖率,且GANT61比环杷明更敏感。表达谱芯片检测阻断Hedgehog信号通路后HT-29细胞基因谱的变化,结合生物信息学分析,揭示HT-29细胞经环杷明和GANT61处理后基因表达呈现抑制特征,其差异基因表达主要以下调为主,其中环杷明主要影响细胞内源刺激等,而GANT61主要影响代谢和类固醇合成,并与MAPK信号通路有关联,两者均能影响细胞免疫及凋亡相关通路。这些结果提示,Hh信号通路有可能作为结肠癌的治疗靶点。