People with mitochondrial disease (MtD) are susceptible to metabolic decompensation and neurological symptom progression in response to an infection. Increasing evidence suggests that mitochondrial ...dysfunction may cause chronic inflammation, which may promote hyper-responsiveness to pathogens and neurodegeneration. We sought to examine transcriptional changes between MtD patients and healthy controls to identify common gene signatures of immune dysregulation in MtD.
We collected whole blood from a cohort of MtD patients and healthy controls and performed RNAseq to examine transcriptomic differences. We performed GSEA analyses to compare our findings against existing studies to identify commonly dysregulated pathways.
Gene sets involved in inflammatory signaling, including type I interferons, interleukin-1β and antiviral responses, are enriched in MtD patients compared to controls. Monocyte and dendritic cell gene clusters are also enriched in MtD patients, while T cell and B cell gene sets are negatively enriched. The enrichment of antiviral response corresponds with an independent set of MELAS patients, and two mouse models of mtDNA dysfunction.
Through the convergence of our results, we demonstrate translational evidence of systemic peripheral inflammation arising from MtD, predominantly through antiviral response gene sets. This provides key evidence linking mitochondrial dysfunction to inflammation, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of primary MtD and other chronic inflammatory disorders associated with mitochondrial dysfunction.
Progression to metastatic disease occurs in about half of all men who develop prostate cancer (PC), one of the most common cancers in men worldwide. Androgen deprivation therapy has been the mainstay ...therapy for patients with metastatic PC (mPC) since the 1940s. In the last decade, there has been unprecedented advancement in systemic therapies, e.g., taxane, androgen-signalling pathway inhibitors, and biomarker-driven targeted therapies for various stages of disease, resulting in overall survival improvement. Adding to ongoing controversies over how best to treat these patients is the recognition that ethnicity may influence prognosis and outcomes. This review discusses recent evidence for the impacts of Asian ethnicity specifically, which includes environmental, sociocultural, and genetic factors, on the approach to pharmacological management of mPC. Clear inter-ethnic differences in drug tolerability, serious adverse events (AEs), and genetic heterogeneity must all be considered when dosing and scheduling for treatment, as well as designing future precision studies in PC.
Protective immunity following vaccination is sustained by long-lived antibody-secreting cells and resting memory B cells (MBCs). Responses to two-dose SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-1273 vaccination are evaluated ...longitudinally by multimodal single-cell analysis in three infection-naïve individuals. Integrated surface protein, transcriptomics, and B cell receptor (BCR) repertoire analysis of sorted plasmablasts and spike+ (S-2P+) and S-2P− B cells reveal clonal expansion and accumulating mutations among S-2P+ cells. These cells are enriched in a cluster of immunoglobulin G-expressing MBCs and evolve along a bifurcated trajectory rooted in CXCR3+ MBCs. One branch leads to CD11c+ atypical MBCs while the other develops from CD71+ activated precursors to resting MBCs, the dominant population at month 6. Among 12 evolving S-2P+ clones, several are populated with plasmablasts at early timepoints as well as CD71+ activated and resting MBCs at later timepoints, and display intra- and/or inter-cohort BCR convergence. These relationships suggest a coordinated and predictable evolution of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine-generated MBCs.
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•Clonally related spike-specific plasmablasts and memory B cells•Durable resting memory B cells arise from CD71+ activated B cells•Incremental accumulation of BCR somatic mutations•Evidence of convergence and common differentiation pathways
Using multiomic single-cell analyses, Assis et al. show a coordinated trajectory involving plasmablasts and activated and resting memory B cells in response to primary SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination. Spike-specific BCR repertoire analysis shows incremental affinity maturation across the 6-month study period and reveals evidence of convergence among study participants and other cohorts.
Alfalfa, Medicago sativa (L.) sativa, a widely-grown perennial forage has potential for development as a cellulosic ethanol feedstock. However, the genomics of alfalfa, a non-model species, is still ...in its infancy. The recent advent of RNA-Seq, a massively parallel sequencing method for transcriptome analysis, provides an opportunity to expand the identification of alfalfa genes and polymorphisms, and conduct in-depth transcript profiling.
Cell walls in stems of alfalfa genotype 708 have higher cellulose and lower lignin concentrations compared to cell walls in stems of genotype 773. Using the Illumina GA-II platform, a total of 198,861,304 expression sequence tags (ESTs, 76 bp in length) were generated from cDNA libraries derived from elongating stem (ES) and post-elongation stem (PES) internodes of 708 and 773. In addition, 341,984 ESTs were generated from ES and PES internodes of genotype 773 using the GS FLX Titanium platform. The first alfalfa (Medicago sativa) gene index (MSGI 1.0) was assembled using the Sanger ESTs available from GenBank, the GS FLX Titanium EST sequences, and the de novo assembled Illumina sequences. MSGI 1.0 contains 124,025 unique sequences including 22,729 tentative consensus sequences (TCs), 22,315 singletons and 78,981 pseudo-singletons. We identified a total of 1,294 simple sequence repeats (SSR) among the sequences in MSGI 1.0. In addition, a total of 10,826 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were predicted between the two genotypes. Out of 55 SNPs randomly selected for experimental validation, 47 (85%) were polymorphic between the two genotypes. We also identified numerous allelic variations within each genotype. Digital gene expression analysis identified numerous candidate genes that may play a role in stem development as well as candidate genes that may contribute to the differences in cell wall composition in stems of the two genotypes.
Our results demonstrate that RNA-Seq can be successfully used for gene identification, polymorphism detection and transcript profiling in alfalfa, a non-model, allogamous, autotetraploid species. The alfalfa gene index assembled in this study, and the SNPs, SSRs and candidate genes identified can be used to improve alfalfa as a forage crop and cellulosic feedstock.
In this study, we addressed whether a single 454 Life Science GS20 sequencing run provides new gene discovery from a normalized cDNA library, and whether the short reads produced via this technology ...are of value in gene structure annotation.
A single 454 GS20 sequencing run on adapter-ligated cDNA, from a normalized cDNA library, generated 292,465 reads that were reduced to 252,384 reads with an average read length of 92 nucleotides after cleaning. After clustering and assembly, a total of 184,599 unique sequences were generated containing over 400 SSRs. The 454 sequences generated hits to more genes than a comparable amount of sequence from MtGI. Although short, the 454 reads are of sufficient length to map to a unique genome location as effectively as longer ESTs produced by conventional sequencing. Functional interpretation of the sequences was carried out by Gene Ontology assignments from matches to Arabidopsis and was shown to cover a broad range of GO categories. 53,796 assemblies and singletons (29%) had no match in the existing MtGI. Within the previously unobserved Medicago transcripts, thousands had matches in a comprehensive protein database and one or more of the TIGR Plant Gene Indices. Approximately 20% of these novel sequences could be found in the Medicago genome sequence. A total of 70,026 reads generated by the 454 technology were mapped to 785 Medicago finished BACs using PASA and over 1,000 gene models required modification. In parallel to 454 sequencing, 4,445 5'-prime reads were generated by conventional sequencing using the same library and from the assembled sequences it was shown to contain about 52% full length cDNAs encoding proteins from 50 to over 500 amino acids in length.
Due to the large number of reads afforded by the 454 DNA sequencing technology, it is effective in revealing the expression of transcripts from a broad range of GO categories and contains many rare transcripts in normalized cDNA libraries, although only a limited portion of their sequence is uncovered. As with longer ESTs, 454 reads can be mapped uniquely onto genomic sequence to provide support for, and modifications of, gene predictions.
Both sex and prior exposure to pathogens are known to influence responses to immune challenges, but their combined effects are not well established in humans, particularly in early innate responses ...critical for shaping subsequent outcomes.
We employed systems immunology approaches to study responses to a replication-defective, herpes simplex virus (HSV) 2 vaccine in men and women either naive or previously exposed to HSV.
Blood transcriptomic and cell population profiling showed substantial changes on day 1 after vaccination, but the responses depended on sex and whether the vaccinee was naive or previously exposed to HSV. The magnitude of early transcriptional responses was greatest in HSV naive women where type I interferon (IFN) signatures were prominent and associated negatively with vaccine-induced neutralizing antibody titers, suggesting that a strong early antiviral response reduced the uptake of this replication-defective virus vaccine. While HSV seronegative vaccine recipients had upregulation of gene sets in type I IFN (IFN-α/β) responses, HSV2 seropositive vaccine recipients tended to have responses focused more on type II IFN (IFN-γ) genes.
These results together show that prior exposure and sex interact to shape early innate responses that then impact subsequent adaptive immune phenotypes.
Intramural Research Program of the NIH, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and other institutes supporting the Trans-NIH Center for Human Immunology, Autoimmunity, and Inflammation. The vaccine trial was supported through a clinical trial agreement between the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Sanofi Pasteur. Clinical trial number: NCT01915212.
Changes in adaptive immune cells after chemotherapy in adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) may have implications for the success of immunotherapy. This study was designed to determine the functional ...capacity of the immune system in adult patients with AML who have completed chemotherapy and are potential candidates for immunotherapy.
We used the response to seasonal influenza vaccination as a surrogate for the robustness of the immune system in 10 AML patients in a complete remission post-chemotherapy and performed genetic, phenotypic, and functional characterization of adaptive immune cell subsets.
Only 2 patients generated protective titers in response to vaccination, and a majority of patients had abnormal frequencies of transitional and memory B-cells. B-cell receptor sequencing showed a B-cell repertoire with little evidence of somatic hypermutation in most patients. Conversely, frequencies of T-cell populations were similar to those seen in healthy controls, and cytotoxic T-cells demonstrated antigen-specific activity after vaccination. Effector T-cells had increased PD-1 expression in AML patients least removed from chemotherapy.
Our results suggest that while some aspects of cellular immunity recover quickly, humoral immunity is incompletely reconstituted in the year following intensive cytotoxic chemotherapy for AML. The observed B-cell abnormalities may explain the poor response to vaccination often seen in AML patients after chemotherapy. Furthermore, the uncoupled recovery of B-cell and T-cell immunity and increased PD-1 expression shortly after chemotherapy might have implications for the success of several modalities of immunotherapy.
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most common type of sequence variation among plants and are often functionally important. We describe the use of 454 technology and high resolution ...melting analysis (HRM) for high throughput SNP discovery in tetraploid alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), a species with high economic value but limited genomic resources.
The alfalfa genotypes selected from M. sativa subsp. sativa var. 'Chilean' and M. sativa subsp. falcata var. 'Wisfal', which differ in water stress sensitivity, were used to prepare cDNA from tissue of clonally-propagated plants grown under either well-watered or water-stressed conditions, and then pooled for 454 sequencing. Based on 125.2 Mb of raw sequence, a total of 54,216 unique sequences were obtained including 24,144 tentative consensus (TCs) sequences and 30,072 singletons, ranging from 100 bp to 6,662 bp in length, with an average length of 541 bp. We identified 40,661 candidate SNPs distributed throughout the genome. A sample of candidate SNPs were evaluated and validated using high resolution melting (HRM) analysis. A total of 3,491 TCs harboring 20,270 candidate SNPs were located on the M. truncatula (MT 3.5.1) chromosomes. Gene Ontology assignments indicate that sequences obtained cover a broad range of GO categories.
We describe an efficient method to identify thousands of SNPs distributed throughout the alfalfa genome covering a broad range of GO categories. Validated SNPs represent valuable molecular marker resources that can be used to enhance marker density in linkage maps, identify potential factors involved in heterosis and genetic variation, and as tools for association mapping and genomic selection in alfalfa.
Intermittent fasting and fasting mimetic diets ameliorate inflammation. Similarly, serum extracted from fasted healthy and asthmatic subjects' blunt inflammation in vitro, implicating serum ...components in this immunomodulation. To identify the proteins orchestrating these effects, SOMAScan technology was employed to evaluate serum protein levels in healthy subjects following an overnight, 24-h fast and 3 h after refeeding. Partial least square discriminant analysis identified several serum proteins as potential candidates to confer feeding status immunomodulation. The characterization of recombinant IGFBP1 (elevated following 24 h of fasting) and PYY (elevated following refeeding) in primary human CD4
T cells found that they blunted and induced immune activation, respectively. Furthermore, integrated univariate serum protein analysis compared to RNA-seq analysis from peripheral blood mononuclear cells identified the induction of IL1RL1 and MFGE8 levels in refeeding compared to the 24-h fasting in the same study. Subsequent quantitation of these candidate proteins in lean versus obese individuals identified an inverse regulation of serum levels in the fasted subjects compared to the obese subjects. In parallel, IL1RL1 and MFGE8 supplementation promoted increased CD4
T responsiveness to T cell receptor activation. Together, these data show that caloric load-linked conditions evoke serological protein changes, which in turn confer biological effects on circulating CD4
T cell immune responsiveness.
Genome sequencing of the model legumes, Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus, provides an opportunity for large-scale sequence-based comparison of two genomes in the same plant family. Here we ...report synteny comparisons between these species, including details about chromosome relationships, large-scale synteny blocks, microsynteny within blocks, and genome regions lacking clear correspondence. The Lotus and Medicago genomes share a minimum of 10 large-scale synteny blocks, each with substantial collinearity and frequently extending the length of whole chromosome arms. The proportion of genes syntenic and collinear within each synteny block is relatively homogeneous. Medicago-Lotus comparisons also indicate similar and largely homogeneous gene densities, although gene-containing regions in Mt occupy 20-30% more space than Lj counterparts, primarily because of larger numbers of Mt retrotransposons. Because the interpretation of genome comparisons is complicated by large-scale genome duplications, we describe synteny, synonymous substitutions and phylogenetic analyses to identify and date a probable whole-genome duplication event. There is no direct evidence for any recent large-scale genome duplication in either Medicago or Lotus but instead a duplication predating speciation. Phylogenetic comparisons place this duplication within the Rosid I clade, clearly after the split between legumes and Salicaceae (poplar).
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