Transcriptomic correlates of organ failure extent in sepsis
JOURNAL OF INFECTION
Authors: Almansa, Raquel; Heredia-Rodriguez, Maria; Gomez-Sanchez, Esther; Andaluz-Ojeda, David; Iglesias, Veronica; Rico, Lucia; Ortega, Alicia; Gomez-Pesquera, Estefania; Liu, Pilar; Aragon, Marta; Maria Eiros, Jose; Angeles Jimenez-Sousa, Maria; Resino, Salvador; Gomez-Herreras, Ignacio; Bermejo-Martin, Jesus F.; Tamayo, Eduardo
Abstract
Objectives: Sepsis is characterised by the frequent presence of organ failure and marked immunologic alterations. We studied the association between the extent of organ failure and the transcriptomic response of septic patients. Methods: Gene expression profiles in the blood of 74 surgical patients with sepsis were compared with those of 30 surgical patients with no sepsis. Differentially expressed genes were assessed for their correlation with the sequential organ failure (SOFA) score. Results: The expression levels of a group of genes participating in the cell cycle (HIST1H1C, CKS2, CCNA2, CDK1, CCNB2, CIT, CCNB1, AURKA, RAD51), neutrophil protease activity (ELANE, ADORA3, MPO, MMP8, CTSG), IL-1R and IL-18R response correlated directly with SOFA and mortality. Genes involved in T cell (LCK, CD3G, CD3D, ZAP70, ICOS, CD3E, CD28, IL2RB, CD8B, CD8A, CD40LG, IL23A, CCL5, SH2D1A, ITK, CD247, TBX21, GATA3, CCR7, LEF1, STAT4) and NK cell immunity (CD244, KLRK1, KLRD1) were inversely associated with SOFA and mortality. Conclusions: The extent of organ failure in sepsis correlates directly with the existence of imbalanced innate and adaptive responses at the transcriptomic level. Quantification of the expression levels of the genes identified here could contribute to the simultaneous assessment of disease severity and immunological alterations in sepsis. (C) 2014 The British Infection Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Epigenetic profiling in CD4+and CD8+T cells from Graves' disease patients reveals changes in genes associated with T cell receptor signaling
JOURNAL OF AUTOIMMUNITY
Authors: Limbach, Maia; Saare, Mario; Tserel, Liina; Kisand, Kai; Eglit, Trim; Sauer, Sascha; Axelsson, Tomas; Syvanen, Ann-Christine; Metspalu, Andres; Milani, Lili; Peterson, Paert
Abstract
In Graves' disease (GD), a combination of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors causes an autoimmune response to the thyroid gland, characterized by lymphocytic infiltrations and autoantibodies targeting the thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) and other thyroid antigens. To identify the epigenetic changes involved in GD, we performed a genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation and enrichment of H3K4me3 and H3K27ac histone marks in sorted CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. We found 365 and 3322 differentially methylated CpG sites in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, respectively. Among the hypermethylated CpG sites, we specifically found enrichment of genes involved in T cell signaling (CD247, LCK, ZAP70, CD3D, CD3E, CD3G, CTLA4 and CD8A) and decreased expression of CD3 gene family members. The hypermethylation was accompanied with decreased levels of H3K4me3 and H3K27ac marks at several T cell signaling genes in ChIP-seq analysis. In addition, we found hypermethylation of the TSHR gene first intron, where several GD-associated polymorphisms are located. Our results demonstrate an involvement of dysregulated DNA methylation and histone modifications at T cell signaling genes in GD patients. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.