Search

Antecedent viral infection may contribute to increased susceptibility to several neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. Variation in clinical presentations of these diseases is often associated with gender, genetic background, or a combination of these and other factors. The complicated etiologies of these virally influenced diseases are difficult to study in conventional laboratory mouse models, which display a very limited number of phenotypes. We have used the genetically and phenotypically diverse Collaborative Cross mouse panel to examine complex neurological phenotypes after viral infection. Female and male mice from 18 CC strains were evaluated using a multifaceted phenotyping pipeline to define their unique disease profiles following infection with Theiler's Murine Encephalomyelitis Virus, a neurotropic virus. We identified 4 distinct disease progression profiles based on limb-specific paresis and paralysis, tremors and seizures, and other clinical signs, along with separate gait profiles. We found that mice of the same strain had more similar profiles compared to those of different strains, and also identified strains and phenotypic parameters in which sex played a significant role in profile differences. These results demonstrate the value of using CC mice for studying complex disease subtypes influenced by sex and genetic background. Our findings will be useful for developing novel mouse models of virally induced neurological diseases with heterogenous presentation, an important step for designing personalized, precise treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dogs with X-linked hereditary nephropathy (XLHN) have a glomerular basement membrane defect that leads to progressive juvenile-onset renal failure. Their disease is analogous to Alport syndrome in humans, and they also serve as a good model of progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the gene expression profile that affects progression in this disease has only been partially characterized. To help fill this gap, we used RNA sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs), over-represented pathways, and upstream regulators that contribute to kidney disease progression. Total RNA from kidney biopsies was isolated at 3 clinical time points from 3 males with rapidly-progressing CKD, 3 males with slowly-progressing CKD, and 2 age-matched controls. We identified 70 DEGs by comparing rapid and slow groups at specific time points. Based on time course analysis, 1,947 DEGs were identified over the 3 time points revealing upregulation of inflammatory pathways: integrin signaling, T cell activation, and chemokine and cytokine signaling pathways. T cell infiltration was verified by immunohistochemistry. TGF-β1 was identified as the primary upstream regulator. These results provide new insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms of disease progression in XLHN, and the identified DEGs can be potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets translatable to all CKDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human mitochondria contain multiple copies of a circular genome made up of double-stranded DNA (mtDNA) that encodes proteins involved in cellular respiration. Transcript abundance of mtDNA-encoded genes varies between human individuals, yet the level of variation in the general population has not been systematically assessed. In the present study, we revisited large-scale RNA sequencing data generated from lymphoblastoid cell lines of HapMap samples of European and African ancestry to estimate transcript abundance and quantify expression variation for mtDNA-encoded genes. In both populations, we detected up to over 100-fold difference in mtDNA gene expression between individuals. The marked variation was not due to differences in mtDNA copy number between individuals, but was shaped by the transcription of hundreds of nuclear genes. Many of these nuclear genes were co-expressed with one another, resulting in a module-enriched co-expression network. Significant correlations in expression between genes of the mtDNA and nuclear genomes were used to identify factors involved with the regulation of mitochondrial functions. In conclusion, we determined the baseline amount of variability in mtDNA gene expression in general human populations and cataloged a complete set of nuclear genes whose expression levels are correlated with those of mtDNA-encoded genes. Our findings will enable the integration of information from both mtDNA and nuclear genetic systems, and facilitate the discovery of novel regulatory pathways involving mitochondrial functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-resolution (1 marker/700 kb) physically ordered radiation hybrid (RH) and comparative map of 122 loci on equine homologs of human Chromosome 19 (HSA19) shows a variant evolution of these segments in equids/Perissodactyls compared with other mammals. The segments include parts of both the long and the short arm of horse Chromosome 7 (ECA7), the proximal part of ECA21, and the entire short arm of ECA10. The map includes 93 new markers, of which 89 (64 gene-specific and 25 microsatellite) were genotyped on a 5000-rad horse × hamster RH panel, and 4 were mapped exclusively by FISH. The orientation and alignment of the map was strengthened by 21 new FISH localizations, of which 15 represent genes. The approximately sevenfold-improved map resolution attained in this study will prove extremely useful for candidate gene discovery in the targeted equine chromosomal regions. The highlight of the comparative map is the fine definition of homology between the four equine chromosomal segments and corresponding HSA19 regions specified by physical coordinates (bp) in the human genome sequence. Of particular interest are the regions on ECA7 and ECA21 that correspond to the short arm of HSA19—a genomic rearrangement discovered to date only in equids/Perissodactyls as evidenced through comparative Zoo-FISH analysis of the evolution ofancestral HSA19 segments in eight mammalian orders involving about 50 species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]