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| 2. |
- Qian, Yan, et al.
(author)
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Quantification for total demethylation potential of environmental samples utilizing the EGFP reporter gene
- 2016
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In: Journal of Hazardous Materials. - : Elsevier. - 0304-3894 .- 1873-3336. ; 306, s. 278-285
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Abstract The demethylation potential of pollutants is arguably an innate component of their toxicity in environmental samples. A method was developed for determining the total demethylation potential of food samples (TDQ). The demethylation epigenetic toxicity was determined using the Hep G2 cell line transfected with pEGFP-C3 plasmids containing a methylated promoter of the EGFP reporter gene. The total demethylation potential of the sample extracts (the 5-AZA-CdR demethylation toxic equivalency) can be quantified within one week by using a standard curve of the 5-AZA-CdR demethylation agent. To explore the applicability of TDQ for environmental samples, 17 groundwater samples were collected from heavy polluted Kuihe river and the total demethylation potentials of the sample extracts were measured successfully. Meaningful demethylation toxic equivalencies ranging from 0.00050 to 0.01747 μM were found in all groundwater sample extracts. Among 19 kinds of inorganic substance, As and Cd played important roles for individual contribution to the total demethylation epigenetic toxicity. The TDQ assay is reliable and fast for quantifying the DNA demethylation potential of environmental sample extracts, which may improve epigenetic toxicity evaluations for human risk assessment, and the consistent consuming of groundwater alongside the Kuihe river pose unexpected epigenetic health risk to the local residents.
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| 3. |
- Brandsma, Joost, et al.
(author)
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Lipid phenotyping of lung epithelial lining fluid in healthy human volunteers
- 2018
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In: Metabolomics. - : Springer-Verlag New York. - 1573-3882 .- 1573-3890. ; 14:10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Lung epithelial lining fluid (ELF)-sampled through sputum induction-is a medium rich in cells, proteins and lipids. However, despite its key role in maintaining lung function, homeostasis and defences, the composition and biology of ELF, especially in respect of lipids, remain incompletely understood. Objectives: To characterise the induced sputum lipidome of healthy adult individuals, and to examine associations between different ELF lipid phenotypes and the demographic characteristics within the study cohort.Methods: Induced sputum samples were obtained from 41 healthy non-smoking adults, and their lipid compositions analysed using a combination of untargeted shotgun and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry methods. Topological data analysis (TDA) was used to group subjects with comparable sputum lipidomes in order to identify distinct ELF phenotypes.Results: The induced sputum lipidome was diverse, comprising a range of different molecular classes, including at least 75 glycerophospholipids, 13 sphingolipids, 5 sterol lipids and 12 neutral glycerolipids. TDA identified two distinct phenotypes differentiated by a higher total lipid content and specific enrichments of diacyl-glycerophosphocholines, -inositols and -glycerols in one group, with enrichments of sterols, glycolipids and sphingolipids in the other. Subjects presenting the lipid-rich ELF phenotype also had significantly higher BMI, but did not differ in respect of other demographic characteristics such as age or gender.Conclusions: We provide the first evidence that the ELF lipidome varies significantly between healthy individuals and propose that such differences are related to weight status, highlighting the potential impact of (over)nutrition on lung lipid metabolism.
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| 4. |
- Burg, Dominic, et al.
(author)
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Large-Scale Label-Free Quantitative Mapping of the Sputum Proteome
- 2018
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In: Journal of Proteome Research. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1535-3893 .- 1535-3907. ; 17:6, s. 2072-2091
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Analysis of induced sputum supematant is a minimally invasive approach to study the epithelial lining fluid and, thereby, provide insight into normal lung biology and the pathobiology of lung diseases. We present here a novel proteomics approach to sputum analysis developed within the U-BIOPRED (unbiased biomarkers predictive of respiratory disease outcomes) international project. We present practical and analytical techniques to optimize the detection of robust biomarkers in proteomic studies. The normal sputum proteome was derived using data-independent HDMSE applied to 40 healthy nonsmoking participants, which provides an essential baseline from which to compare modulation of protein expression in respiratory diseases. The "core" sputum proteome (proteins detected in >= 40% of participants) was composed of 284 proteins, and the extended proteome (proteins detected in >= 3 participants) contained 1666 proteins. Quality control procedures were developed to optimize the accuracy and consistency of measurement of sputum proteins and analyze the distribution of sputum proteins in the healthy population. The analysis showed that quantitation of proteins by HDMSE is influenced by several factors, with some proteins being measured in all participants' samples and with low measurement variance between samples from the same patient. The measurement of some proteins is highly variable between repeat analyses, susceptible to sample processing effects, or difficult to accurately quantify by mass spectrometry. Other proteins show high interindividual variance. We also highlight that the sputum proteome of healthy individuals is related to sputum neutrophil levels, but not gender or allergic sensitization. We illustrate the importance of design and interpretation of disease biomarker studies considering such protein population and technical measurement variance.
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| 5. |
- Dai, Wenbai, et al.
(author)
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Semantic Integration of Plug-and-Play Software Components for Industrial Edges Based on Microservices
- 2019
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In: IEEE Access. - : IEEE. - 2169-3536. ; 7, s. 125882-125892
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The industrial cyber-physical system enables collaboration between distributed nodes across industrial clouds and edge devices. Flexibility and interoperability could be enhanced significantly by introducing the service-oriented architecture to industrial edge devices. From the industrial edge computing perspective, software components shall be dynamically composed across heterogeneous edge devices to perform various functionalities. In this paper, a knowledge-driven Microservice-based architecture to enable plug-and-play software components is proposed for industrial edges. These software components can be dynamically configured based on the orchestration of microservices with the support of the knowledge base and the reasoning process. These semantically enhanced plug-and-play microservices could provide rapid online reconfiguration without any programming efforts. The use of the plug-and-play software components is demonstrated by an assembly line example.
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| 6. |
- Perotin-Collard, Jeanne-Marie, et al.
(author)
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Subtypes of eosinophilic asthma with discrete gene pathway phenotypes
- 2019
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In: European Respiratory Journal. - : European Respiratory Society Journals. - 0903-1936 .- 1399-3003. ; 54
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Background: Blood eosinophil counts ≥0.3x109/L are used to define Type-2, eosinophilic asthma. However, differential responses to T2 biologics of patients with eosinophilic asthma suggests that this may be a heterogeneous phenotype with subsets driven by different molecular mechanisms.Methods: Blood transcriptomic data, acquired from 99 severe asthmatics from the U-BIOPRED study (62% female, mean age 54 yr, 41% on oral steroids), were clustered by topological data analysis and cluster boundaries defined by the MORSE method. Gene pathway signatures were identified by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis.Results: Analysis revealed 3 clusters with different modulated gene pathways, i.e. molecular phenotypes. Subtype 1 had high IFN-γ, low IL5, low IL13 and low IL17 gene expression, with reduced glucocorticoid-induced gene expression. Subtype 2 had low IFNγ, high IL5, high IL13 and low IL17 gene expression. Subtype 3 had low IFNγ, high IL5, high IL13 and high IL17 gene expression. Pathway analysis suggested a strong steroid response in Subtypes 2 and 3. Clinically, the three clusters were not different in respect of age, gender, prevalence of atopy, blood or sputum eosinophil counts. Subtype 3 was characterized by high neutrophil counts in blood and bronchial epithelium, frequent sinus disease and asthma exacerbations, OCS treatment, low allergic sensitisation and low exhaled NO. Subtype 1 was characterized by high exhaled NO and more frequent IgE therapy.Conclusion: This study suggests that eosinophilic severe asthma (≥0.3x109/L) can be stratified further into 3 subtypes with distinct gene expression profiles that could be developed as molecular diagnostic biomarkers to guide treatment and thereby improve patient outcomes.
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| 7. |
- Schofield, James P. R., et al.
(author)
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Topological data analysis (TDA) of U-BIOPRED paediatric peripheral blood gene expression identified asthma phenotypes characterised by alternative splicing of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) mRNA
- 2018
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In: European Respiratory Journal. - : European Respiratory Society. - 0903-1936 .- 1399-3003. ; 52
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Background: Molecular stratification of childhood asthma could enable targeted therapy.Aims: Unbiased analysis of gene expression in paediatric severe (SA) and moderate/mild asthma (MA) blood samples to identify sub-phenotypes.Methods: Transcriptomic profiling by microarray analysis of blood from the U-BIOPRED paediatric cohort (Fleming ERJ 2015), pre- and school-age children, (SApre, n=62; MApre, n=42; SAsc, n=75 and MAsc, n=37). Topological data analysis (TDA) was used for unbiased clustering.Results: Sub-phenotypes, P1, P2, P3 and P4 were identified and are highlighted in the TDA network in the figure and a heatmap of selected variables. P1 (38% of the cohort, median 11 yrs) was characterised by low expression of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) mRNA splice variant with a long 3’ UTR (q = 2.43E-17), but no significant difference in the expression of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) mRNA splice variant with a short 3’ UTR. In P1, COX2 expression was up (q = 1.89E-06) and IFN-γ was down (q = 5.61E-06), characteristics of a decreased steroid response.Conclusion: Unbiased analysis of U-BIOPRED paediatric peripheral blood gene expression identified a sub-phenotype, P1, with an inhibited steroid response. P1 is associated with low expression of a splice variant of GR with a long 3’ UTR.
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| 9. |
- Wang, Kai, et al.
(author)
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Large-scale Multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock and Relativistic Configuration Interaction Calculations of Transition Data for B-like S XII
- 2018
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 864:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Excitation energies and lifetimes for the 213 lowest states of the n <= 5 configurations in B-like S XII are calculated using highly correlated wave functions, optimized with the fully relativistic multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock method. Multipole transition rates and associated radiative data (line strengths and oscillator strengths) for transitions connecting these levels are also reported. The theoretical excitation energies are systematically compared with the NIST Atomic Spectra Database in which misidentifications are pointed out. After eliminating the latter, a mean energy difference with the standard deviation between computed and observed energies of 12 +/- 341 cm(-1) is obtained for the n >= 3 high-lying states. This level of accuracy confirms that elaborate ab initio calculations can assist in the identification of new emission lines in the solar and other astrophysical spectra. The present work provides atomic data of high accuracy for an ion of astrophysical interest, B-like S XII, for which experimental data are scarce.
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| 10. |
- Wuttke, Matthias, et al.
(author)
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A catalog of genetic loci associated with kidney function from analyses of a million individuals
- 2019
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In: Nature Genetics. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 51:6, s. 957-972
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is responsible for a public health burden with multi-systemic complications. Through transancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and independent replication (n = 1,046,070), we identified 264 associated loci (166 new). Of these,147 were likely to be relevant for kidney function on the basis of associations with the alternative kidney function marker blood urea nitrogen (n = 416,178). Pathway and enrichment analyses, including mouse models with renal phenotypes, support the kidney as the main target organ. A genetic risk score for lower eGFR was associated with clinically diagnosed CKD in 452,264 independent individuals. Colocalization analyses of associations with eGFR among 783,978 European-ancestry individuals and gene expression across 46 human tissues, including tubulo-interstitial and glomerular kidney compartments, identified 17 genes differentially expressed in kidney. Fine-mapping highlighted missense driver variants in 11 genes and kidney-specific regulatory variants. These results provide a comprehensive priority list of molecular targets for translational research.
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