Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogenous respiratory disease mainly caused by smoking. Respiratory infections constitute a major risk factor for acute worsening of COPD symptoms or COPD exacerbation. Mitochondrial functionality, which is crucial for the execution of physiologic functions of metabolically active cells, is impaired in airway epithelial cells (AECs) of COPD patients as well as smokers. However, the potential contribution of mitochondrial dysfunction in AECs to progression of COPD, infection-triggered exacerbations in AECs and a potential mechanistic link between mitochondrial and epithelial barrier dysfunction is unknown to date. In this study, we used an in vitro COPD exacerbation model based on AECs exposed to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) followed by infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp). The levels of oxidative stress, as an indicator of mitochondrial stress were quantified upon CSE and Sp. The expression of proteins associated with mitophagy, mitochondrial content and biogenesis as well as mitochondrial fission and fusion was quantified upon CSE and Sp. Transcriptional AEC profiling was performed to identify the potential changes in innate immune pathways and correlate them with mitochondrial function. We found that CSE exposure substantially altered mitochondrial function in AECs by suppressing mitochondrial complex protein levels, reducing mitochondrial membrane potential and increasing mitochondrial stress and mitophagy. Moreover, CSE-induced mitochondrial dysfunction correlated with reduced enrichment of genes involved in apical junctions and innate immune responses to Sp, particularly type I interferon responses. Together, our results demonstrated that CSE-induced mitochondrial dysfunction may contribute to impaired innate immune responses to Sp and may thus trigger COPD exacerbation.
Cigarette Smoke Extract Disturbs Mitochondria-Regulated Airway Epithelial Cell Responses to Pneumococci.
Specimen part, Cell line, Treatment
View SamplesThe main cell of origin of the Sonic hedgehog (SHH) subgroup of medulloblastoma (MB) is granule cell precursors (GCPs), a SHH-dependent transient amplifying population in the developing cerebellum. SHH-MBs can be further subdivided based on molecular and clinical parameters, as well as location since SHH-MBs occur preferentially in the lateral cerebellum (hemispheres). Our analysis of adult patient data suggests that tumors with Smoothened (SMO) mutations form more specifically in the hemispheres than those with Patched 1 (PTCH1) mutations. Using sporadic mouse models of SHH-MB with the two mutations commonly seen in adult MB, constitutive activation of Smo (SmoM2) or loss-of-Ptch1, we found that regardless of timing of induction or type of mutation, tumors developed primarily in the hemispheres with SmoM2-mutants indeed showing a stronger specificity. We further uncovered that GCPs in the hemispheres are more susceptible to high level SHH signaling compared to GCPs in the medial cerebellum (vermis), as more SmoM2 or Ptch1-mutant hemisphere cells remain undifferentiated and show increased tumorigenicity when transplanted. Finally, we identified location-specific GCP gene expression profiles, and found that deletion of the genes most highly expressed in the hemispheres (Nr2f2) or vermis (Engrailed1) showed opposing effects on GCP differentiation. Our studies thus provide new insights into intrinsic differences within GCPs that impact on SHH-MB progression.
Lateral cerebellum is preferentially sensitive to high sonic hedgehog signaling and medulloblastoma formation.
Specimen part
View SamplesAffymetrix Human Gene 1.1 ST Array profiling of 285 primary medulloblastoma samples.
Subgroup-specific structural variation across 1,000 medulloblastoma genomes.
Sex, Age
View Samples