ABSTRACT
Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are important for response to infection and for immune development in early life. HIV infection in adults depletes circulating ILCs, but the impact on children infected from birth remains unknown. We study vertically HIV-infected children from birth to adulthood and find severe and persistent depletion of all circulating ILCs that, unlike CD4+ T cells, are not restored by long-term antiretroviral therapy unless initiated at birth. Remaining ILCs upregulate genes associated with cellular activation and metabolic perturbation. Unlike HIV-infected adults, ILCs are also profoundly depleted in tonsils of vertically infected children. Transcriptional profiling of remaining ILCs reveals ongoing cell-type-specific activity despite antiretroviral therapy. Collectively, these data suggest an important and ongoing role for ILCs in lymphoid tissue of HIV-infected children from birth, where persistent depletion and sustained transcriptional activity are likely to have long-term immune consequences that merit further investigation.
Subject(s)
Anti-Retroviral Agents/therapeutic use , HIV Infections/blood , HIV Infections/immunology , Immunity, Innate , Lymphocytes/immunology , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Chronic Disease , HIV Infections/drug therapy , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Killer Cells, Natural/immunology , Lymphocyte Activation/immunology , Lymphocyte Depletion , Lymphocyte Subsets/immunology , Palatine Tonsil/immunology , Transcription, Genetic , Young AdultABSTRACT
Research suggests that over 80% of U.S. adult African American (AA) women are at risk for hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. In 2011-2012, 56.6% of non-Hispanic Black women were obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2). Project TEACH--Transforming, Empowering, and Affecting Congregation Health was designed to determine the effectiveness of a faith-based, culturally competent, nutrition and exercise program targeting AA women in a church setting.
Subject(s)
Black or African American , Christianity , Health Promotion/organization & administration , Obesity/ethnology , Obesity/prevention & control , Parish Nursing/organization & administration , Adult , Aged , Cardiovascular Diseases/ethnology , Cardiovascular Diseases/prevention & control , Diabetes Mellitus/ethnology , Diabetes Mellitus/prevention & control , Exercise , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Motivation , Organizational Objectives , Patient Education as Topic , Program Development , Risk Factors , United States/ethnology , Young AdultABSTRACT
We constructed an equalized cDNA library from Arabidopsis inflorescence shoot apices including inflorescence meristem, floral meristem and flower tissue collected before stage 5 of flower development. The cDNA clones were arrayed on membranes and were differentially screened using cDNA pools from vegetative and inflorescence tissues as probes. Each clone was classified by expression specificity and expression level. By removing the clones that displayed hybridization signals, 384 out of 3264 clones in this library remained as candidates for inflorescence-specific mRNAs expressed at low levels. Sequence analysis of all selected clones indicated that 53 were identical and 120 were homologous to genes in public protein databases. The remaining 211 selected clones had no significant amino acid sequence similarities with those deduced from any reported genes, though 62 of them appeared in Arabidopsis expressed sequenced tags (ESTs). About 40% of the selected clones were novel, validating the present approach for gene discovery. Northern blot analysis of 22 randomly selected clones confirmed that most were expressed preferentially in inflorescence tissues. In addition, many clones were transcribed at relatively low levels. We demonstrate that the screening method of the present study is useful for systematic classification of cDNA species based on expression specificity.
