CD5 Deficiency Alters Helper T Cell Metabolic Function and Shifts the Systemic Metabolome.

Metabolic function plays a key role in immune cell activation, destruction of foreign pathogens, and memory cell generation. As T cells are activated, their metabolic profile is significantly changed due to signaling cascades mediated by the T cell receptor (TCR) and co-receptors found on their surface. CD5 is a T cell co-receptor that regulates thymocyte selection and peripheral T cell activation. The removal of CD5 enhances T cell activation and proliferation, but how this is accomplished is not well understood. We examined how CD5 specifically affects CD4+ T cell metabolic function and systemic metabolome by analyzing serum and T cell metabolites from CD5WT and CD5KO mice. We found that CD5 removal depletes certain serum metabolites, and CD5KO T cells have higher levels of several metabolites. Transcriptomic analysis identified several upregulated metabolic genes in CD5KO T cells. Bioinformatic analysis identified glycolysis and the TCA cycle as metabolic pathways promoted by CD5 removal. Functional metabolic analysis demonstrated that CD5KO T cells have higher oxygen consumption rates (OCR) and higher extracellular acidification rates (ECAR). Together, these findings suggest that the loss of CD5 is linked to CD4+ T cell metabolism changes in metabolic gene expression and metabolite concentration.

Genomics Education in the Era of Personal Genomics: Academic, Professional, and Public Considerations.

Since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, genomic sequencing has become a prominent tool used by diverse disciplines in modern science. In the past 20 years, the cost of genomic sequencing has decreased exponentially, making it affordable and accessible. Bioinformatic and biological studies have produced significant scientific breakthroughs using the wealth of genomic information now available. Alongside the scientific benefit of genomics, companies offer direct-to-consumer genetic testing which provide health, trait, and ancestry information to the public. A key area that must be addressed is education about what conclusions can be made from this genomic information and integrating genomic education with foundational genetic principles already taught in academic settings. The promise of personal genomics providing disease treatment is exciting, but many challenges remain to validate genomic predictions and diagnostic correlations. Ethical and societal concerns must also be addressed regarding how personal genomic information is used. This genomics revolution provides a powerful opportunity to educate students, clinicians, and the public on scientific and ethical issues in a personal way to increase learning. In this review, we discuss the influence of personal genomics in society and focus on the importance and benefits of genomics education in the classroom, clinics, and the public and explore the potential consequences of personal genomic education.

A full semester flow cytometry course improves graduate and undergraduate student confidence.

Flow cytometry is a versatile and high throughput technique for rapid and efficient biological testing. It requires a high level of conceptual, technical, and analytical skills to properly design experiments, effectively operate flow cytometry machines, and analyze the data. A lack of training and development of any of these three skills can result in underutilization and improper use of flow cytometric machines that can impede research progress. Often students develop these conceptual, technical, and analysis skills from trial and error, but many students either do not use this powerful flow cytometry technology, use it improperly or ineffectively, or give up using it without proper training and support. Here we report on a course which teaches flow cytometry skills to undergraduate and graduate students. The design of this course is unique in that it teaches conceptual, technical, and analytical skills related to flow cytometry in a full semester format. Undergraduate and graduate students reported significant increases in their confidence levels over the course of the semester. Here we provide our findings and resources for others who may want to implement a similar course.

Characterization of two related Erwinia myoviruses that are distant relatives of the PhiKZ-like Jumbo phages.

Bacteriophages are a major force in the evolution of bacteria due to their sheer abundance as well as their ability to infect and kill their hosts and to transfer genetic material. Bacteriophages that infect the Enterobacteriaceae family are of particular interest because this bacterial family contains dangerous animal and plant pathogens. Herein we report the isolation and characterization of two jumbo myovirus Erwinia phages, RisingSun and Joad, collected from apple trees. These two genomes are nearly identical with Joad harboring two additional putative gene products. Despite mass spectrometry data that support the putative annotation, 43% of their gene products have no significant BLASTP hit. These phages are also more closely related to Pseudomonas and Vibrio phages than to published Enterobacteriaceae phages. Of the 140 gene products with a BLASTP hit, 81% and 63% of the closest hits correspond to gene products from Pseudomonas and Vibrio phages, respectively. This relatedness may reflect their ecological niche, rather than the evolutionary history of their host. Despite the presence of over 800 Enterobacteriaceae phages on NCBI, the uniqueness of these two phages highlights the diversity of Enterobacteriaceae phages still to be discovered.