E-MTAB-10318
Genome-wide expression profiling of leprosy and granuloma annulare skin lesions
Here we report the data generated by short-read sequencing of mRNA (polyA) isolated from granuloma annulare and leprosy skin lesions. Our main aim was to identify putative mRNA biomarkers for distinguishing leprosy from other differential diagnoses. Additionally, we also explored the distinction between MB and PB by using differential expression analysis as well as training a penalized logistic regression to select important features. Our results showed that few genes are enough to differentiate leprosy lesions, including paucibacillary cases, from other morphological and histopathological similar skin diseases. Some of these genes have been replicated in a larger and more heterogeneous sample with RT-qPCR, validating their classification potential. We also suggest important novel gene candidates to improve our understanding of molecular differences between MB and PB lesions, which could either pinpoint new pathways and targets for host-based specialized adjuvant treatment for leprosy. Finally, this dataset has been used to explore the relationship between cornification and keratinocyte-related genes and TGFB-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which could indicate that in skin, M. leprae could be de-differentiating, directly or indirectly, other cell types into a progenitor/stem-like phenotype, facilitating mycobacterial survival and migration within the host. Alternatively, this could highlight which pathways are activated during granuloma formation and/or skin barrier assembly/disassembly.
Here we report the data generated by short-read sequencing of mRNA (polyA) isolated from granuloma annulare and leprosy skin lesions. Our main aim was to identify putative mRNA biomarkers for distinguishing leprosy from other differential diagnoses. Additionally, we also explored the distinction between MB and PB by using differential expression analysis as well as training a penalized logistic regression to select important features. Our results showed that few genes are enough to differentiate leprosy lesions, including paucibacillary cases, from other morphological and histopathological similar skin diseases. Some of these genes have been replicated in a larger and more heterogeneous sample with RT-qPCR, validating their classification potential. We also suggest important novel gene candidates to improve our understanding of molecular differences between MB and PB lesions, which could either pinpoint new pathways and targets for host-based specialized adjuvant treatment for leprosy. Finally, this dataset has been used to explore the relationship between cornification and keratinocyte-related genes and TGFB-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which could indicate that in skin, M. leprae could be de-differentiating, directly or indirectly, other cell types into a progenitor/stem-like phenotype, facilitating mycobacterial survival and migration within the host. Alternatively, this could highlight which pathways are activated during granuloma formation and/or skin barrier assembly/disassembly.