Transcript changes in human pericytes exposed to Clostridioides difficile TcdB and an Hippo signaling inhibitor.

These experiments are designed to profile of how TcdB and XMU-MP-1 modify gene expression in pericytes. TcdB is a bacterial toxin and primary virulence factor produced by the enteric pathogen C. difficile, and pericytes are putative target cells for TcdB in the colon. XMU-MP-1 is an inhibitor of a core kinase (MST1/2) in the Hippos signaling pathway, and TcdB activates Hippo signaling, which is possibly critical for the pathogenesis of C. difficile disease. RNA-seq was carried out and the resulting gene expression profiles were analyzed focusing on CSPG4 (TcdB receptor) and a panel of genes that are regulated by YAP and TAZ (primary transcriptional regulator in Hippo pathway). We also focused on genes regulated by MTF1, which is another transcription regulator that can be controlled by Hippo signaling. Overall design: RNA-seq analysis of cultured human pericytes exposed for 24 h to 1 ng/ml of C. difficile TcdB and/or 10 µM XMU-MP-1 (MST1/2 inhibitor).