Screening of candidate genes in fibroblasts derived from patients with Dupuytren's contracture using bioinformatics analysis

Epidemiology of Dupuytren disease and Patients Undergoing Selective Fasciectomy

Objective  To describe the epidemiological and clinical profile of patients with Dupuytren disease treated by selective fasciectomy and the factors associated with the severity of the disease.

Methods  Retrospective descriptive observational study involving 247 patients with Dupuytren disease, from 2013 to 2019. Multivariate logistic regression was performed for data analysis.

Results  Most patients were male (83.8%), self-declared white (65.2%), alcoholics (59.6%) and 49% were smokers, with a mean age of 66 ± 9 years old, with 77.2% presenting symptoms of the disease after the age of 51 years old. Approximately 51.9, 29.6 and 17.3%, respectively, had arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia comorbidities. Bilateral involvement of the hands was observed in 73.3% of the patients. The rate of intra- and post-selective fasciectomy complications was of 0.6 and 24.3%, respectively, with 5.2% of the patients needing reintervention after 1 year of follow-up. After multivariate analysis, males were associated with bilateral involvement of the hands (odds ratio [OR] = 2.10; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03–4.31) and with a greater number of affected rays (OR = 3.41; 95% CI: 1.66–7.03). Dyslipidemia was associated with reintervention (OR = 5.7; 95% CI = 1.03–31.4) and bilaterality with a higher number of complications (35.7 versus 19.7%).

Conclusion  A low rate of reintervention and operative complications was observed in patients with Dupuytren disease treated by selective fasciectomy. Male gender was associated with severe disease (bilaterality and more than two affected rays), and dyslipidemia with reintervention.

A meta-analysis to identify novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets for Dupuytren's disease

The aim of this study was to determine novel candidate genes for Dupuytren's disease by performing a meta-analysis. We identified 261 genes (111 up-regulated and 150 down-regulated) that were consistently expressed differentially in Dupuytren's disease across the studies. We performed functional enrichment on total sets of the identified 261 genes and confirmed that most of the genes were closely related to common processes of diseases in general. From the integrated studies of the gene-correlation network and the protein-protein interaction network, we identified three functional modules in the gene co-expression network and four hub gene clusters in the protein-protein interaction network that shared the same genes and represented similar biological functions, implying that the seven groups identified in the systematic analysis of these two networks might be involved in the pathogenesis of Dupuytren's disease. This work demonstrates potential in developing experimental and clinical strategies for understanding and treating Dupuytren's disease.

ZNF516 suppresses EGFR by targeting the CtBP/LSD1/CoREST complex to chromatin

EGFR is required for animal development, and dysregulation of EGFR is critically implicated in malignant transformation. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the regulation of EGFR expression remains poorly explored. Here we report that the zinc-finger protein ZNF516 is a transcription repressor. ZNF516 is physically associated with the CtBP/LSD1/CoREST complex and transcriptionally represses a cohort of genes including EGFR that are critically involved in cell proliferation and motility. We demonstrate that the ZNF516–CtBP/LSD1/CoREST complex inhibits the proliferation and invasion of breast cancer cells in vitro and suppresses breast cancer growth and metastasis in vivo. Significantly, low expression of ZNF516 is positively associated with advanced pathological staging and poor survival of breast carcinomas. Our data indicate that ZNF516 is a transcription repressor and a potential suppressor of EGFR, adding to the understanding of EGFR-related breast carcinogenesis and supporting the pursuit of ZNF516 as a potential therapeutic target for breast cancer.

EGFR is a well-known oncogene; however, the mechanisms regulating its expression are still unclear. Here, analysing genome-wide chromatin associations, the authors show that in breast cancer cells ZNF516 represses EGFR transcription through the interaction with the CtBP/LSD1/CoREST complex.