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Lin L, Kiryakos J, Ammous F, Ratliff SM, Ware EB, Faul JD, Kardia SLR, Zhao W, Birditt KS, Smith JA. Epigenetic age acceleration is associated with blood lipid levels in a multi-ancestry sample of older U.S. adults. BMC Med Genomics 2024; 17:146. [PMID: 38802805 DOI: 10.1186/s12920-024-01914-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Dyslipidemia, which is characterized by an unfavorable lipid profile, is a key risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Understanding the relationships between epigenetic aging and lipid levels may help guide early prevention and treatment efforts for dyslipidemia. METHODS We used weighted linear regression to cross-sectionally investigate the associations between five measures of epigenetic age acceleration estimated from whole blood DNA methylation (HorvathAge Acceleration, HannumAge Acceleration, PhenoAge Acceleration, GrimAge Acceleration, and DunedinPACE) and four blood lipid measures (total cholesterol (TC), LDL-C, HDL-C, and triglycerides (TG)) in 3,813 participants (mean age = 70 years) from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). As a sensitivity analysis, we examined the same associations in participants who fasted prior to the blood draw (n = 2,531) and in participants who did not take lipid-lowering medication (n = 1,869). Using interaction models, we also examined whether demographic factors including age, sex, and educational attainment modified the relationships between epigenetic age acceleration and blood lipids. RESULTS After adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, sex, fasting status, and lipid-lowering medication use, greater epigenetic age acceleration was associated with lower TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C, and higher TG (p < 0.05), although the effect sizes were relatively small (e.g., < 7 mg/dL of TC per standard deviation in epigenetic age acceleration). GrimAge acceleration and DunedinPACE associations with all lipids remained significant after further adjustment for body mass index, smoking status, and educational attainment. These associations were stronger in participants who fasted and who did not use lipid-lowering medication, particularly for LDL-C. We observed the largest number of interactions between DunedinPACE and demographic factors, where the associations with lipids were stronger in younger participants, females, and those with higher educational attainment. CONCLUSION Multiple measures of epigenetic age acceleration are associated with blood lipid levels in older adults. A greater understanding of how these associations differ across demographic groups can help shed light on the relationships between aging and downstream cardiovascular diseases. The inverse associations between epigenetic age and TC and LDL-C could be due to sample limitations or non-linear relationships between age and these lipids, as both TC and LDL-C decrease faster at older ages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisha Lin
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Jenna Kiryakos
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Farah Ammous
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, USA
| | - Scott M Ratliff
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Erin B Ware
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, USA
| | - Jessica D Faul
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, USA
| | - Sharon L R Kardia
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Wei Zhao
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, USA
| | - Kira S Birditt
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, USA
| | - Jennifer A Smith
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, USA.
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Barral A, Zaret KS. Pioneer factors: roles and their regulation in development. Trends Genet 2024; 40:134-148. [PMID: 37940484 PMCID: PMC10873006 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2023.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2023] [Revised: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023]
Abstract
Pioneer factors are a subclass of transcription factors that can bind and initiate opening of silent chromatin regions. Pioneer factors subsequently regulate lineage-specific genes and enhancers and, thus, activate the zygotic genome after fertilization, guide cell fate transitions during development, and promote various forms of human cancers. As such, pioneer factors are useful in directed cell reprogramming. In this review, we define the structural and functional characteristics of pioneer factors, how they bind and initiate opening of closed chromatin regions, and the consequences for chromatin dynamics and gene expression during cell differentiation. We also discuss emerging mechanisms that modulate pioneer factors during development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amandine Barral
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Civic Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Kenneth S Zaret
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Civic Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
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3
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Sui JY, Eichenfield DZ, Sun BK. The role of enhancers in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Br J Dermatol 2023; 190:10-19. [PMID: 37658835 DOI: 10.1093/bjd/ljad321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Revised: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/27/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
Regulatory elements, particularly enhancers, play a crucial role in disease susceptibility and progression. Enhancers are DNA sequences that activate gene expression and can be affected by epigenetic modifications, interactions with transcription factors (TFs) or changes to the enhancer DNA sequence itself. Altered enhancer activity impacts gene expression and contributes to disease. In this review, we define enhancers and the experimental techniques used to identify and characterize them. We also discuss recent studies that examine how enhancers contribute to atopic dermatitis (AD) and psoriasis. Articles in the PubMed database were identified (from 1 January 2010 to 28 February 2023) that were relevant to enhancer variants, enhancer-associated TFs and enhancer histone modifications in psoriasis or AD. Most enhancers associated with these conditions regulate genes affecting epidermal homeostasis or immune function. These discoveries present potential therapeutic targets to complement existing treatment options for AD and psoriasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Y Sui
- Department of Dermatology, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, CA, USA
- Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Dermatology, Rady Children's Hospital of San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Dawn Z Eichenfield
- Department of Dermatology, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, CA, USA
- Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Dermatology, Rady Children's Hospital of San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Bryan K Sun
- Department of Dermatology, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, CA, USA
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Abstract
Enhancers are cis-regulatory elements that can stimulate gene expression from distance, and drive precise spatiotemporal gene expression profiles during development. Functional enhancers display specific features including an open chromatin conformation, Histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation, Histone H3 lysine 4 mono-methylation enrichment, and enhancer RNAs production. These features are modified upon developmental cues which impacts their activity. In this review, we describe the current state of knowledge about enhancer functions and the diverse chromatin signatures found on enhancers. We also discuss the dynamic changes of enhancer chromatin signatures, and their impact on lineage specific gene expression profiles, during development or cellular differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amandine Barral
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Epigenetics Institute, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA,CONTACT Amandine Barral Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Epigenetics Institute, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. 3400 Civic Blvd, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania19104, USA
| | - Jérôme Déjardin
- Biology of repetitive sequences, Institute of Human Genetics CNRS-Université de Montpellier UMR 9002, Montpellier, France,Jérôme Déjardin Biology of repetitive sequences, Institute of Human Genetics CNRS-Université de Montpellier UMR 9002, 141 rue de la Cardonille, Montpellier34000, France
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Edrei Y, Levy R, Kaye D, Marom A, Radlwimmer B, Hellman A. Methylation-directed regulatory networks determine enhancing and silencing of mutation disease driver genes and explain inter-patient expression variation. Genome Biol 2023; 24:264. [PMID: 38012713 PMCID: PMC10683314 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-023-03094-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Common diseases manifest differentially between patients, but the genetic origin of this variation remains unclear. To explore possible involvement of gene transcriptional-variation, we produce a DNA methylation-oriented, driver-gene-wide dataset of regulatory elements in human glioblastomas and study their effect on inter-patient gene expression variation. RESULTS In 175 of 177 analyzed gene regulatory domains, transcriptional enhancers and silencers are intermixed. Under experimental conditions, DNA methylation induces enhancers to alter their enhancing effects or convert into silencers, while silencers are affected inversely. High-resolution mapping of the association between DNA methylation and gene expression in intact genomes reveals methylation-related regulatory units (average size = 915.1 base-pairs). Upon increased methylation of these units, their target-genes either increased or decreased in expression. Gene-enhancing and silencing units constitute cis-regulatory networks of genes. Mathematical modeling of the networks highlights indicative methylation sites, which signified the effect of key regulatory units, and add up to make the overall transcriptional effect of the network. Methylation variation in these sites effectively describe inter-patient expression variation and, compared with DNA sequence-alterations, appears as a major contributor of gene-expression variation among glioblastoma patients. CONCLUSIONS We describe complex cis-regulatory networks, which determine gene expression by summing the effects of positive and negative transcriptional inputs. In these networks, DNA methylation induces both enhancing and silencing effects, depending on the context. The revealed mechanism sheds light on the regulatory role of DNA methylation, explains inter-individual gene-expression variation, and opens the way for monitoring the driving forces behind deferential courses of cancer and other diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifat Edrei
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC), The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, 9112102, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Revital Levy
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC), The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, 9112102, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Daniel Kaye
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC), The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, 9112102, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Anat Marom
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC), The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, 9112102, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Bernhard Radlwimmer
- Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Asaf Hellman
- Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, The Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC), The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, 9112102, Jerusalem, Israel.
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Bessonneau-Gaborit V, Cruard J, Guerin-Charbonnel C, Derrien J, Alberge JB, Douillard E, Devic M, Deshayes S, Campion L, Westermann F, Moreau P, Herrmann C, Bourdon J, Magrangeas F, Minvielle S. Exploring the impact of dexamethasone on gene regulation in myeloma cells. Life Sci Alliance 2023; 6:e202302195. [PMID: 37524526 PMCID: PMC10390781 DOI: 10.26508/lsa.202302195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Among glucocorticoids (GCs), dexamethasone (Dex) is widely used in treatment of multiple myelomas. However, despite a definite benefit, all patients relapse. Moreover, the molecular basis of glucocorticoid efficacy remains elusive. To determine genomic response to Dex in myeloma cells, we generated bulk and single-cell multi-omics data and high-resolution contact maps of active enhancers and target genes. We show that a minority of glucocorticoid receptor-binding sites are associated with enhancer activity gains, increased interaction loops, and transcriptional activity. We identified and characterized a predominant enhancer enriched in cohesin (RAD21) and more accessible upon Dex exposure. Analysis of four gene-specific networks revealed the importance of the CTCF-cohesin couple and the synchronization of regulatory sequence openings for efficient transcription in response to Dex. Notably, these epigenomic changes are associated with cell-to-cell transcriptional heterogeneity, in particular, lineage-specific genes. As consequences, BCL2L11-encoding BIM critical for Dex-induced apoptosis and CXCR4 protective from chemotherapy-induced apoptosis are rather up-regulated in different cells. In summary, our work provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms involved in Dex escape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Bessonneau-Gaborit
- Université de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Intégrée Nantes Angers, France
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Nantes, France
| | - Jonathan Cruard
- Université de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Intégrée Nantes Angers, France
| | - Catherine Guerin-Charbonnel
- Université de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Intégrée Nantes Angers, France
- Institut de Cancérologie de l'Ouest, Nantes, France
| | - Jennifer Derrien
- Université de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Intégrée Nantes Angers, France
| | - Jean-Baptiste Alberge
- Université de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Intégrée Nantes Angers, France
| | - Elise Douillard
- Université de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Intégrée Nantes Angers, France
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Nantes, France
| | - Magali Devic
- Université de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Intégrée Nantes Angers, France
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Nantes, France
| | - Sophie Deshayes
- Université de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Intégrée Nantes Angers, France
| | - Loïc Campion
- Université de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Intégrée Nantes Angers, France
- Institut de Cancérologie de l'Ouest, Nantes, France
| | - Frank Westermann
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg, KITZ, Heidelberg, Germany
- Division of Neuroblastoma Genomics, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Phillipe Moreau
- Université de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Intégrée Nantes Angers, France
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Nantes, France
| | - Carl Herrmann
- Health Data Science Unit, Medical Faculty Heidelberg and BioQuant, Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | - Florence Magrangeas
- Université de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Intégrée Nantes Angers, France
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Nantes, France
| | - Stéphane Minvielle
- Université de Nantes, CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Intégrée Nantes Angers, France
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Nantes, France
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7
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Tyler AL, Spruce C, Kursawe R, Haber A, Ball RL, Pitman WA, Fine AD, Raghupathy N, Walker M, Philip VM, Baker CL, Mahoney JM, Churchill GA, Trowbridge JJ, Stitzel ML, Paigen K, Petkov PM, Carter GW. Variation in histone configurations correlates with gene expression across nine inbred strains of mice. Genome Res 2023; 33:857-871. [PMID: 37217254 PMCID: PMC10519406 DOI: 10.1101/gr.277467.122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The Diversity Outbred (DO) mice and their inbred founders are widely used models of human disease. However, although the genetic diversity of these mice has been well documented, their epigenetic diversity has not. Epigenetic modifications, such as histone modifications and DNA methylation, are important regulators of gene expression and, as such, are a critical mechanistic link between genotype and phenotype. Therefore, creating a map of epigenetic modifications in the DO mice and their founders is an important step toward understanding mechanisms of gene regulation and the link to disease in this widely used resource. To this end, we performed a strain survey of epigenetic modifications in hepatocytes of the DO founders. We surveyed four histone modifications (H3K4me1, H3K4me3, H3K27me3, and H3K27ac), as well as DNA methylation. We used ChromHMM to identify 14 chromatin states, each of which represents a distinct combination of the four histone modifications. We found that the epigenetic landscape is highly variable across the DO founders and is associated with variation in gene expression across strains. We found that epigenetic state imputed into a population of DO mice recapitulated the association with gene expression seen in the founders, suggesting that both histone modifications and DNA methylation are highly heritable mechanisms of gene expression regulation. We illustrate how DO gene expression can be aligned with inbred epigenetic states to identify putative cis-regulatory regions. Finally, we provide a data resource that documents strain-specific variation in the chromatin state and DNA methylation in hepatocytes across nine widely used strains of laboratory mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna L Tyler
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA
| | - Catrina Spruce
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA
| | - Romy Kursawe
- The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut 06032, USA
| | - Annat Haber
- The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut 06032, USA
| | - Robyn L Ball
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA
| | - Wendy A Pitman
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA
| | - Alexander D Fine
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA
| | | | - Michael Walker
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA
| | - Vivek M Philip
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA
| | | | - J Matthew Mahoney
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA
| | - Gary A Churchill
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA
| | | | - Michael L Stitzel
- The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut 06032, USA
| | - Kenneth Paigen
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA
| | - Petko M Petkov
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA;
| | - Gregory W Carter
- The Jackson Laboratory for Mammalian Genetics, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609, USA
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8
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Characterizing crosstalk in epigenetic signaling to understand disease physiology. Biochem J 2023; 480:57-85. [PMID: 36630129 PMCID: PMC10152800 DOI: 10.1042/bcj20220550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Epigenetics, the inheritance of genomic information independent of DNA sequence, controls the interpretation of extracellular and intracellular signals in cell homeostasis, proliferation and differentiation. On the chromatin level, signal transduction leads to changes in epigenetic marks, such as histone post-translational modifications (PTMs), DNA methylation and chromatin accessibility to regulate gene expression. Crosstalk between different epigenetic mechanisms, such as that between histone PTMs and DNA methylation, leads to an intricate network of chromatin-binding proteins where pre-existing epigenetic marks promote or inhibit the writing of new marks. The recent technical advances in mass spectrometry (MS) -based proteomic methods and in genome-wide DNA sequencing approaches have broadened our understanding of epigenetic networks greatly. However, further development and wider application of these methods is vital in developing treatments for disorders and pathologies that are driven by epigenetic dysregulation.
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9
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Sreekar N, Shrestha S. Bioinformatic Evaluation of Features on Cis-regulatory Elements at 6q25.1. Bioinform Biol Insights 2023; 17:11779322231167971. [PMID: 37124129 PMCID: PMC10134125 DOI: 10.1177/11779322231167971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Eukaryotic non-coding regulatory features contribute significantly to cellular plasticity which on aberration leads to cellular malignancy. Enhancers are cis-regulatory elements that contribute to the development of resistance to endocrine therapy in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer leading to poor clinical outcome. ER is vital for therapeutic targets in ER-positive breast cancer. Here, we review and report the different regulatory features present on ER with the objective to delineate potential mechanisms which may contribute to development of resistance. The UCSC Genome Browser, data mining, and bioinformatics tools were used to review enhancers, transcription factors (TFs), histone marks, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and variants residing in the non-coding region of the ER gene. We report 7 enhancers, 3 of which were rich in TF-binding sites and histone marks in a cell line-specific manner. Furthermore, some enhancers contain estrogen resistance variants and sites for lncRNA. Our review speculates putative models suggesting potential aberrations in gene regulation and expression if these regulatory landscapes and assemblies are altered. This review gives an interesting perspective in designing integrated in vitro studies including non-coding elements to study development of endocrine resistance in ER-positive breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Smeeta Shrestha
- Smeeta Shrestha, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), 636921, Singapore.
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10
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Wang Q, Xiong F, Wu G, Liu W, Chen J, Wang B, Chen Y. Gene body methylation in cancer: molecular mechanisms and clinical applications. Clin Epigenetics 2022; 14:154. [PMID: 36443876 PMCID: PMC9706891 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-022-01382-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mechanism that regulates gene expression. To date, most DNA methylation studies have focussed on CpG islands in the gene promoter region, and the mechanism of methylation and the regulation of gene expression after methylation have been clearly elucidated. However, genome-wide methylation studies have shown that DNA methylation is widespread not only in promoters but also in gene bodies. Gene body methylation is widely involved in the expression regulation of many genes and is closely related to the occurrence and progression of malignant tumours. This review focusses on the formation of gene body methylation patterns, its regulation of transcription, and its relationship with tumours, providing clues to explore the mechanism of gene body methylation in regulating gene transcription and its significance and application in the field of oncology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Wang
- grid.33199.310000 0004 0368 7223Department of Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 1095 Jiefang Road, Wuhan, 430074 Hubei Province China
| | - Fei Xiong
- grid.33199.310000 0004 0368 7223Department of Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 1095 Jiefang Road, Wuhan, 430074 Hubei Province China
| | - Guanhua Wu
- grid.33199.310000 0004 0368 7223Department of Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 1095 Jiefang Road, Wuhan, 430074 Hubei Province China
| | - Wenzheng Liu
- grid.33199.310000 0004 0368 7223Department of Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 1095 Jiefang Road, Wuhan, 430074 Hubei Province China
| | - Junsheng Chen
- grid.33199.310000 0004 0368 7223Department of Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 1095 Jiefang Road, Wuhan, 430074 Hubei Province China
| | - Bing Wang
- grid.33199.310000 0004 0368 7223Department of Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 1095 Jiefang Road, Wuhan, 430074 Hubei Province China
| | - Yongjun Chen
- grid.33199.310000 0004 0368 7223Department of Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 1095 Jiefang Road, Wuhan, 430074 Hubei Province China
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11
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Bock SL, Smaga CR, McCoy JA, Parrott BB. Genome-wide DNA methylation patterns harbour signatures of hatchling sex and past incubation temperature in a species with environmental sex determination. Mol Ecol 2022; 31:5487-5505. [PMID: 35997618 PMCID: PMC9826120 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Revised: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Conservation of thermally sensitive species depends on monitoring organismal and population-level responses to environmental change in real time. Epigenetic processes are increasingly recognized as key integrators of environmental conditions into developmentally plastic responses, and attendant epigenomic data sets hold potential for revealing cryptic phenotypes relevant to conservation efforts. Here, we demonstrate the utility of genome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns in the face of climate change for a group of especially vulnerable species, those with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). Due to their reliance on thermal cues during development to determine sexual fate, contemporary shifts in temperature are predicted to skew offspring sex ratios and ultimately destabilize sensitive populations. Using reduced-representation bisulphite sequencing, we profiled the DNA methylome in blood cells of hatchling American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), a TSD species lacking reliable markers of sexual dimorphism in early life stages. We identified 120 sex-associated differentially methylated cytosines (DMCs; FDR < 0.1) in hatchlings incubated under a range of temperatures, as well as 707 unique temperature-associated DMCs. We further developed DNAm-based models capable of predicting hatchling sex with 100% accuracy (in 20 training samples and four test samples) and past incubation temperature with a mean absolute error of 1.2°C (in four test samples) based on the methylation status of 20 and 24 loci, respectively. Though largely independent of epigenomic patterning occurring in the embryonic gonad during TSD, DNAm patterns in blood cells may serve as nonlethal markers of hatchling sex and past incubation conditions in conservation applications. These findings also raise intriguing questions regarding tissue-specific epigenomic patterning in the context of developmental plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha L. Bock
- Eugene P. Odum School of EcologyUniversity of GeorgiaAthensGeorgiaUSA
- Savannah River Ecology LaboratoryAikenSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Christopher R. Smaga
- Eugene P. Odum School of EcologyUniversity of GeorgiaAthensGeorgiaUSA
- Savannah River Ecology LaboratoryAikenSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Jessica A. McCoy
- Department of BiologyCollege of CharlestonCharlestonSouth CarolinaUSA
| | - Benjamin B. Parrott
- Eugene P. Odum School of EcologyUniversity of GeorgiaAthensGeorgiaUSA
- Savannah River Ecology LaboratoryAikenSouth CarolinaUSA
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12
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Wiencke JK, Molinaro AM, Warrier G, Rice T, Clarke J, Taylor JW, Wrensch M, Hansen H, McCoy L, Tang E, Tamaki SJ, Tamaki CM, Nissen E, Bracci P, Salas LA, Koestler DC, Christensen BC, Zhang Z, Kelsey KT. DNA methylation as a pharmacodynamic marker of glucocorticoid response and glioma survival. Nat Commun 2022; 13:5505. [PMID: 36127421 PMCID: PMC9486797 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33215-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Assessing individual responses to glucocorticoid drug therapies that compromise immune status and affect survival outcomes in neuro-oncology is a great challenge. Here we introduce a blood-based neutrophil dexamethasone methylation index (NDMI) that provides a measure of the epigenetic response of subjects to dexamethasone. This marker outperforms conventional approaches based on leukocyte composition as a marker of glucocorticoid response. The NDMI is associated with low CD4 T cells and the accumulation of monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells and also serves as prognostic factor in glioma survival. In a non-glioma population, the NDMI increases with a history of prednisone use. Therefore, it may also be informative in other conditions where glucocorticoids are employed. We conclude that DNA methylation remodeling within the peripheral immune compartment is a rich source of clinically relevant markers of glucocorticoid response.
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Affiliation(s)
- J K Wiencke
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Annette M Molinaro
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Gayathri Warrier
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Terri Rice
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jennifer Clarke
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jennie W Taylor
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Margaret Wrensch
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Helen Hansen
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Lucie McCoy
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Emily Tang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Stan J Tamaki
- Parnassus Flow Cytometry CoLab, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Courtney M Tamaki
- Parnassus Flow Cytometry CoLab, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Emily Nissen
- Department of Biostatistics & Data Science, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA
| | - Paige Bracci
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Lucas A Salas
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - Devin C Koestler
- Department of Biostatistics & Data Science, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA
| | - Brock C Christensen
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Lebanon, NH, USA
- Department of Molecular and Systems Biology, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Lebanon, NH, USA
- Department of Community and Family Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - Ze Zhang
- Department of Epidemiology, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - Karl T Kelsey
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
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13
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Chronic stress-driven glucocorticoid receptor activation programs key cell phenotypes and functional epigenomic patterns in human fibroblasts. iScience 2022; 25:104960. [PMID: 36065188 PMCID: PMC9440308 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Revised: 07/16/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic environmental stress can profoundly impact cell and body function. Although the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood, epigenetics has emerged as a key link between environment and health. The genomic effects of stress are thought to be mediated by the action of glucocorticoid stress hormones, primarily cortisol in humans, which act via the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). To dissect how chronic stress-driven GR activation influences epigenetic and cell states, human fibroblasts underwent prolonged exposure to physiological stress levels of cortisol and/or a selective GR antagonist. Cortisol was found to drive robust changes in cell proliferation, migration, and morphology, which were abrogated by concomitant GR blockade. The GR-driven cell phenotypes were accompanied by widespread, yet genomic context-dependent, changes in DNA methylation and mRNA expression, including gene loci with known roles in cell proliferation and migration. These findings provide insights into how chronic stress-driven functional epigenomic patterns become established to shape key cell phenotypes. Physiological stress levels of cortisol drive robust changes in key cell phenotypes Stress-driven changes in cell phenotypes are abrogated by concomitant GR blockade GR activation induces functional and phenotypically relevant epigenomic changes
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14
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Ahn J, Lee J, Kim DH, Hwang IS, Park MR, Cho IC, Hwang S, Lee K. Loss of Monoallelic Expression of IGF2 in the Adult Liver Via Alternative Promoter Usage and Chromatin Reorganization. Front Genet 2022; 13:920641. [PMID: 35938007 PMCID: PMC9355166 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.920641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In mammals, genomic imprinting operates via gene silencing mechanisms. Although conservation of the imprinting mechanism at the H19/IGF2 locus has been generally described in pigs, tissue-specific imprinting at the transcript level, monoallelic-to-biallelic conversion, and spatio-temporal chromatin reorganization remain largely uninvestigated. Here, we delineate spatially regulated imprinting of IGF2 transcripts, age-dependent hepatic mono- to biallelic conversion, and reorganization of topologically associating domains at the porcine H19/IGF2 locus for better translation to human and animal research. Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of normal and parthenogenetic porcine embryos revealed the paternally hypermethylated H19 differentially methylated region and paternal expression of IGF2. Using a polymorphism-based approach and omics datasets from chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP–seq), whole-genome sequencing (WGS), RNA-seq, and Hi-C, regulation of IGF2 during development was analyzed. Regulatory elements in the liver were distinguished from those in the muscle where the porcine IGF2 transcript was monoallelically expressed. The IGF2 transcript from the liver was biallelically expressed at later developmental stages in both pigs and humans. Chromatin interaction was less frequent in the adult liver compared to the fetal liver and skeletal muscle. The duration of genomic imprinting effects within the H19/IGF2 locus might be reduced in the liver with biallelic conversion through alternative promoter usage and chromatin remodeling. Our integrative omics analyses of genome, epigenome, and transcriptome provided a comprehensive view of imprinting status at the H19/IGF2 cluster.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinsoo Ahn
- Functional Genomics Laboratory, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Joonbum Lee
- Functional Genomics Laboratory, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- The Ohio State University Interdisciplinary Human Nutrition Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Dong-Hwan Kim
- Functional Genomics Laboratory, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - In-Sul Hwang
- Animal Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Jeonbuk, South Korea
- Columbia Center for Translational Immunology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Mi-Ryung Park
- Animal Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Jeonbuk, South Korea
| | - In-Cheol Cho
- National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Jeju, South Korea
| | - Seongsoo Hwang
- Animal Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Jeonbuk, South Korea
| | - Kichoon Lee
- Functional Genomics Laboratory, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- The Ohio State University Interdisciplinary Human Nutrition Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- *Correspondence: Kichoon Lee,
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15
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Enhancer methylation dynamics drive core transcriptional regulatory circuitry in pan-cancer. Oncogene 2022; 41:3474-3484. [PMID: 35655092 DOI: 10.1038/s41388-022-02359-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Revised: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that enhancer methylation has strong and dynamic regulatory effects on gene expression. Some transcription factors (TFs) can auto- and cross-regulate in a feed-forward manner, and cooperate with their enhancers to form core transcriptional regulatory circuitries (CRCs). However, the elaborated regulatory mechanism between enhancer methylation and CRC remains the tip of the iceberg. Here, we revealed that DNA methylation could drive the tissue-specific enhancer basal transcription and target gene expression in human cancers. By integrating methylome, transcriptome, and 3D genomic data, we identified enhancer methylation triplets (enhancer methylation-enhancer transcription-target gene expression) and dissected potential regulatory patterns within them. Moreover, we observed that cancer-specific core TFs regulated by enhancers were able to shape their enhancer methylation forming the enhancer methylation-driven CRCs (emCRCs). Further parsing of clinical implications showed rewired emCRCs could serve as druggable targets and prognostic risk markers. In summary, the integrative analysis of enhancer methylation regulome would facilitate portraying the cancer epigenomics landscape and developing the epigenetic anti-cancer approaches.
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16
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Izda V, Martin J, Sturdy C, Jeffries MA. DNA methylation and noncoding RNA in OA: Recent findings and methodological advances. OSTEOARTHRITIS AND CARTILAGE OPEN 2022; 3. [PMID: 35360044 PMCID: PMC8966627 DOI: 10.1016/j.ocarto.2021.100208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic musculoskeletal disease characterized by progressive loss of joint function. Historically, it has been characterized as a disease caused by mechanical trauma, so-called ‘wear and tear’. Over the past two decades, it has come to be understood as a complex systemic disorder involving gene-environmental interactions. Epigenetic changes have been increasingly implicated. Recent improvements in microarray and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have allowed for ever more complex evaluations of epigenetic aberrations associated with the development and progression of OA. Methods: A systematic review was conducted in the Pubmed database. We curated studies that presented the results of DNA methylation and noncoding RNA research in human OA and OA animal models since 1985. Results: Herein, we discuss recent findings and methodological advancements in OA epigenetics, including a discussion of DNA methylation, including microarray and NGS studies, and noncoding RNAs. Beyond cartilage, we also highlight studies in subchondral bone and peripheral blood mononuclear cells, which highlight widespread and potentially clinically important alterations in epigenetic patterns seen in OA patients. Finally, we discuss epigenetic editing approaches in the context of OA. Conclusions: Although a substantial body of literature has already been published in OA, much is still unknown. Future OA epigenetics studies will no doubt continue to broaden our understanding of underlying pathophysiology and perhaps offer novel diagnostics and/or treatments for human OA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladislav Izda
- Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Arthritis & Clinical Immunology Program, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | - Jake Martin
- Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Arthritis & Clinical Immunology Program, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | - Cassandra Sturdy
- Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Arthritis & Clinical Immunology Program, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | - Matlock A. Jeffries
- Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Arthritis & Clinical Immunology Program, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Immunology, And Allergy, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
- Corresponding author. Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, 825 NE 13th Street, Laboratory MC400, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA.
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17
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Ankill J, Aure MR, Bjørklund S, Langberg S, Kristensen VN, Vitelli V, Tekpli X, Fleischer T. Epigenetic alterations at distal enhancers are linked to proliferation in human breast cancer. NAR Cancer 2022; 4:zcac008. [PMID: 35350772 PMCID: PMC8947789 DOI: 10.1093/narcan/zcac008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2021] [Revised: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Aberrant DNA methylation is an early event in breast carcinogenesis and plays a critical role in regulating gene expression. Here, we perform genome-wide expression-methylation Quantitative Trait Loci (emQTL) analysis through the integration of DNA methylation and gene expression to identify disease-driving pathways under epigenetic control. By grouping the emQTLs using biclustering we identify associations representing important biological processes associated with breast cancer pathogenesis including regulation of proliferation and tumor-infiltrating fibroblasts. We report genome-wide loss of enhancer methylation at binding sites of proliferation-driving transcription factors including CEBP-β, FOSL1, and FOSL2 with concomitant high expression of proliferation-related genes in aggressive breast tumors as we confirm with scRNA-seq. The identified emQTL-CpGs and genes were found connected through chromatin loops, indicating that proliferation in breast tumors is under epigenetic regulation by DNA methylation. Interestingly, the associations between enhancer methylation and proliferation-related gene expression were also observed within known subtypes of breast cancer, suggesting a common role of epigenetic regulation of proliferation. Taken together, we show that proliferation in breast cancer is linked to loss of methylation at specific enhancers and transcription factor binding and gene activation through chromatin looping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jørgen Ankill
- Department of Cancer Genetics, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Miriam Ragle Aure
- Department of Medical Genetics, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Sunniva Bjørklund
- Department of Medical Genetics, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | | | | | - Vessela N Kristensen
- Department of Medical Genetics, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Valeria Vitelli
- Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Xavier Tekpli
- Department of Medical Genetics, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Thomas Fleischer
- Department of Cancer Genetics, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
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18
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Osteogenic Commitment of Human Periodontal Ligament Cells Is Predetermined by Methylation, Chromatin Accessibility and Expression of Key Transcription Factors. Cells 2022; 11:cells11071126. [PMID: 35406691 PMCID: PMC8997528 DOI: 10.3390/cells11071126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2022] [Revised: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLCs) can be used as a valuable source in cell therapies to regenerate bone tissue. However, the potential therapeutic outcomes are unpredictable due to PDLCs’ heterogeneity regarding the capacity for osteoblast differentiation and mineral nodules production. Here, we identify epigenetic (DNA (hydroxy)methylation), chromatin (ATAC-seq) and transcriptional (RNA-seq) differences between PDLCs presenting with low (l) and high (h) osteogenic potential. The primary cell populations were investigated at basal state (cultured in DMEM) and after 10 days of osteogenic stimulation (OM). At a basal state, the expression of transcription factors (TFs) and the presence of gene regulatory regions related to osteogenesis were detected in h-PDLCs in contrast to neuronal differentiation prevalent in l-PDLCs. These differences were also observed under stimulated conditions, with genes and biological processes associated with osteoblast phenotype activated more in h-PDLCs. Importantly, even after the induction, l-PDLCs showed hypermethylation and low expression of genes related to bone development. Furthermore, the analysis of TFs motifs combined with TFs expression suggested the relevance of SP1, SP7 and DLX4 regulation in h-PDLCs, while motifs for SIX and OLIG2 TFs were uniquely enriched in l-PDLCs. Additional analysis including a second l-PDLC population indicated that the high expression of OCT4, SIX3 and PPARG TFs could be predictive of low osteogenic commitment. In summary, several biological processes related to osteoblast commitment were activated in h-PDLCs from the onset, while l-PDLCs showed delay in the activation of the osteoblastic program, restricted by the persistent methylation of gene related to bone development. These processes are pre-determined by distinguishable epigenetic and transcriptional patterns, the recognition of which could help in selection of PDLCs with pre-osteoblastic phenotype.
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Dixon G, Matz M. Changes in gene body methylation do not correlate with changes in gene expression in Anthozoa or Hexapoda. BMC Genomics 2022; 23:234. [PMID: 35337260 PMCID: PMC8957121 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-022-08474-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background As human activity alters the planet, there is a pressing need to understand how organisms adapt to environmental change. Of growing interest in this area is the role of epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, in tailoring gene expression to fit novel conditions. Here, we reanalyzed nine invertebrate (Anthozoa and Hexapoda) datasets to validate a key prediction of this hypothesis: changes in DNA methylation in response to some condition correlate with changes in gene expression. Results In accord with previous observations, baseline levels of gene body methylation (GBM) positively correlated with transcription, and negatively correlated with transcriptional variation between conditions. Correlations between changes in GBM and transcription, however, were negligible. There was also no consistent negative correlation between methylation and transcription at the level of gene body methylation class (either highly- or lowly-methylated), anticipated under the previously described “seesaw hypothesis”. Conclusion Our results do not support the direct involvement of GBM in regulating dynamic transcriptional responses in invertebrates. If changes in DNA methylation regulate invertebrate transcription, the mechanism must involve additional factors or regulatory influences. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-022-08474-z.
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Affiliation(s)
- Groves Dixon
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA.
| | - Mikhail Matz
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA
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20
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Miller EC, Wilczek A, Bello NA, Tom S, Wapner R, Suh Y. Pregnancy, preeclampsia and maternal aging: From epidemiology to functional genomics. Ageing Res Rev 2022; 73:101535. [PMID: 34871806 PMCID: PMC8827396 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2021.101535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Revised: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Women live longer than men but experience greater disability and a longer period of illness as they age. Despite clear sex differences in aging, the impact of pregnancy and its complications, such as preeclampsia, on aging is an underexplored area of geroscience. This review summarizes our current knowledge about the complex links between pregnancy and age-related diseases, including evidence from epidemiology, clinical research, and genetics. We discuss the relationship between normal and pathological pregnancy and maternal aging, using preeclampsia as a primary example. We review the results of human genetics studies of preeclampsia, including genome wide association studies (GWAS), and attempted to catalog genes involved in preeclampsia as a gateway to mechanisms underlying an increased risk of later life cardio- and neuro- vascular events. Lastly, we discuss challenges in interpreting the GWAS of preeclampsia and provide a functional genomics framework for future research needed to fully realize the promise of GWAS in identifying targets for geroprotective prevention and therapeutics against preeclampsia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eliza C. Miller
- Department of Neurology, Division of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ashley Wilczek
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Natalie A. Bello
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sarah Tom
- Department of Neurology, Division of Neurology Clinical Outcomes Research and Population Science and the Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ronald Wapner
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Yousin Suh
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
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21
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Li L, Wang T, Chen S, Yue Y, Xu Z, Yuan Y. DNA methylations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor exon VI are associated with major depressive disorder and antidepressant-induced remission in females. J Affect Disord 2021; 295:101-107. [PMID: 34418778 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.08.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Revised: 08/04/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been suggested to play important roles in major depressive disorder (MDD) and antidepressant treatment. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of DNA methylation changes in the BDNF gene with MDD and antidepressant treatment. METHODS A total of 291 MDD patients and 100 healthy controls were included and followed up for 6 weeks. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 (HDRS-17) was used to measure treatment improvement. The life events scales (LES) and childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ) were used to rate recent and early life stress. DNA methylation levels of CpG sites in the BDNF gene were measured. RESULTS Two CpG sites in BDNF exon VI (BDNF133 and BDNF134) were demonstrated to have significantly higher methylation in MDD patients than in controls (both FDR-adjusted P = 0.001). A logistics regression model indicated that the interaction between the hypermethylation of BDNF133 and negative subscore of LES was associated to MDD (OR=0.0075, P<0.001). Methylation of BDNF140 at baseline was significantly elevated in remitters (FDR-adjusted P = 0.046) at week 6. In subgroup analyses, these findings could be replicated in females, but not in males. LIMITATIONS The methylation status of BDNF after 6 weeks of antidepressant treatment was not measured and the DNA methylation were detected in peripheral blood cells. CONCLUSIONS These findings highlight gender-specific alteration of methylation at several CpG sites in BDNF exon VI as a promising candidate indicator of MDD and antidepressant-induced remission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Li
- Institute of Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, Affiliated Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China; Department of Sleep Medicine, The Fourth People's Hospital of Lianyungang, Lianyungang, 222000, China
| | - Tianyu Wang
- Institute of Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, Affiliated Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China
| | - Suzhen Chen
- Institute of Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, Affiliated Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China
| | - Yingying Yue
- Institute of Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, Affiliated Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China
| | - Zhi Xu
- Institute of Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, Affiliated Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China.
| | - Yonggui Yuan
- Institute of Psychosomatics, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210023, China; Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, Affiliated Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University, Nanjing, 210009, China; Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Critical Care Medicine, Southeast university, Nanjing, 210009, China.
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22
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Lonetti A, Indio V, Dianzani I, Ramenghi U, Da Costa L, Pospíšilová D, Migliaccio AR. The Glucocorticoid Receptor Polymorphism Landscape in Patients With Diamond Blackfan Anemia Reveals an Association Between Two Clinically Relevant Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Time to Diagnosis. Front Physiol 2021; 12:745032. [PMID: 34721069 PMCID: PMC8549833 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.745032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
NR3C1, the gene encoding the glucocorticoid receptor, is polymorphic presenting numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) some of which are emerging as leading cause in the variability of manifestation and/or response to glucocorticoids in human diseases. Since 60–80% of patients with Diamond Blackfan anemia (DBA), an inherited pure red cell aplasia induced by mutations in ribosomal protein genes became transfusion independent upon treatment with glucocorticoids, we investigated whether clinically relevant NR3C1 SNPs are associated with disease manifestation in DBA. The eight SNPs rs10482605, rs10482616, rs7701443, rs6189/rs6190, rs860457, rs6198, rs6196, and rs33388/rs33389 were investigated in a cohort of 91 European DBA patients. Results were compared with those observed in healthy volunteers (n=37) or present in public genome databases of Italian and European populations. Although, cases vs. control analyses suggest that the frequency of some of the minor alleles is significantly altered in DBA patients with respect to healthy controls or to the Italian or other European registries, lack of consistency among the associations across different sets suggests that overall the frequency of these SNPs in DBA is not different from that of the general population. Demographic data (47 females and 31 males) and driver mutations (44 S and 29 L genes and eight no-known mutation) are known for 81 patients while glucocorticoid response is known, respectively, for 81 (36 responsive and 45 non-responsive) and age of disease onsets for 79 (55 before and 24 after 4months of age) patients. Neither gender nor leading mutations were associated with the minor alleles or with disease manifestation. In addition, none of the SNPs met the threshold in the response vs. non-responsive groups. However, two SNPs (rs6196 and rs860457) were enriched in patients manifesting the disease before 4months of age. Although the exact biomechanistical consequences of these SNPs are unknown, the fact that their configuration is consistent with that of regulatory regions suggests that they regulate changes in glucocorticoid response during ontogeny. This hypothesis was supported by phosphoproteomic profiling of erythroid cells expanded ex vivo indicating that glucocorticoids activate a ribosomal signature in cells from cord blood but not in those from adult blood, possibly providing a compensatory mechanism to the driving mutations observed in DBA before birth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annalisa Lonetti
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Valentina Indio
- Giorgio Prodi Cancer Research Center, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Irma Dianzani
- Department of Health Sciences, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy
| | - Ugo Ramenghi
- Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Lydie Da Costa
- Service d'Hématologie Biologique, Hôpital Robert Debré, University of Paris, Paris, France
| | - Dagmar Pospíšilová
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty Hospital of Palacky University, Olomouc, Czechia
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Zhao X, Ji J, Wang S, Wang R, Yu Q, Li D. The regulatory pattern of target gene expression by aberrant enhancer methylation in glioblastoma. BMC Bioinformatics 2021; 22:420. [PMID: 34482818 PMCID: PMC8420065 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-021-04345-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and aggressive primary malignant brain tumor with grim prognosis. Aberrant DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that promotes GBM carcinogenesis, while the function of DNA methylation at enhancer regions in GBM remains poorly described. Results We integrated multi-omics data to identify differential methylation enhancer region (DMER)-genes and revealed global enhancer hypomethylation in GBM. In addition, a DMER-mediated target genes regulatory network and functional enrichment analysis of target genes that might be regulated by hypomethylation enhancer regions showed that aberrant enhancer regions could contribute to tumorigenesis and progression in GBM. Further, we identified 22 modules in which lncRNAs and mRNAs synergistically competed with each other. Finally, through the construction of drug-target association networks, our study identified potential small-molecule drugs for GBM treatment. Conclusions Our study provides novel insights for understanding the regulation of aberrant enhancer region methylation and developing methylation-based biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of GBM. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12859-021-04345-8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxiao Zhao
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, 10 You An Men Wai, Xi Tou Tiao, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Fundamental Research on Biomechanics in Clinical, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China
| | - Jianghuai Ji
- Department of Radiation Physics, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, 310022, People's Republic of China.,Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology, Hangzhou, 310022, People's Republic of China
| | - Shijia Wang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, 10 You An Men Wai, Xi Tou Tiao, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Fundamental Research on Biomechanics in Clinical, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China
| | - Rendong Wang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, 10 You An Men Wai, Xi Tou Tiao, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Fundamental Research on Biomechanics in Clinical, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China
| | - Qiuhong Yu
- Department of Hyperbaric Oxygen, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, 119 Nansihuan Xi Lu, Fengtai District, Beijing, 100070, People's Republic of China.
| | - Dongguo Li
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, 10 You An Men Wai, Xi Tou Tiao, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China. .,Beijing Key Laboratory of Fundamental Research on Biomechanics in Clinical, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, People's Republic of China.
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24
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Naturalistic Stress Hormone Levels Drive Cumulative Epigenomic Changes along the Cellular Lifespan. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22168778. [PMID: 34445485 PMCID: PMC8395735 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22168778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2021] [Revised: 08/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Environmental stress is ubiquitous in modern societies and can exert a profound and cumulative impact on cell function and health phenotypes. This impact is thought to be in large part mediated by the action of glucocorticoid stress hormones, primarily cortisol in humans. While the underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear, epigenetics-the chemical changes that regulate genomic function without altering the genetic code-has emerged as a key link between environmental exposures and phenotypic outcomes. The present study assessed genome-wide DNA (CpG) methylation, one of the key epigenetic mechanisms, at three timepoints during prolonged (51-day) exposure of cultured human fibroblasts to naturalistic cortisol levels, which can be reached in human tissues during in vivo stress. The findings support a spatiotemporal model of profound and widespread stress hormone-driven methylomic changes that emerge at selected CpG sites, are more likely to spread to nearby located CpGs, and quantitatively accrue at open sea, glucocorticoid receptor binding, and chromatin-accessible sites. Taken together, these findings provide novel insights into how prolonged stress may impact the epigenome, with potentially important implications for stress-related phenotypes.
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25
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Eachus H, Choi MK, Ryu S. The Effects of Early Life Stress on the Brain and Behaviour: Insights From Zebrafish Models. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:657591. [PMID: 34368117 PMCID: PMC8335398 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.657591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2021] [Accepted: 04/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The early life period represents a window of increased vulnerability to stress, during which exposure can lead to long-lasting effects on brain structure and function. This stress-induced developmental programming may contribute to the behavioural changes observed in mental illness. In recent decades, rodent studies have significantly advanced our understanding of how early life stress (ELS) affects brain development and behaviour. These studies reveal that ELS has long-term consequences on the brain such as impairment of adult hippocampal neurogenesis, altering learning and memory. Despite such advances, several key questions remain inadequately answered, including a comprehensive overview of brain regions and molecular pathways that are altered by ELS and how ELS-induced molecular changes ultimately lead to behavioural changes in adulthood. The zebrafish represents a novel ELS model, with the potential to contribute to answering some of these questions. The zebrafish offers some important advantages such as the ability to non-invasively modulate stress hormone levels in a whole animal and to visualise whole brain activity in freely behaving animals. This review discusses the current status of the zebrafish ELS field and its potential as a new ELS model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen Eachus
- Living Systems Institute and College of Medicine and Health, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Min-Kyeung Choi
- Living Systems Institute and College of Medicine and Health, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Soojin Ryu
- Living Systems Institute and College of Medicine and Health, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom.,Institute of Human Genetics, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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26
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Liu X, Weikum ER, Tilo D, Vinson C, Ortlund EA. Structural basis for glucocorticoid receptor recognition of both unmodified and methylated binding sites, precursors of a modern recognition element. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:8923-8933. [PMID: 34289059 PMCID: PMC8421226 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2021] [Revised: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The most common form of DNA methylation involves the addition of a methyl group to a cytosine base in the context of a cytosine–phosphate–guanine (CpG) dinucleotide. Genomes from more primitive organisms are more abundant in CpG sites that, through the process of methylation, deamination and subsequent mutation to thymine–phosphate–guanine (TpG) sites, can produce new transcription factor binding sites. Here, we examined the evolutionary history of the over 36 000 glucocorticoid receptor (GR) consensus binding motifs in the human genome and identified a subset of them in regulatory regions that arose via a deamination and subsequent mutation event. GR can bind to both unmodified and methylated pre-GR binding sequences (GBSs) that contain a CpG site. Our structural analyses show that CpG methylation in a pre-GBS generates a favorable interaction with Arg447 mimicking that made with a TpG in a GBS. This methyl-specific recognition arose 420 million years ago and was conserved during the evolution of GR and likely helps fix the methylation on the relevant cytosines. Our study provides the first genetic, biochemical and structural evidence of high-affinity binding for the likely evolutionary precursor of extant TpG-containing GBS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu Liu
- Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Emily R Weikum
- Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Desiree Tilo
- Laboratory of Metabolism, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Charles Vinson
- Laboratory of Metabolism, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Eric A Ortlund
- Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
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27
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Das AB, Seddon AR, O'Connor KM, Hampton MB. Regulation of the epigenetic landscape by immune cell oxidants. Free Radic Biol Med 2021; 170:131-149. [PMID: 33444713 DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2020.12.453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2020] [Revised: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 12/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Excessive production of microbicidal oxidants by neutrophils can damage host tissue. The short-term response of cells to oxidative stress is well understood, but the mechanisms behind long-term consequences require further clarification. Epigenetic pathways mediate cellular adaptation, and are therefore a potential target of oxidative stress. Indeed, there is evidence that many proteins and metabolites involved in epigenetic pathways are redox sensitive. In this review we provide an overview of the epigenetic landscape and discuss the potential for redox regulation. Using this information, we highlight specific examples where neutrophil oxidants react with epigenetic pathway components. We also use published data from redox proteomics to map out known intersections between oxidative stress and epigenetics that may signpost helpful directions for future investigation. Finally, we discuss the role neutrophils play in adaptive pathologies with a focus on tumour initiation and progression. We hope this information will stimulate further discourse on the emerging field of redox epigenomics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew B Das
- Centre for Free Radical Research, Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
| | - Annika R Seddon
- Centre for Free Radical Research, Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
| | - Karina M O'Connor
- Centre for Free Radical Research, Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
| | - Mark B Hampton
- Centre for Free Radical Research, Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
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28
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Roth K, Coussement L, Knatko EV, Higgins M, Steyaert S, Proby CM, de Meyer T, Dinkova-Kostova AT. Clinically relevant aberrant Filip1l DNA methylation detected in a murine model of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. EBioMedicine 2021; 67:103383. [PMID: 34000624 PMCID: PMC8138604 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2021.103383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Revised: 04/16/2021] [Accepted: 04/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (cSCC) are among the most common and highly mutated human malignancies. Understanding the impact of DNA methylation in cSCC may provide avenues for new therapeutic strategies. METHODS We used reduced-representation bisulfite sequencing for DNA methylation analysis of murine cSCC. Differential methylation was assessed at the CpG level using limma. Next, we compared with human cSCC Infinium HumanMethylation BeadArray data. Genes were considered to be of major relevance when they featured at least one significantly differentially methylated CpGs (RRBS) / probes (Infinium) with at least a 30% difference between tumour vs. control in both a murine gene and its human orthologue. The human EPIC Infinium data were used to distinguish two cSCC subtypes, stem-cell-like and keratinocyte-like tumours. FINDINGS We found increased average methylation in mouse cSCC (by 12.8%, p = 0.0011) as well as in stem-cell like (by 3.1%, p=0.002), but not keratinocyte-like (0.2%, p = 0.98), human cSCC. Comparison of differentially methylated genes revealed striking similarities between human and mouse cSCC. Locus specific methylation changes in mouse cSCC often occurred in regions of potential regulatory function, including enhancers and promoters. A key differentially methylated region was located in a potential enhancer of the tumour suppressor gene Filip1l and its expression was reduced in mouse tumours. Moreover, the FILIP1L locus showed hypermethylation in human cSCC and lower expression in human cSCC cell lines. INTERPRETATION Deregulation of DNA methylation is an important feature of murine and human cSCC that likely contributes to silencing of tumour suppressor genes, as shown for Filip1l. FUNDING British Skin Foundation, Cancer Research UK.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Roth
- Jacqui Wood Cancer Centre, Division of Cellular Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, United Kingdom
| | - Louis Coussement
- Biobix, Department of Data Analysis and Mathematical Modelling, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium; CRIG, Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 25, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Elena V Knatko
- Jacqui Wood Cancer Centre, Division of Cellular Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, United Kingdom
| | - Maureen Higgins
- Jacqui Wood Cancer Centre, Division of Cellular Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, United Kingdom
| | - Sandra Steyaert
- Biobix, Department of Data Analysis and Mathematical Modelling, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Charlotte M Proby
- Jacqui Wood Cancer Centre, Division of Cellular Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, United Kingdom
| | - Tim de Meyer
- Biobix, Department of Data Analysis and Mathematical Modelling, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium; CRIG, Cancer Research Institute Ghent, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 25, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Albena T Dinkova-Kostova
- Jacqui Wood Cancer Centre, Division of Cellular Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, United Kingdom; Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences and Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21205, USA.
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29
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Assis RIF, Schmidt AG, Racca F, da Silva RA, Zambuzzi WF, Silvério KG, Nociti FH, Pecorari VG, Wiench M, Andia DC. DNMT1 Inhibitor Restores RUNX2 Expression and Mineralization in Periodontal Ligament Cells. DNA Cell Biol 2021; 40:662-674. [PMID: 33751901 DOI: 10.1089/dna.2020.6239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Periodontal ligament cells (PDLCs) have well documented osteogenic potential; however, this commitment can be highly heterogenous, limiting their applications in tissue regeneration. In this study, we use PDLC populations characterized by high and low osteogenic potential (h-PDLCs and l-PDLCs, respectively) to identify possible sources of such heterogeneity and to investigate whether the osteogenic differentiation can be enhanced by epigenetic modulation. In h-PDLCs, low basal expression levels of pluripotency markers (NANOG, OCT4), DNA methyltransferases (DNMT1, DNMT3B), and enzymes involved in active DNA demethylation (TET1, TET3) were prerequisite to high osteogenic potential. Furthermore, these genes were downregulated upon early osteogenesis, possibly allowing for the increase in expression of the key osteogenic transcription factors, Runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) and SP7, and ultimately, mineral nodule formation. l-PDLCs appeared locked in the multipotent state and this was further enhanced upon early osteogenic stimulation, correlating with low RUNX2 expression and impaired mineralization. Further upregulation of DNMTs was also evident, while pretreatment with RG108, the DNMTs' inhibitor, enhanced the osteogenic program in l-PDLCs through downregulation of DNMTs, increased RUNX2 expression and nuclear localization, accelerated expression of osteogenic markers, and increased mineralization. These findings point toward the role of DNMTs and Ten Eleven Translocations (TETs) in osteogenic commitment and support application of epigenetic approaches to modulate biomineralization in PDLCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rahyza I F Assis
- Department of Prosthodontics and Periodontics, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, Piracicaba, Brazil
| | - Arthur G Schmidt
- Health Science Institute, School of Dentistry, Paulista University-UNIP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Francesca Racca
- Department of Prosthodontics and Periodontics, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, Piracicaba, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo A da Silva
- Program in Environmental and Experimental Pathology, Paulista University-UNIP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - William F Zambuzzi
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biosciences Institute, São Paulo State University, Botucatu, Brazil
| | - Karina G Silvério
- Department of Prosthodontics and Periodontics, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, Piracicaba, Brazil
| | - Francisco H Nociti
- Department of Prosthodontics and Periodontics, Piracicaba Dental School, University of Campinas, Piracicaba, Brazil
| | - Vanessa G Pecorari
- Health Science Institute, School of Dentistry, Paulista University-UNIP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Malgorzata Wiench
- Institute of Clinical Sciences, Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Denise C Andia
- Health Science Institute, School of Dentistry, Paulista University-UNIP, São Paulo, Brazil
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30
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Profiling chromatin accessibility in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia identifies subtype-specific chromatin landscapes and gene regulatory networks. Leukemia 2021; 35:3078-3091. [PMID: 33714976 DOI: 10.1038/s41375-021-01209-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2020] [Revised: 02/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a hematopoietic malignancy comprised of molecular subtypes largely characterized by aneuploidy or recurring chromosomal rearrangements. Despite extensive information on the ALL transcriptome and methylome, there is limited understanding of the ALL chromatin landscape. We therefore mapped accessible chromatin in 24 primary ALL cell biospecimens comprising three common molecular subtypes (DUX4/ERG, ETV6-RUNX1 and hyperdiploid) from patients treated at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Our findings highlight extensive chromatin reprogramming in ALL, including the identification ALL subtype-specific chromatin landscapes that are additionally modulated by genetic variation. Chromatin accessibility differences between ALL and normal B-cells implicate the activation of B-cell repressed chromatin domains and detail the disruption of normal B-cell development in ALL. Among ALL subtypes, we uncovered roles for basic helix-loop-helix, homeodomain and activator protein 1 transcription factors in promoting subtype-specific chromatin accessibility and distinct gene regulatory networks. In addition to chromatin subtype-specificity, we further identified over 3500 DNA sequence variants that alter the ALL chromatin landscape and contribute to inter-individual variability in chromatin accessibility. Collectively, our data suggest that subtype-specific chromatin landscapes and gene regulatory networks impact ALL biology and contribute to transcriptomic differences among ALL subtypes.
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31
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Su SF, Liu CH, Cheng CL, Ho CC, Yang TY, Chen KC, Hsu KH, Tseng JS, Chen HW, Chang GC, Yu SL, Li KC. Genome-Wide Epigenetic Landscape of Lung Adenocarcinoma Links HOXB9 DNA Methylation to Intrinsic EGFR-TKI Resistance and Heterogeneous Responses. JCO Precis Oncol 2021; 5:PO.20.00151. [PMID: 34036228 PMCID: PMC8140798 DOI: 10.1200/po.20.00151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Revised: 10/15/2020] [Accepted: 01/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) show efficacy in treating patients with lung adenocarcinoma with EGFR-activating mutations. However, a significant subset of targeted patients fail to respond. Unlike acquired resistance (AR), intrinsic resistance (IR) remains poorly understood. We investigated whether epigenomic factors contribute to patient-to-patient heterogeneity in the EGFR-TKI response and aimed to characterize the IR subpopulation that obtains no benefit from EGFR-TKIs. PATIENTS AND METHODS We conducted genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of 79 tumors sampled from patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma before they received EGFR-TKI treatment and analyzed the patient responses. Pyrosequencing was performed in a validation cohort of 163 patients with EGFR-activating mutations. RESULTS A DNA methylation landscape of 216 CpG sites with differential methylation was established to elucidate the association of DNA methylation with the characteristics and EGFR-TKI response status of the patients. Functional analysis of 37 transcription-repressive sites identified the enrichment of transcription factors, notably homeobox (HOX) genes. DNA methylation of HOXB9 (cg13643585) in the enhancer region yielded 88% sensitivity for predicting drug response (odds ratio [OR], 6.64; 95% CI, 1.98 to 25.23; P = .0009). Pyrosequencing validated that HOXB9 gained methylation in patients with a poor EGFR-TKI response (OR, 3.06; 95% CI, 1.13 to 8.19; P = .019). CONCLUSION Our data suggest that homeobox DNA methylation could be a novel tumor cellular state that can aid the precise categorization of tumor heterogeneity in the study of IR to EGFR-TKIs. We identified, for the first time, an epigenomic factor that can potentially complement DNA mutation status in discriminating patients with lung adenocarcinoma who are less likely to benefit from EGFR-TKI treatment, thereby leading to improved patient management in precision medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng-Fang Su
- Institute of Statistical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.,Graduate Institute of Oncology, National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.,YongLin Institute of Health, YongLin Scholar, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Hsin Liu
- Institute of Statistical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.,Bioinformatics Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Biomedical Informatics, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Chiou-Ling Cheng
- NTU Centers for Genomic and Precision Medicine, National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Chao-Chi Ho
- Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Tsung-Ying Yang
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Chest Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.,School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Kun-Chieh Chen
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Chest Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.,Department of Applied Chemistry, National Chi Nan University, Nantou, Taiwan
| | - Kuo-Hsuan Hsu
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.,Internal Medicine, Division of Critical Care and Respiratory Therapy, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Jeng-Sen Tseng
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Chest Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.,School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Biomedical Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Huei-Wen Chen
- Graduate Institute of Toxicology, National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Gee-Chen Chang
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Chest Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.,School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Biomedical Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.,Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.,Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.,School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Sung-Liang Yu
- NTU Centers for Genomic and Precision Medicine, National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Medical Biotechnology, National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Laboratory Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Pathology and Graduate Institute of Pathology, National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Medical Device and Imaging, National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.,Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Ker-Chau Li
- Institute of Statistical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Statistics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
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Characterization of the effects of age and childhood maltreatment on ELOVL2 DNA methylation. Dev Psychopathol 2021; 34:864-874. [PMID: 33461631 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579420001972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
DNA methylation of the elongation of very long chain fatty acids protein 2 (ELOVL2) was suggested as a biomarker of biological aging, while childhood maltreatment (CM) has been associated with accelerated biological aging. We investigated the association of age and CM experiences with ELOVL2 methylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Furthermore, we investigated ELOVL2 methylation in the umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (UBMC) of newborns of mothers with and without CM. PBMC and UBMC were isolated from 113 mother-newborn dyads and genomic DNA was extracted. Mothers with and without CM experiences were recruited directly postpartum. Mass array spectrometry and pyrosequencing were used for methylation analyses of ELOVL2 intron 1, and exon 1 and 5' end, respectively. ELOVL2 5' end and intron 1 methylation increased with higher age but were not associated with CM experiences. On the contrary, overall ELOVL2 exon 1 methylation increased with higher CM, but these changes were minimal and did not increase with age. Maternal CM experiences and neonatal methylation of ELOVL2 intron 1 or exon 1 were not significantly correlated. Our study suggests region-specific effects of chronological age and experienced CM on ELOVL2 methylation and shows that the epigenetic biomarker for age within the ELOVL2 gene does not show accelerated biological aging years after CM exposure.
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Oe M, Ojima K, Muroya S. Difference in potential DNA methylation impact on gene expression between fast- and slow-type myofibers. Physiol Genomics 2021; 53:69-83. [PMID: 33459151 DOI: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00099.2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Skeletal muscles are comprised of two major types of myofibers, fast and slow. It is hypothesized that once myofiber type is determined, muscle fiber-type specificity is maintained by an epigenetic mechanism, however, this remains poorly understood. To address this, we conducted a comprehensive CpG methylation analysis with a reduced representation of bisulfite sequencing (RRBS). Using GFP-myh7 mouse, we visually distinguished and separately pooled slow-type and myh7-negative fast-type fibers for analyses. A total of 31,967 and 26,274 CpGs were hypermethylated by ≥10% difference in the fast- and slow-type fibers, respectively. Notably, the number of promoter-hypermethylated genes with downregulated expression in the slow-type fibers was 3.5 times higher than that in the fast-type fibers. Gene bodies of the fast-type-specific myofibrillar genes Actn3, Tnnt3, Tnni2, Tnnc2, and Tpm1 were hypermethylated in the slow-type fibers, whereas those of the slow-type-specific genes Myh7, Tnnt1, and Tpm3 were hypermethylated in the fast-type fibers. Each of the instances of gene hypermethylation was associated with the respective downregulated expression. In particular, a relationship between CpG methylation sites and the transcription variant distribution of Tpm1 was observed, suggesting a regulation of Tpm1 alternative promoter usage by gene body CpG methylation. An association of hypermethylation with the regulation of gene expression was also observed in the transcription factors Sim2 and Tbx1. These results suggest not only a myofiber type-specific regulation of gene expression and alternative promoter usage by gene body CpG methylation but also a dominant effect of promoter-hypermethylation on the gene expressions in slow myofibers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mika Oe
- Muscle Biology Research Unit, Division of Animal Products Research, NARO Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Koichi Ojima
- Muscle Biology Research Unit, Division of Animal Products Research, NARO Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Susumu Muroya
- Muscle Biology Research Unit, Division of Animal Products Research, NARO Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science, Tsukuba, Japan
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Xu L, Zheng Y, Li X, Wang A, Huo D, Li Q, Wang S, Luo Z, Liu Y, Xu F, Wu X, Wu M, Zhou Y. Abnormal neocortex arealization and Sotos-like syndrome-associated behavior in Setd2 mutant mice. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:7/1/eaba1180. [PMID: 33523829 PMCID: PMC7775761 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba1180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Accepted: 11/11/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Proper formation of area identities of the cerebral cortex is crucial for cognitive functions and social behaviors of the brain. It remains largely unknown whether epigenetic mechanisms, including histone methylation, regulate cortical arealization. Here, we removed SETD2, the methyltransferase for histone 3 lysine-36 trimethylation (H3K36me3), in the developing dorsal forebrain in mice and showed that Setd2 is required for proper cortical arealization and the formation of cortico-thalamo-cortical circuits. Moreover, Setd2 conditional knockout mice exhibit defects in social interaction, motor learning, and spatial memory, reminiscent of patients with the Sotos-like syndrome bearing SETD2 mutations. SETD2 maintains the expression of clustered protocadherin (cPcdh) genes in an H3K36me3 methyltransferase-dependent manner. Aberrant cortical arealization was recapitulated in cPcdh heterozygous mice. Together, our study emphasizes epigenetic mechanisms underlying cortical arealization and pathogenesis of the Sotos-like syndrome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lichao Xu
- College of Life Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University; Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, and Medical Research Institute at School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - Yue Zheng
- College of Life Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University; Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, and Medical Research Institute at School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - Xuejing Li
- College of Life Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University; Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, and Medical Research Institute at School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - Andi Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University; Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, and Medical Research Institute at School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - Dawei Huo
- Department of Cell Biology, 2011 Collaborative Innovation Center of Tianjin for Medical Epigenetics, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, Tianjin Medical University, Qixiangtai Road 22, Tianjin 300070, China
- Department of Neurosurgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital and Laboratory of Neuro-Oncology, Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin 300052, China
| | - Qinglan Li
- College of Life Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University; Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, and Medical Research Institute at School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - Shikang Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University; Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, and Medical Research Institute at School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - Zhiyuan Luo
- College of Life Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University; Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, and Medical Research Institute at School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - Ying Liu
- College of Life Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University; Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, and Medical Research Institute at School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - Fuqiang Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, Wuhan Center for Magnetic Resonance, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - Xudong Wu
- Department of Cell Biology, 2011 Collaborative Innovation Center of Tianjin for Medical Epigenetics, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, Tianjin Medical University, Qixiangtai Road 22, Tianjin 300070, China
- Department of Neurosurgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital and Laboratory of Neuro-Oncology, Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin 300052, China
| | - Min Wu
- College of Life Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University; Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, and Medical Research Institute at School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
| | - Yan Zhou
- College of Life Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University; Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, and Medical Research Institute at School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
- State Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100005, China
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Yang N, Berry A, Sauer C, Baxter M, Donaldson IJ, Forbes K, Donn R, Matthews L, Ray D. Hypoxia regulates GR function through multiple mechanisms involving microRNAs 103 and 107. Mol Cell Endocrinol 2020; 518:111007. [PMID: 32871225 PMCID: PMC7646191 DOI: 10.1016/j.mce.2020.111007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 08/21/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Glucocorticoids (Gcs) potently inhibit inflammation, and regulate liver energy metabolism, often acting in a hypoxic environment. We now show hypoxic conditions open a specific GR cistrome, and prevent access of GR to part of the normoxic GR cistrome. Motif analysis identified enrichment of KLF4 binding sites beneath those peaks of GR binding exclusive to normoxia, implicating KLF4 as a pioneer, or co-factor under these conditions. Hypoxia reduced KLF4 expression, however, knockdown of KLF4 did not impair GR recruitment. KLF4 is a known target of microRNAs 103 and 107, both of which are induced by hypoxia. Expression of mimics to either microRNA103, or microRNA107 inhibited GR transactivation of normoxic target genes, thereby replicating the hypoxic effect. Therefore, studies in hypoxia reveal that microRNAs 103 and 107 are potent regulators of GR function. We have now identified a new pathway linking hypoxia through microRNAs 103 and 107 to regulation of GR function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nan Yang
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine, and Health, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK; NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK; Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX37LE, UK
| | - Andrew Berry
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine, and Health, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Carolin Sauer
- NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK; Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX37LE, UK
| | - Matthew Baxter
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine, and Health, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK; NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK; Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX37LE, UK
| | - Ian J Donaldson
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine, and Health, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Karen Forbes
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine, and Health, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Rachelle Donn
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine, and Health, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Laura Matthews
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine, and Health, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK.
| | - David Ray
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine, and Health, University of Manchester and Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK; NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK; Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX37LE, UK.
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Enhancer DNA methylation: implications for gene regulation. Essays Biochem 2020; 63:707-715. [PMID: 31551326 DOI: 10.1042/ebc20190030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2019] [Revised: 09/08/2019] [Accepted: 09/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
DNA methylation involves the addition of a methyl group to the fifth carbon of the pyrimidine cytosine ring (5-methylcytosine, 5mC). 5mC is widespread in vertebrate genomes where it is predominantly found within CpG dinucleotides. In mammals, 5mC participates in long-term silencing processes such as X-chromosome inactivation, genomic imprinting, somatic silencing of germline genes, and silencing of repetitive DNA elements. The evidence for 5mC as a dynamic gene-regulatory mechanism is mostly limited to specific examples, and is far from being completely understood. Recent work from diverse model systems suggests that 5mC might not always act as a dominant repressive mechanism and that hypermethylated promoters and enhancers can be permissive to transcription in vivo and in vitro. In this review, we discuss the links between 5mC and enhancer activity, and evaluate the role of this biochemical mechanism in various biological contexts.
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Lewis CR, Sowards HA, Huentelman MJ, Doane LD, Lemery-Chalfant K. Epigenetic differences in inflammation genes of monozygotic twins are related to parent-child emotional availability and health. Brain Behav Immun Health 2020; 5:100084. [PMID: 34589859 PMCID: PMC8474531 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbih.2020.100084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 05/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The inflammatory response is an immune defense engaged immediately after injury or infection. Chronic inflammation can be deleterious for various health outcomes and is characterized by high levels of pro-inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). A large body of research demonstrates these inflammatory markers are responsive to stress and quality of social relationships throughout the lifespan. For example, the quality of the early parental bond predicts various health outcomes and may be driven by changes in immune function. Epigenetic processes, such as DNA methylation, may be one mechanism by which early social experiences shape immune functioning. The present study used a monozygotic twin difference design to assess if mother-reported emotional availability at 1 year and 2.5 years predicted immune gene methylation at 8 years of age. Further, we assessed if inflammation gene methylation was related to general health problems (e.g. infections, allergies, etc.). We found that mother-reported emotional availability at 1 year, but not 2.5 years, was related to methylation of various immune genes in monozygotic twins. Furthermore, twin pairs discordant in health problems have more difference in immune gene methylation compared to twin pairs concordant for health problems, suggesting that methylation of immune genes may have functional consequences for general health. These results suggest that the emotional component of attachment quality during infancy contributes to immune epigenetic profiles in childhood, which may influence general health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Candace R Lewis
- Translational Genomics Research Institute, Neurogenomics Division, United States.,Arizona State University, Psychology Department, United States
| | | | - Matthew J Huentelman
- Translational Genomics Research Institute, Neurogenomics Division, United States
| | - Leah D Doane
- Arizona State University, Psychology Department, United States
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Dynamic CpG methylation delineates subregions within super-enhancers selectively decommissioned at the exit from naive pluripotency. Nat Commun 2020; 11:1112. [PMID: 32111830 PMCID: PMC7048827 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14916-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2019] [Accepted: 02/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Clusters of enhancers, referred as to super-enhancers (SEs), control the expression of cell identity genes. The organisation of these clusters, and how they are remodelled upon developmental transitions remain poorly understood. Here, we report the existence of two types of enhancer units within SEs typified by distinctive CpG methylation dynamics in embryonic stem cells (ESCs). We find that these units are either prone for decommissioning or remain constitutively active in epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs), as further established in the peri-implantation epiblast in vivo. Mechanistically, we show a pivotal role for ESRRB in regulating the activity of ESC-specific enhancer units and propose that the developmentally regulated silencing of ESRRB triggers the selective inactivation of these units within SEs. Our study provides insights into the molecular events that follow the loss of ESRRB binding, and offers a mechanism by which the naive pluripotency transcriptional programme can be partially reset upon embryo implantation.
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DNA hypomethylation during MSC chondrogenesis occurs predominantly at enhancer regions. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1169. [PMID: 31980739 PMCID: PMC6981252 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58093-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2019] [Accepted: 12/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Regulation of transcription occurs in a cell type specific manner orchestrated by epigenetic mechanisms including DNA methylation. Methylation changes may also play a key role in lineage specification during stem cell differentiation. To further our understanding of epigenetic regulation in chondrocytes we characterised the DNA methylation changes during chondrogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) by Infinium 450 K methylation array. Significant DNA hypomethylation was identified during chondrogenic differentiation including changes at many key cartilage gene loci. Integration with chondrogenesis gene expression data revealed an enrichment of significant CpGs in upregulated genes, while characterisation of significant CpG loci indicated their predominant localisation to enhancer regions. Comparison with methylation profiles of other tissues, including healthy and diseased adult cartilage, identified chondrocyte-specific regions of hypomethylation and the overlap with differentially methylated CpGs in osteoarthritis. Taken together we have associated DNA methylation levels with the chondrocyte phenotype. The consequences of which has potential to improve cartilage generation for tissue engineering purposes and also to provide context for observed methylation changes in cartilage diseases such as osteoarthritis.
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40
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Lin X, Li L, Liu X, Tian J, Zheng W, Li J, Wang L. Genome-wide analysis of aberrant methylation of enhancer DNA in human osteoarthritis. BMC Med Genomics 2020; 13:1. [PMID: 31900157 PMCID: PMC6942377 DOI: 10.1186/s12920-019-0646-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Accepted: 12/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Osteoarthritis is a chronic musculoskeletal disease characterized by age-related gradual thinning and a high risk in females. Recent studies have shown that DNA methylation plays important roles in osteoarthritis. However, the genome-wide pattern of methylation in enhancers in osteoarthritis remains unclear. Methods To explore the function of enhancers in osteoarthritis, we quantified CpG methylation in human enhancers based on a public dataset that included methylation profiles of 470,870 CpG probes in 108 samples from patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis and hip tissues from healthy individuals. Combining various bioinformatics analysis tools, we systematically analyzed aberrant DNA methylation of the enhancers throughout the genome in knee osteoarthritis and hip osteoarthritis. Results We identified 16,816 differentially methylated CpGs, and nearly half (8111) of them were from enhancers, suggesting major DNA methylation changes in both types of osteoarthritis in the enhancer regions. A detailed analysis of hip osteoarthritis identified 2426 differentially methylated CpGs in enhancers between male and female patients, and 84.5% of them were hypomethylated in female patients and enriched in phenotypes related to hip osteoarthritis in females. Next, we explored the enhancer methylation dynamics among patients with knee osteoarthritis and identified 280 differentially methylated enhancer CpGs that were enriched in the human phenotypes and disease ontologies related to osteoarthritis. Finally, a comparison of enhancer methylation between knee osteoarthritis and hip osteoarthritis revealed organ source-dependent differences in enhancer methylation. Conclusion Our findings indicate that aberrant methylation of enhancers is related to osteoarthritis phenotypes, and a comprehensive atlas of enhancer methylation is useful for further analysis of the epigenetic regulation of osteoarthritis and the development of clinical drugs for treatment of osteoarthritis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaozong Lin
- Department of Orthopedics, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China
| | - Li Li
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150001, China.
| | - Xiaojuan Liu
- Department of Rehabilitation, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150001, China
| | - Jun Tian
- Department of Orthopedics, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China
| | - Weizhuo Zheng
- Department of Orthopedics, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China
| | - Jin Li
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China
| | - Limei Wang
- College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China. .,College of Automation, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, 150001, China.
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Woods-Burnham L, Stiel L, Martinez SR, Sanchez-Hernandez ES, Ruckle HC, Almaguel FG, Stern MC, Roberts LR, Williams DR, Montgomery S, Casiano CA. Psychosocial Stress, Glucocorticoid Signaling, and Prostate Cancer Health Disparities in African American Men. CANCER HEALTH DISPARITIES 2020; 4:https://companyofscientists.com/index.php/chd/article/view/169/188. [PMID: 35252767 PMCID: PMC8896511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Recent advances in our understanding of racial disparities in prostate cancer (PCa) incidence and mortality that disproportionately affect African American (AA) men have provided important insights into the psychosocial, socioeconomic, environmental, and molecular contributors. There is, however, limited mechanistic knowledge of how the interplay between these determinants influences prostate tumor aggressiveness in AA men and other men of African ancestry. Growing evidence indicates that chronic psychosocial stress in AA populations leads to sustained glucocorticoid signaling through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), with negative physiological and pathological consequences. Compelling evidence indicates that treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) with anti-androgen therapy activates GR signaling. This enhanced GR signaling bypasses androgen receptor (AR) signaling and transcriptionally activates both AR-target genes and GR-target genes, resulting in increased prostate tumor resistance to anti-androgen therapy, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Given its enhanced signaling in AA men, GR-together with specific genetic drivers-may promote CRPC progression and exacerbate tumor aggressiveness in this population, potentially contributing to PCa mortality disparities. Ongoing and future CRPC clinical trials that combine standard of care therapies with GR modulators should assess racial differences in therapy response and clinical outcomes in order to improve PCa health disparities that continue to exist for AA men.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leanne Woods-Burnham
- Center for Health Disparities and Molecular Medicine and Department of Basic Sciences, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA, USA
| | - Laura Stiel
- Loma Linda University School of Behavioral Health, Loma Linda, CA, USA
| | - Shannalee R. Martinez
- Center for Health Disparities and Molecular Medicine and Department of Basic Sciences, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA, USA
| | - Evelyn S. Sanchez-Hernandez
- Center for Health Disparities and Molecular Medicine and Department of Basic Sciences, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA, USA
| | - Herbert C. Ruckle
- Department of Surgical Urology, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA, USA
| | - Frankis G. Almaguel
- Center for Health Disparities and Molecular Medicine and Department of Basic Sciences, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA, USA
- Loma Linda University Cancer Center, Loma Linda, CA, USA
| | - Mariana C. Stern
- Departments of Preventive Medicine and Urology, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Lisa R. Roberts
- Loma Linda University School of Nursing, Loma Linda, CA, USA
| | - David R. Williams
- Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard University School of Public Health
| | - Susanne Montgomery
- Center for Health Disparities and Molecular Medicine and Department of Basic Sciences, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA, USA
- Loma Linda University School of Behavioral Health, Loma Linda, CA, USA
| | - Carlos A. Casiano
- Center for Health Disparities and Molecular Medicine and Department of Basic Sciences, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA, USA
- Department of Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA, USA
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Xia JH, Wei GH. Enhancer Dysfunction in 3D Genome and Disease. Cells 2019; 8:cells8101281. [PMID: 31635067 PMCID: PMC6830074 DOI: 10.3390/cells8101281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2019] [Revised: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 10/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Spatiotemporal patterns of gene expression depend on enhancer elements and other factors during individual development and disease progression. The rapid progress of high-throughput techniques has led to well-defined enhancer chromatin properties. Various genome-wide methods have revealed a large number of enhancers and the discovery of three-dimensional (3D) genome architecture showing the distant interacting mechanisms of enhancers that loop to target gene promoters. Whole genome sequencing projects directed at cancer have led to the discovery of substantial enhancer dysfunction in misregulating gene expression and in tumor initiation and progression. Results from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) combined with functional genomics analyses have elucidated the functional impacts of many cancer risk-associated variants that are enriched within the enhancer regions of chromatin. Risk variants dysregulate the expression of enhancer variant-associated genes via 3D genomic interactions. Moreover, these enhancer variants often alter the chromatin binding affinity for cancer-relevant transcription factors, which in turn leads to aberrant expression of the genes associated with cancer susceptibility. In this review, we investigate the extent to which these genetic regulatory circuits affect cancer predisposition and how the recent development of genome-editing methods have enabled the determination of the impacts of genomic variation and alteration on cancer phenotype, which will eventually lead to better management plans and treatment responses to human cancer in the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji-Han Xia
- Biocenter Oulu, Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland.
| | - Gong-Hong Wei
- Biocenter Oulu, Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland.
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Ordoñez R, Martínez-Calle N, Agirre X, Prosper F. DNA Methylation of Enhancer Elements in Myeloid Neoplasms: Think Outside the Promoters? Cancers (Basel) 2019; 11:cancers11101424. [PMID: 31554341 PMCID: PMC6827153 DOI: 10.3390/cancers11101424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2019] [Revised: 09/15/2019] [Accepted: 09/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Gene regulation through DNA methylation is a well described phenomenon that has a prominent role in physiological and pathological cell-states. This epigenetic modification is usually grouped in regions denominated CpG islands, which frequently co-localize with gene promoters, silencing the transcription of those genes. Recent genome-wide DNA methylation studies have challenged this paradigm, demonstrating that DNA methylation of regulatory regions outside promoters is able to influence cell-type specific gene expression programs under physiologic or pathologic conditions. Coupling genome-wide DNA methylation assays with histone mark annotation has allowed for the identification of specific epigenomic changes that affect enhancer regulatory regions, revealing an additional layer of complexity to the epigenetic regulation of gene expression. In this review, we summarize the novel evidence for the molecular and biological regulation of DNA methylation in enhancer regions and the dynamism of these changes contributing to the fine-tuning of gene expression. We also analyze the contribution of enhancer DNA methylation on the expression of relevant genes in acute myeloid leukemia and chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms. The characterization of the aberrant enhancer DNA methylation provides not only a novel pathogenic mechanism for different tumors but also highlights novel potential therapeutic targets for myeloid derived neoplasms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel Ordoñez
- Área de Hemato-Oncología, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Avenida Pío XII-55, 31008 Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Nicolás Martínez-Calle
- Área de Hemato-Oncología, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Avenida Pío XII-55, 31008 Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Xabier Agirre
- Área de Hemato-Oncología, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Avenida Pío XII-55, 31008 Pamplona, Spain.
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), 28029 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Felipe Prosper
- Área de Hemato-Oncología, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Avenida Pío XII-55, 31008 Pamplona, Spain.
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), 28029 Madrid, Spain.
- Departamento de Hematología, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Universidad de Navarra, Avenida Pío XII-36, 31008 Pamplona, Spain.
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Glucocorticoid exposure during hippocampal neurogenesis primes future stress response by inducing changes in DNA methylation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 117:23280-23285. [PMID: 31399550 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1820842116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Prenatal stress exposure is associated with risk for psychiatric disorders later in life. This may be mediated in part via enhanced exposure to glucocorticoids (GCs), which are known to impact neurogenesis. We aimed to identify molecular mediators of these effects, focusing on long-lasting epigenetic changes. In a human hippocampal progenitor cell (HPC) line, we assessed the short- and long-term effects of GC exposure during neurogenesis on messenger RNA (mRNA) expression and DNA methylation (DNAm) profiles. GC exposure induced changes in DNAm at 27,812 CpG dinucleotides and in the expression of 3,857 transcripts (false discovery rate [FDR] ≤ 0.1 and absolute fold change [FC] expression ≥ 1.15). HPC expression and GC-affected DNAm profiles were enriched for changes observed during human fetal brain development. Differentially methylated sites (DMSs) with GC exposure clustered into 4 trajectories over HPC differentiation, with transient as well as long-lasting DNAm changes. Lasting DMSs mapped to distinct functional pathways and were selectively enriched for poised and bivalent enhancer marks. Lasting DMSs had little correlation with lasting expression changes but were associated with a significantly enhanced transcriptional response to a second acute GC challenge. A significant subset of lasting DMSs was also responsive to an acute GC challenge in peripheral blood. These tissue-overlapping DMSs were used to compute a polyepigenetic score that predicted exposure to conditions associated with altered prenatal GCs in newborn's cord blood DNA. Overall, our data suggest that early exposure to GCs can change the set point of future transcriptional responses to stress by inducing lasting DNAm changes. Such altered set points may relate to differential vulnerability to stress exposure later in life.
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Johnson TA, Chereji RV, Stavreva DA, Morris SA, Hager GL, Clark DJ. Conventional and pioneer modes of glucocorticoid receptor interaction with enhancer chromatin in vivo. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 46:203-214. [PMID: 29126175 PMCID: PMC5758879 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx1044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2017] [Accepted: 10/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Glucocorticoid hormone plays a major role in metabolism and disease. The hormone-bound glucocorticoid receptor (GR) binds to a specific set of enhancers in different cell types, resulting in unique patterns of gene expression. We have addressed the role of chromatin structure in GR binding by mapping nucleosome positions in mouse adenocarcinoma cells. Before hormone treatment, GR-enhancers exist in one of three chromatin states: (i) Nucleosome-depleted enhancers that are DNase I-hypersensitive, associated with the Brg1 chromatin remodeler and flanked by nucleosomes incorporating histone H2A.Z. (ii) Nucleosomal enhancers that are DNase I-hypersensitive, marked by H2A.Z and associated with Brg1. (iii) Nucleosomal enhancers that are inaccessible to DNase I, incorporate little or no H2A.Z and lack Brg1. Hormone-induced GR binding results in nucleosome shifts at all types of GR-enhancer, coinciding with increased recruitment of Brg1. We propose that nucleosome-depleted GR-enhancers are formed and maintained by other transcription factors which recruit Brg1 whereas, at nucleosomal enhancers, GR behaves like a pioneer factor, interacting with nucleosomal sites and recruiting Brg1 to remodel the chromatin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas A Johnson
- Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Razvan V Chereji
- Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Diana A Stavreva
- Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Stephanie A Morris
- Office of Cancer Nanotechnology Research, Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Gordon L Hager
- Laboratory of Receptor Biology and Gene Expression, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - David J Clark
- Division of Developmental Biology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
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Wiechmann T, Röh S, Sauer S, Czamara D, Arloth J, Ködel M, Beintner M, Knop L, Menke A, Binder EB, Provençal N. Identification of dynamic glucocorticoid-induced methylation changes at the FKBP5 locus. Clin Epigenetics 2019; 11:83. [PMID: 31122292 PMCID: PMC6533766 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-019-0682-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2018] [Accepted: 05/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Epigenetic mechanisms may play a major role in the biological embedding of early-life stress (ELS). One proposed mechanism is that glucocorticoid (GC) release following ELS exposure induces long-lasting alterations in DNA methylation (DNAm) of important regulatory genes of the stress response. Here, we investigate the dynamics of GC-dependent methylation changes in key regulatory regions of the FKBP5 locus in which ELS-associated DNAm changes have been reported. Results We repeatedly measured DNAm in human peripheral blood samples from 2 independent cohorts exposed to the GC agonist dexamethasone (DEX) using a targeted bisulfite sequencing approach, complemented by data from Illumina 450K arrays. We detected differentially methylated CpGs in enhancers co-localizing with GC receptor binding sites after acute DEX treatment (1 h, 3 h, 6 h), which returned to baseline levels within 23 h. These changes withstood correction for immune cell count differences. While we observed main effects of sex, age, body mass index, smoking, and depression symptoms on FKBP5 methylation levels, only the functional FKBP5 SNP (rs1360780) moderated the dynamic changes following DEX. This genotype effect was observed in both cohorts and included sites previously shown to be associated with ELS. Conclusion Our study highlights that DNAm levels within regulatory regions of the FKBP5 locus show dynamic changes following a GC challenge and suggest that factors influencing the dynamics of this regulation may contribute to the previously reported alterations in DNAm associated with current and past ELS exposure. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13148-019-0682-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias Wiechmann
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804, Munich, Germany
| | - Simone Röh
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804, Munich, Germany
| | - Susann Sauer
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804, Munich, Germany
| | - Darina Czamara
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804, Munich, Germany
| | - Janine Arloth
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804, Munich, Germany.,Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Maik Ködel
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804, Munich, Germany
| | - Madita Beintner
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804, Munich, Germany
| | - Lisanne Knop
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804, Munich, Germany
| | - Andreas Menke
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany.,Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University Hospital of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Elisabeth B Binder
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804, Munich, Germany. .,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University Medical School, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| | - Nadine Provençal
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 2-10, 80804, Munich, Germany. .,Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada. .,BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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47
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Molineros JE, Singh B, Terao C, Okada Y, Kaplan J, McDaniel B, Akizuki S, Sun C, Webb CF, Looger LL, Nath SK. Mechanistic Characterization of RASGRP1 Variants Identifies an hnRNP-K-Regulated Transcriptional Enhancer Contributing to SLE Susceptibility. Front Immunol 2019; 10:1066. [PMID: 31164884 PMCID: PMC6536009 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.01066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2018] [Accepted: 04/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with a strong genetic component. We recently identified a novel SLE susceptibility locus near RASGRP1, which governs the ERK/MAPK kinase cascade and B-/T-cell differentiation and development. However, precise causal RASGRP1 functional variant(s) and their mechanisms of action in SLE pathogenesis remain undefined. Our goal was to fine-map this locus, prioritize genetic variants likely to be functional, experimentally validate their biochemical mechanisms, and determine the contribution of these SNPs to SLE risk. We performed a meta-analysis across six Asian and European cohorts (9,529 cases; 22,462 controls), followed by in silico bioinformatic and epigenetic analyses to prioritize potentially functional SNPs. We experimentally validated the functional significance and mechanism of action of three SNPs in cultured T-cells. Meta-analysis identified 18 genome-wide significant (p < 5 × 10−8) SNPs, mostly concentrated in two haplotype blocks, one intronic and the other intergenic. Epigenetic fine-mapping, allelic, eQTL, and imbalance analyses predicted three transcriptional regulatory regions with four SNPs (rs7170151, rs11631591-rs7173565, and rs9920715) prioritized for functional validation. Luciferase reporter assays indicated significant allele-specific enhancer activity for intronic rs7170151 and rs11631591-rs7173565 in T-lymphoid (Jurkat) cells, but not in HEK293 cells. Following up with EMSA, mass spectrometry, and ChIP-qPCR, we detected allele-dependent interactions between heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNP-K) and rs11631591. Furthermore, inhibition of hnRNP-K in Jurkat and primary T-cells downregulated RASGRP1 and ERK/MAPK signaling. Comprehensive association, bioinformatics, and epigenetic analyses yielded putative functional variants of RASGRP1, which were experimentally validated. Notably, intronic variant (rs11631591) is located in a cell type-specific enhancer sequence, where its risk allele binds to the hnRNP-K protein and modulates RASGRP1 expression in Jurkat and primary T-cells. As risk allele dosage of rs11631591 correlates with increased RASGRP1 expression and ERK activity, we suggest that this SNP may underlie SLE risk at this locus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julio E Molineros
- Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Bhupinder Singh
- Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Chikashi Terao
- Laboratory for Statistical Analysis, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, Yokohama, Japan.,Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Yukinori Okada
- Department of Statistical Genetics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
| | - Jakub Kaplan
- Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Barbara McDaniel
- Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Shuji Akizuki
- Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Celi Sun
- Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Carol F Webb
- Departments of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma, OK, United States
| | - Loren L Looger
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA, United States
| | - Swapan K Nath
- Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
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48
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Souren NY, Gerdes LA, Lutsik P, Gasparoni G, Beltrán E, Salhab A, Kümpfel T, Weichenhan D, Plass C, Hohlfeld R, Walter J. DNA methylation signatures of monozygotic twins clinically discordant for multiple sclerosis. Nat Commun 2019; 10:2094. [PMID: 31064978 PMCID: PMC6504952 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09984-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2018] [Accepted: 04/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system with a modest concordance rate in monozygotic twins, which strongly argues for involvement of epigenetic factors. We observe highly similar peripheral blood mononuclear cell-based methylomes in 45 MS-discordant monozygotic twins. Nevertheless, we identify seven MS-associated differentially methylated positions (DMPs) of which we validate two, including a region in the TMEM232 promoter and ZBTB16 enhancer. In CD4 + T cells we find an MS-associated differentially methylated region in FIRRE. Additionally, 45 regions show large methylation differences in individual pairs, but they do not clearly associate with MS. Furthermore, we present epigenetic biomarkers for current interferon-beta treatment, and extensive validation shows that the ZBTB16 DMP is a signature for prior glucocorticoid treatment. Taken together, this study represents an important reference for epigenomic MS studies, identifies new candidate epigenetic markers, and highlights treatment effects and genetic background as major confounders. Monozygotic (MZ) twins are ideal to study the influence of non-genetic factors on complex phenotypes. Here, Souren et al. perform an EWAS in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 45 MZ twins discordant for multiple sclerosis and identify disease and treatment-associated epigenetic markers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Y Souren
- Department of Genetics/Epigenetics, Saarland University, 66123, Saarbrücken, Germany.
| | - Lisa A Gerdes
- Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology, University Hospital and Biomedical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 81377, Munich, Germany
| | - Pavlo Lutsik
- Division of Cancer Epigenomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Gilles Gasparoni
- Department of Genetics/Epigenetics, Saarland University, 66123, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Eduardo Beltrán
- Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology, University Hospital and Biomedical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 81377, Munich, Germany
| | - Abdulrahman Salhab
- Department of Genetics/Epigenetics, Saarland University, 66123, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Tania Kümpfel
- Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology, University Hospital and Biomedical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 81377, Munich, Germany
| | - Dieter Weichenhan
- Division of Cancer Epigenomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christoph Plass
- Division of Cancer Epigenomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Reinhard Hohlfeld
- Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology, University Hospital and Biomedical Center, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 81377, Munich, Germany.,Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), 80336, Munich, Germany
| | - Jörn Walter
- Department of Genetics/Epigenetics, Saarland University, 66123, Saarbrücken, Germany.
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49
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Jiang L, Wang C, Tang J, Guo F. LightCpG: a multi-view CpG sites detection on single-cell whole genome sequence data. BMC Genomics 2019; 20:306. [PMID: 31014252 PMCID: PMC6480911 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-019-5654-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2018] [Accepted: 03/27/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND DNA methylation plays an important role in multiple biological processes that are closely related to human health. The study of DNA methylation can provide an insight into the mechanism behind human health and can also have a positive effect on the assessment of human health status. However, the available sequencing technology is limited by incomplete CpG coverage. Therefore, it is crucial to discover an efficient and convenient method capable of distinguishing between the states of CpG sites. Previous studies focused on identifying methylation states of the CpG sites in single cell, which only evaluated sequence information or structural information. RESULTS In this paper, we propose a novel model, LightCpG, which combines the positional features with the sequence and structural features to provide information on the CpG sites at two stages. Next, we used the LightGBM model for training of the CpG site identification, and further utilized sample extraction and merged features to reduce the training time. Our results indicate that our method achieves outstanding performance in recognition of DNA methylation. The average AUC values of our method using the 25 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HCC) cell datasets and six human heptoplastoma-derived (HepG2) cell datasets were 0.9616 and 0.9213, respectively. Moreover, the average training times for our method on the HCC and HepG2 datasets were 8.3 and 5.06 s, respectively. Furthermore, the computational complexity of our model was much lower compared with other available methods that detect methylation states of the CpG sites. CONCLUSIONS In summary, LightCpG is an accurate model for identifying the DNA methylation status of CpG sites in single cells. Furthermore, three types of feature extraction methods and two strategies used in LightCpG are helpful for other prediction problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Limin Jiang
- School of Computer Science and Technology, College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Chongqing Wang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Jijun Tang
- School of Computer Science and Technology, College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.,Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Fei Guo
- School of Computer Science and Technology, College of Intelligence and Computing, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
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50
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Agrawal P, Heimbruch KE, Rao S. Genome-Wide Maps of Transcription Regulatory Elements and Transcription Enhancers in Development and Disease. Compr Physiol 2018; 9:439-455. [PMID: 30549021 DOI: 10.1002/cphy.c180028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Gene expression is regulated by numerous elements including enhancers, insulators, transcription factors, and architectural proteins. Regions of DNA distal to the transcriptional start site, called enhancers, play a central role in the temporal and tissue-specific regulation of gene expression through RNA polymerase II. The identification of enhancers and other cis regulatory elements has largely been possible due to advances in next generation sequencing technologies. Enhancers regulate gene expression through chromatin loops mediated by architectural proteins such as YY1, CTCF, the cohesin complex, and LDB1. Additionally, enhancers can be transcribed to produce noncoding RNAs termed enhancer RNAs that likely participate in transcriptional regulation. The central role of enhancers in regulating gene expression implicates them in both normal physiology but also many disease states. The importance of enhancers is evident by the suggested role of SNPs, duplications, and other alterations of enhancer function in many diseases, ranging from cancer to atherosclerosis to chronic kidney disease. Although much progress has been made in recent years, the field of enhancer biology and our knowledge of the cis regulome remains a work in progress. This review will highlight recent seminal studies which demonstrate the role of enhancers in normal physiology and disease pathogenesis. © 2019 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 9:439-455, 2019.
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Affiliation(s)
- Puja Agrawal
- Blood Research Institute, BloodCenter of Wisconsin, a part of Versiti, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.,Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Katelyn E Heimbruch
- Blood Research Institute, BloodCenter of Wisconsin, a part of Versiti, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.,Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Sridhar Rao
- Blood Research Institute, BloodCenter of Wisconsin, a part of Versiti, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.,Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
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