Mutation-induced DNMT1 cleavage drives neurodegenerative disease

DNA methyltransferase 1 modulates mitochondrial function through bridging m5C RNA methylation

DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) is an enzyme known for DNA methylation maintenance. Point mutations in its replication focus targeting sequence (RFTS) domain lead to late-onset neurodegeneration, such as autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia-deafness and narcolepsy (ADCA-DN) disorder. Here, we demonstrated that DNMT1 has the capability to bind to mRNA transcripts and facilitate 5-methylcytosine (m5C) RNA methylation by recruiting NOP2/Sun RNA methyltransferase 2 (NSUN2). RNA m5C methylation, in turn, promotes RNA stability for those genes modulating mitochondrial function. When the DNMT1 RFTS domain is mutated in mice, it triggers aberrant DNMT1-RNA interaction and significantly elevated m5C RNA methylation and RNA stability for a portion of metabolic genes. Consequently, increased levels of metabolic RNA transcripts contribute to cumulative oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and neurological symptoms. Collectively, our results reveal a dual role of DNMT1 in regulating both DNA and RNA methylation, which further modulates mitochondrial function, shedding light on the pathogenic mechanism of DNMT1 mutation-induced neurodegeneration.

Light-Triggered CRISPR/Cas12a for Genomic Editing and Tumor Regression

A photo-triggered CRISPR/Cas12a machinery for in vitro and in vivo gene editing is introduced. The system consists of a caged, inactive ortho-nitrobenzyl phosphate ester photo-responsive crRNA, which, upon light-induced deprotection, yields the active CRISPR/Cas12a gene editing machinery (LAC12aGE). The LAC12aGE system induces specific thymidine-rich (TTTN) protospacer-adjacent motif (PAM)-guided double-stranded breaks in genomic DNA, which upon non-homologous end-joining lead to gene repair. The LAC12aGE machinery is applied for gene editing of an exogenous dual fluorescent reporter gene in living cells, as well as the endogenous gene encoding DNA methyltransferase 1. In addition, the LAC12aGE is applied for in vitro gene editing and disruption of the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) gene in HepG2 cells, where knockout of the HGF gene results in inhibited cell proliferation and migration, as well as enhanced apoptosis. Moreover, the in vivo knockout and disruption of the HGF gene in HepG2 tumors by the LAC12aGE machinery is demonstrated. The cyclic temporal development of the LAC12aGE system in tumors shows effective inhibition of tumor growth and enhanced apoptosis/necrosis of tumor tissues compared to control systems.

Mettl3 regulates the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease via fine-tuning Lingo2

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease, and diverse factors contribute to its pathogenesis. Previous studies have suggested the dysregulation of m6A modification involves in AD, but the underlying mechanism and targets remain largely unknown. In the present study, we have shown that the levels of Mettl3 and m6A modification are increased in specific brain regions of 5xFAD mice and post-mortem AD patients, respectively. Heterozygous deletion of neuronal Mettl3 (AD::Mettl3+/-) reduced Aβ plaques and inflammation, and improved learning and memory of AD mice, and vice versa for Mettl3 knock in (AD::Mettl3-KI). Mechanistically, we observed that the level of m6A modification of Lingo2 increased in 5xFAD mice and AD patients, which promoted the binding of Ythdf2 and enhanced the degradation of Lingo2 mRNA. The decreased level of Lingo2 promoted the interaction between APP and β-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme (Bace1), and subsequently enhanced Aβ production in AD mice, which can be inhibited by Mettl3 depletion. Both ectopic Lingo2 and the administration of Mettl3 inhibitor STM2457 significantly alleviated the neuropathology and behavioral deficits of AD mice. In summary, our study has revealed the important function of Mettl3 and m6A in the pathogenesis of AD and provided novel insight for the underlying mechanisms. Our study also suggests that m6A and Lingo2 could be potential therapeutic targets for AD.

Synergistic Neuroprotection Through Epigenetic Modulation by Combined Curcumin-Enriched Turmeric Extract and L-Ascorbic Acid in Oxidative Stress-Induced SH-SY5Y Cell Damage

Epigenetic modulation plays a crucial role in neuroprotection by regulating cellular responses to stress, inflammation, and oxidative damage, particularly in neurodegenerative diseases. Recognizing the therapeutic potential of epigenetic regulators, this study investigated the synergistic neuroprotective effects of curcumin-enriched turmeric extract combined with L-ascorbic acid, focusing on its modulation of epigenetic pathways in oxidative stress-induced neuronal damage. SH-SY5Y neuronal cells were treated with the combination at 20 and 40 µg/mL, and subsequently exposed to 200 µM hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to induce oxidative stress. Cell viability was assessed using the MTT assay, while neuroprotective mechanisms were evaluated by analyzing the markers of epigenetic modulation, oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. The combination significantly enhanced cell viability, upregulated sirtuin-1 (SIRT1), and reduced DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) expression, indicating effective epigenetic modulation. Enhanced antioxidant defenses were observed, as evidenced by increased activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), along with decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, alleviating oxidative stress. Additionally, it suppressed nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activity and its downstream mediator interleukin-6 (IL-6), thereby mitigating inflammation. The treatment also increased anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 expression while reducing pro-apoptotic markers, including caspase-3 and caspase-9, suggesting inhibition of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. These findings highlight the novel neuroprotective effects of this combination, demonstrating its ability to modulate epigenetic pathways while reducing oxidative stress, suppressing inflammation, and preventing undesired apoptosis. Its multifaceted neuroprotective properties make it a promising functional ingredient in functional foods for neurodegenerative disease intervention. However, further investigations, including animal studies and clinical trials, are essential to evaluate its safety and therapeutic potential.

The NEXT complex regulates H3K27me3 levels to affect cancer progression by degrading G4/U-rich lncRNAs

Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) is responsible for depositing H3K27me3 and plays essential roles in gene silencing during development and cancer. Meanwhile, the nuclear exosome targeting (NEXT) complex facilitates the degradation of numerous noncoding RNAs in the nucleoplasm. Here we find that the functional deficiency of the NEXT complex leads to an overall decrease in H3K27me3 levels. Specifically, ZCCHC8 depletion results in significant upregulation of nascent long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) containing G-quadruplex (G4) and U-Rich motifs (G4/U-Rich lncRNAs). The G4 motif binds to EZH2, blocking the chromatin recruitment of PRC2, while the U-Rich motif is specifically recognized by the NEXT complex for RNA exosome-mediated degradation. In tumor tissues with high ZCCHC8 expression in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients, the NEXT complex excessively degrades nascent G4/U-Rich lncRNAs. Consequently, PRC2 core subunits are released and recruited to neighboring genomic loci, resulting in increased H3K27me3 levels and downregulation of adjacent genes, including tumor suppressors like SEMA5A and ARID1A. Notably, the EZH2 inhibitor Tazemetostat (EPZ-6438) exhibits greater sensitivity in cells with higher ZCCHC8 expression. Altogether, our findings demonstrate a novel mechanism that the NEXT complex regulates H3K27me3 levels by degrading nascent G4/U-Rich lncRNAs in cancer cells.

Clinical and genetic characteristics of ALS patients with variants in genes regulating DNA methylation

BACKGROUND

Aberrant DNA methylation alterations are implicated in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Nevertheless, the influence of genetic variants in genes regulating DNA methylation on ALS patients is not well understood. Therefore, we aim to provide a comprehensive variant profile of genes related to DNA methylation (DNMT1, DNMT3A, DNMT3B, DNMT3L) and demethylation (TET1, TET2, TET3, TDG) and to investigate the association of these variants with ALS.

METHODS

Variants were screened in a cohort of 2240 ALS patients from Southwest China, using controls from the Genome Aggregation Database (n = 9976) and the China Metabolic Analytics Project (n = 10,588). The over-representation of rare variants and their association with ALS risk were evaluated using Fisher's exact test with Bonferroni correction at both allele and gene levels. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression analysis were employed to explore the relationship between variants and survival.

RESULTS

A total of 210 variants meeting the criteria were identified. Gene-based burden analysis identified a significant increase in ALS risk associated with rare variants in the TET2 gene (OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.29-2.88, P = 0.001). Survival analysis demonstrated that patients carrying variants in demethylation-related genes had a higher risk of death compared to those with methylation-related gene variants (HR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.03-1.86, P = 0.039).

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides a genetic variant profile of genes involved in DNA methylation and demethylation regulation, along with the clinical characteristics of ALS patients carrying these variants. The findings offer genetic evidence implicating disrupted DNA methylation dynamics in ALS.

DNMT1 Y495C mutation interferes with maintenance methylation of imprinting control regions

Hereditary Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathy Type 1E (HSAN1E) is a rare autosomal dominant neurological disorder due to missense mutations in DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1). To investigate the nature of the dominant effect, we compared methylomes of transgenic R1wtDnmt1 and R1Dnmt1Y495C mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) overexpressing WT and the mutant mouse proteins respectively, with the R1 (wild-type) cells. In case of R1Dnmt1Y495C, 15 out of the 20 imprinting control regions were hypomethylated with transcript level dysregulation of multiple imprinted genes in ESCs and neurons. Non-imprinted regions, minor satellites, major satellites, LINE1 and IAP repeats were unaffected. These data mirror the specific imprinting defects associated with transient removal of DNMT1 in mESCs, deletion of the maternal-effect DNMT1o variant in preimplantation mouse embryos, and in part, reprogramming to naïve human iPSCs. This is the first DNMT1 mutation demonstrated to specifically affect Imprinting Control Regions (ICRs), and reinforces the differences in maintenance methylation of ICRs over non-imprinted regions. Consistent with nervous system abnormalities in the HSAN1E disorder and involvement of imprinted genes in normal development and neurogenesis, R1Dnmt1Y495C cells showed dysregulated pluripotency and neuron marker genes, and yielded more slender, shorter, and extensively branched neurons. We speculate that R1Dnmt1Y495C cells produce predominantly dimers containing mutant proteins, leading to a gradual and specific loss of ICR methylation during early human development.

Insights into DNMT1 and programmed cell death in diseases

DNMT1 (DNA methyltransferase 1) is the predominant member of the DNMT family and the most abundant DNMT in various cell types. It functions as a maintenance DNMT and is involved in various diseases, including cancer and nervous system diseases. Programmed cell death (PCD) is a fundamental mechanism that regulates cell proliferation and maintains the development and homeostasis of multicellular organisms. DNMT1 plays a regulatory role in various types of PCD, including apoptosis, autophagy, necroptosis, ferroptosis, and others. DNMT1 is closely associated with the development of various diseases by regulating key genes and pathways involved in PCD, including caspase 3/7 activities in apoptosis, Beclin 1, LC3, and some autophagy-related proteins in autophagy, glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and nuclear receptor coactivator 4 (NCOA4) in ferroptosis, and receptor-interacting protein kinase 1-receptor-interacting protein kinase 3-mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (RIPK1-RIPK3-MLKL) in necroptosis. Our study summarizes the regulatory relationship between DNMT1 and different types of PCD in various diseases and discusses the potential of DNMT1 as a common regulatory hub in multiple types of PCD, offering a perspective for therapeutic approaches in disease.

Screening and identification of key biomarkers associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and depression using bioinformatics

This study aims to identify common molecular biomarkers between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and depression using bioinformatics methods, in order to provide potential targets and new ideas and methods for the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. Microarray datasets GSE139384, GSE35978 and GSE87610 were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between ALS and depression were identified. After screening for overlapping DEGs, gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed. Furthermore, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed using the STRING database and Cytoscape software, and hub genes were identified. Finally, a network between miRNAs and hub genes was constructed using the NetworkAnalyst tool, and possible key miRNAs were predicted. A total of 357 genes have been identified as common DEGs between ALS and depression. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses of the 357 DEGs showed that they were mainly involved in cytoplasmic translation. Further analysis of the PPI network using Cytoscape and MCODE plugins identified 6 hub genes, including mitochondrial ribosomal protein S12 (MRPS12), poly(rC) binding protein 1 (PARP1), SNRNP200, PCBP1, small G protein signaling modulator 1 (SGSM1), and DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1). Five possible target miRNAs, including miR-221-5p, miR-21-5p, miR-100-5p, miR-30b-5p, and miR-615-3p, were predicted by constructing a miRNA-gene network. This study used bioinformatics techniques to explore the potential association between ALS and depression, and identified potential biomarkers. These biomarkers may provide new ideas and methods for the early diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of ALS and depression.

Mutations in human DNA methyltransferase DNMT1 induce specific genome-wide epigenomic and transcriptomic changes in neurodevelopment

DNA methyltransferase type 1 (DNMT1) is a major enzyme involved in maintaining the methylation pattern after DNA replication. Mutations in DNMT1 have been associated with autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia, deafness and narcolepsy (ADCA-DN). We used fibroblasts, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and induced neurons (iNs) generated from patients with ADCA-DN and controls, to explore the epigenomic and transcriptomic effects of mutations in DNMT1. We show cell type-specific changes in gene expression and DNA methylation patterns. DNA methylation and gene expression changes were negatively correlated in iPSCs and iNs. In addition, we identified a group of genes associated with clinical phenotypes of ADCA-DN, including PDGFB and PRDM8 for cerebellar ataxia, psychosis and dementia and NR2F1 for deafness and optic atrophy. Furthermore, ZFP57, which is required to maintain gene imprinting through DNA methylation during early development, was hypomethylated in promoters and exhibited upregulated expression in patients with ADCA-DN in both iPSC and iNs. Our results provide insight into the functions of DNMT1 and the molecular changes associated with ADCA-DN, with potential implications for genes associated with related phenotypes.

Roles of Aging, Circular RNAs, and RNA Editing in the Pathogenesis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Potential Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an incurable motor neuron disease caused by upper and lower motor neuron death. Despite advances in our understanding of ALS pathogenesis, effective treatment for this fatal disease remains elusive. As aging is a major risk factor for ALS, age-related molecular changes may provide clues for the development of new therapeutic strategies. Dysregulation of age-dependent RNA metabolism plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of ALS. In addition, failure of RNA editing at the glutamine/arginine (Q/R) site of GluA2 mRNA causes excitotoxicity due to excessive Ca²⁺ influx through Ca²⁺-permeable α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid receptors, which is recognized as an underlying mechanism of motor neuron death in ALS. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a circular form of cognate RNA generated by back-splicing, are abundant in the brain and accumulate with age. Hence, they are assumed to play a role in neurodegeneration. Emerging evidence has demonstrated that age-related dysregulation of RNA editing and changes in circRNA expression are involved in ALS pathogenesis. Herein, we review the potential associations between age-dependent changes in circRNAs and RNA editing, and discuss the possibility of developing new therapies and biomarkers for ALS based on age-related changes in circRNAs and dysregulation of RNA editing.

DNMT1: catalytic and non-catalytic roles in different biological processes

DNMT1 is the main enzyme that uses the information on DNA methylation patterns in the parent strand and methylates the daughter strand in freshly replicated hemimethylated DNA. It is widely known that DNMT1 is a component of the epigenetic machinery mediating gene repression via increased promoter methylation. However, recent data suggest that DNMT1 can also modulate gene expression independent of its catalytic activity and participates in multiple processes including the cell cycle, DNA damage repair and stem cell function. This review summarizes the noncanonical functions of DNMT1, some of which are clearly independent of maintenance methylation. Finally, phenotypic data on altered DNMT1 levels suggesting that maintenance of optimal levels of DNMT1 is vital for normal development and health is presented.