Evaluation Of HHIP Polymorphisms And Their Relationship With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Phenotypes

Impact of HHIP gene polymorphisms on phenotypes, serum IL-17 and IL-18 in COPD patients of the Chinese Han population

BACKGROUND

Genetic factors, including the Hedgehog Interacting Protein (HHIP) gene, play a crucial role in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) susceptibility. This study examines the association between HHIP gene polymorphisms and COPD susceptibility, phenotypes, and serum IL-17 and IL-18 levels in a Han Chinese population.

METHODS

A case-control study was conducted with 300 COPD patients and 300 healthy controls in Chinese Han population. Participants underwent genotyping for HHIP gene polymorphisms, pulmonary function tests, and quantitative CT scans. DNA samples were sequenced using a custom chip targeting the HHIP gene. Serum IL-17 and IL-18 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Associations between SNPs, COPD susceptibility, and phenotypes were analyzed using logistic and multiple linear regression models, adjusting for confounders.

RESULTS

Our study identified the rs11100865 polymorphism in the HHIP gene as significantly associated with COPD susceptibility (OR 2.479, 95% CI 1.527-4.024, P = 2.39E-04) after screening 114 SNPs through rigorous quality control. Stratified analyses further indicated this association was particularly in individuals aged 60 or older. Serum levels of IL-17 and IL-18 were significantly elevated in COPD patients compared to controls, with rs11100865 showing a notable association with IL-18 levels (B = 49.654, SE = 19.627, P = 0.012). However, no significant associations were observed between rs11100865 and serum IL-17 levels, COPD-related imaging parameters, or clinical phenotypes.

CONCLUSION

This study identified a significant association between HHIP gene polymorphisms and COPD susceptibility in a Han Chinese population, with connections to inflammation, but found no significant associations between this SNP and COPD-related imaging or clinical phenotypes.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

www.chictr.org.cn ID: ChiCTR2300071579 2023-05-18.

Evaluation of HNF1B, KLK3, ELAC2, TMPRSS2-ERG, and CTNNB1 polymorphisms associated with prostate cancer in samples of patients from HUPE-UERJ

PURPOSE

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the leading cause of death among men in 48 countries. Genetic alterations play a significant role in PCa carcinogenesis. For the hypothesis of this research, five unique polymorphisms (SNP) were investigated in different genes that showed to be associated in different ways with PCa: rs4430796, rs2735839, rs4792311, rs12329760, and rs28931588, respectively for the genes HNF1B, KLK3, ELAC2, TMPRSS2-ERG, and CTNNB1.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Blood samples from 426 subjects were evaluated: 290 controls (161 females and 129 males) and 136 PCa patients. SNP were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. TaqMan SNP genotyping assay. In the control samples, the SNPs were defined in association with the self-reported ethnicity, and in 218 control samples with markers with ancestry indicators. The genes were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. One hundred and seventy control samples were matched by ethnicity for comparison with the PCa samples.

RESULTS

The G allele at rs28931588 was monomorphic in both patients and controls studied. Significant differences were observed in allelic and genotypic frequencies between the control and Pca samples in rs2735839 (KLK3; p = 0.002 and χ2  = 8.73 and p = 0.01, respectively), by the global frequency and in the dominant model rs2735839_GG (odds ratio [OR] = 0.51, p = 0.02). AA and GA genotypes at rs4792311 (ELAC2) were more frequent in patients with Gleason 7(4 + 3), 8, and 9 (n = 37%-59.7%) compared to patients with Gleason 6 and 7(3 + 4) (n = 26%-40.0%) conferring a protective effect on the GG genotype (OR = 0.45, p = 0.02). The same genotype showed an OR = 2.71 (p = 0.01) for patients with low severity. The HNF1B-KLK3-ELAC2-TMPRSS2-ERG haplotypes: GAAT, AAAT, GAGT, and AAGT were more frequent in patients with Pca with OR ranging from 4.65 to 2.48.

CONCLUSIONS

Higher frequencies of risk alleles were confirmed in the SNPs, KLK3 rs2735839_A, ELAC2 rs4792311_A, and TMPRSS2 rs12329760_T in patients with Pca. Rs2735839_A was associated with risk of Pca and rs4792311_A with severity and Gleason score of 7(4 + 3) or greater. There is a need for careful observation of rs2735839 and rs4792311 in association with the prostatic biopsy due to the increased risk of Pca.

COPD Patients Exhibit Distinct Gene Expression, Accelerated Cellular Aging, and Bias to M2 Macrophages

COPD, one of world's leading contributors to morbidity and mortality, is characterized by airflow limitation and heterogeneous clinical features. Three main phenotypes are proposed: overlapping asthma/COPD (ACO), exacerbator, and emphysema. Disease severity can be classified as mild, moderate, severe, and very severe. The molecular basis of inflammatory amplification, cellular aging, and immune response are critical to COPD pathogenesis. Our aim was to investigate EP300 (histone acetylase, HAT), HDAC 2 (histone deacetylase), HDAC3, and HDAC4 gene expression, telomere length, and differentiation ability to M1/M2 macrophages. For this investigation, 105 COPD patients, 42 smokers, and 73 non-smoker controls were evaluated. We identified a reduced HDAC2 expression in patients with mild, moderate, and severe severity; a reduced HDAC3 expression in patients with moderate and severe severity; an increased HDAC4 expression in patients with mild severity; and a reduced EP300 expression in patients with severe severity. Additionally, HDAC2 expression was reduced in patients with emphysema and exacerbator, along with a reduced HDAC3 expression in patients with emphysema. Surprisingly, smokers and all COPD patients showed telomere shortening. COPD patients showed a higher tendency toward M2 markers. Our data implicate genetic changes in COPD phenotypes and severity, in addition to M2 prevalence, that might influence future treatments and personalized therapies.

HHIP Overexpression Suppresses Human Gastric Cancer Progression and Metastasis by Reducing Its CpG Island Methylation

Human hedgehog-interacting protein (HHIP), a negative regulator of hedgehog (HH) signaling pathway, has been reported to be dysregulated in many types of cancer, including gastric cancer. However, the inhibitory role of HHIP as well as the underlying molecular mechanism of HHIP regulation in gastric cancer haven't been fully elucidated yet. In this study, we demonstrated that HHIP overexpression significantly suppressed the proliferation and invasion of AGS cells evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and transwell assays, respectively. Interestingly, methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MS-PCR, MSP) showed that HHIP overexpression dramatically decreased its de novo promoter methylation levels in AGS cells. Furthermore, HHIP expression was higher in adjacent non-cancerous tissue compared to matched gastric cancer tissue. High HHIP level was negatively correlated with metastasis (p = 0.035) but not local recurrence (p = 0.58). Taken together, our study suggested that HHIP can modulate gastric cancer progression and metastasis via regulation of its de novo promoter methylation levels in a feedback manner. Lower HHIP levels is positively associated with gastric cancer metastasis, which not only indicates HHIP could be served as a protective marker for gastric cancer, but also suggests restoring HHIP expression might be a potential therapeutic strategy for clinical treatment.

The SNP rs13147758 in the HHIP Gene Is Associated With COPD Susceptibility, Serum, and Sputum Protein Levels in Smokers

BACKGROUND

Genetic association studies have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) susceptibility. The aim of this study was to identify HHIP genetic variants associated with COPD, pulmonary function, and serum and sputum HHIP protein levels in Mexican mestizo smokers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Association analysis was performed by carrying out a case-control study in Mexican mestizo smokers comprised of two groups: tobacco-smoking subjects with COPD (COPD-TS, n = 222) and smokers without COPD (SWOC, n = 333). We evaluated three SNPs (rs13147758, rs1828591, and rs13118928) in the HHIP gene. Allele discrimination was accomplished by qPCR using TaqMan probes, and determination of protein levels in the serum and sputum supernatants (SS) was performed using ELISA.

RESULTS

Statistically significant differences were observed in the rs13147758 GG genotype (adjusted p = 0.014, OR = 1.95) and the rs13147758-rs1828591 GA haplotype (p = 6.6E-06, OR = 2.65) in the case-control comparison. HHIP protein levels were elevated in SS samples from the COPD-TS group compared to those from the SWOC group (p = 0.03). Based on genotype analysis, HHIP protein levels were lower in the serum samples of rs13147758 GG genotype carriers in the COPD-TS group than in the serum samples of rs13147758 GG genotype carriers from the SWOC group (p < 0.05), but there were no differences in the sputum samples.

CONCLUSION

The rs13147758 GG genotype and the rs13147758-rs1828591 GA haplotype are associated with susceptibility to COPD. Furthermore, an association in protein levels was observed between the HHIP rs13147758 genotype and COPD in Mexican mestizo smokers.

Sonic hedgehog signalling as a potential endobronchial biomarker in COPD

BACKGROUND

The hedgehog (HH) pathway has been associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in genome-wide association studies and recent studies suggest that HH signalling could be altered in COPD. We therefore used minimally invasive endobronchial procedures to assess activation of the HH pathway including the main transcription factor, Gli2, and the ligand, Sonic HH (Shh).

METHODS

Thirty non-COPD patients and 28 COPD patients were included. Bronchial brushings, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and bronchial biopsies were obtained from fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Characterization of cell populations and subcellular localization were evaluated by immunostaining. ELISA and RNAseq analysis were performed to identify Shh proteins in BAL and transcripts on lung tissues from non-COPD and COPD patients with validation in an external and independent cohort.

RESULTS

Compared to non-COPD patients, COPD patients exhibited a larger proportion of basal cells in bronchial brushings (26 ± 11% vs 13 ± 6%; p < 0.0001). Airway basal cells of COPD subjects presented less intense nuclear staining for Gli2 in bronchial brushings and biopsies (p < 0.05). Bronchial BALF from COPD patients contained lower Shh concentrations than non-COPD BALF (12.5 vs 40.9 pg/mL; p = 0.002); SHH transcripts were also reduced in COPD lungs in the validation cohort (p = 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates the feasibility of assessing HH pathway activation in respiratory samples collected by bronchoscopy and identifies impaired bronchial epithelial HH signalling in COPD.