The Anticancer Role of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids was Closely Associated with the Increase in Genomic DNA Hydroxymethylation

Tet Enzymes-Mediated DNA 5hmC Modification in Cerebral Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Injury

5-Hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) has recently been found that plays an important role in many diseases; however, there are still few studies in the field of stroke. The purpose of this review is to introduce the influence and function of 5hmC in stroke, in order for more people can study it. In this review, we introduced the role of 5hmC in ischemia and hemorrhage stroke, and summarized the possible therapeutic prospects of 5hmC in stroke. In conclusion, we suggest that 5hmC may serve as a biomarker or therapeutic target for the treatment of stroke.

The Influences of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on the Development of Skin Cancers

Dietary nutrition intake is essential for human beings and influences various physiological and pathological actions in the human body. Among various nutritional factors, dietary intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) has been shown to have various beneficial effects against inflammatory diseases. In addition to their therapeutic potency against inflammation, omega-3 PUFAs have also been shown to have anti-tumor effects via various mechanisms, such as cell arrest and apoptosis. To date, limited information is available on these effects in cutaneous malignancies. In this review, we focused on the effect of omega-3 PUFAs on skin cancers, especially malignant melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, lymphoma, and squamous cell carcinoma and discussed the detailed molecular mechanism of the omega-3 PUFA-mediated anti-tumor response. We also explored the molecular mechanisms mediated by epigenetic modifications, cell adhesion molecules, and anti-tumor immune responses.

Influence of the Bioactive Diet Components on the Gene Expression Regulation

Diet bioactive components, in the concept of nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics, consist of food constituents, which can transfer information from the external environment and influence gene expression in the cell and thus the function of the whole organism. It is crucial to regard food not only as the source of energy and basic nutriments, crucial for living and organism development, but also as the factor influencing health/disease, biochemical mechanisms, and activation of biochemical pathways. Bioactive components of the diet regulate gene expression through changes in the chromatin structure (including DNA methylation and histone modification), non-coding RNA, activation of transcription factors by signalling cascades, or direct ligand binding to the nuclear receptors. Analysis of interactions between diet components and human genome structure and gene activity is a modern approach that will help to better understand these relations and will allow designing dietary guidances, which can help maintain good health.

Interplay between Epigenetics and Cellular Metabolism in Colorectal Cancer

Cellular metabolism alterations have been recognized as one of the most predominant hallmarks of colorectal cancers (CRCs). It is precisely regulated by many oncogenic signaling pathways in all kinds of regulatory levels, including transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational and post-translational levels. Among these regulatory factors, epigenetics play an essential role in the modulation of cellular metabolism. On the one hand, epigenetics can regulate cellular metabolism via directly controlling the transcription of genes encoding metabolic enzymes of transporters. On the other hand, epigenetics can regulate major transcriptional factors and signaling pathways that control the transcription of genes encoding metabolic enzymes or transporters, or affecting the translation, activation, stabilization, or translocation of metabolic enzymes or transporters. Interestingly, epigenetics can also be controlled by cellular metabolism. Metabolites not only directly influence epigenetic processes, but also affect the activity of epigenetic enzymes. Actually, both cellular metabolism pathways and epigenetic processes are controlled by enzymes. They are highly intertwined and are essential for oncogenesis and tumor development of CRCs. Therefore, they are potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of CRCs. In recent years, both epigenetic and metabolism inhibitors are studied for clinical use to treat CRCs. In this review, we depict the interplay between epigenetics and cellular metabolism in CRCs and summarize the underlying molecular mechanisms and their potential applications for clinical therapy.

Anticancer mechanisms of phytochemical compounds: focusing on epigenetic targets

It has recently been proven that epigenetic dysregulation is importantly involved in cell transformation and therefore induces cancerous diseases. The development of molecules called epidrugs, which target specifically different epigenetic modifications to restore cellular memory and therefore the treatment, became a real challenge currently. Currently, bioactive compounds of medicinal plants as epidrugs have been can identified and explored in cancer therapy. Indeed, these molecules can target specifically different epigenetic modulators including DNMT, HDAC, HAT, and HMT. Moreover, some compounds exhibit stochastic epigenetic actions on different pathways regulating cell memory. In this work, pharmacodynamic actions of natural epidrugs belonging to cannabinoids, carotenoids, chalcones, fatty acids, lignans, polysaccharides, saponins, secoiridoids, steroids, tannins, tanshinones, and other chemical classes we reported and highlighted. In this review, the effects of several natural bioactive compounds of epigenetic medications on cancerous diseases were highlighted. Numerous active molecules belonging to different chemical classes such as cannabinoids, carotenoids, fatty acids, lignans, polysaccharides, saponins, secoiridoids, steroids, tannins, and tanshinones are discussed in this review.

Memorable Food: Fighting Age-Related Neurodegeneration by Precision Nutrition

Healthcare systems worldwide are seriously challenged by a rising prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), which mostly, but not exclusively, affect the ever-growing population of the elderly. The most known neurodegenerative diseases are Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, but some viral infections of the brain and traumatic brain injury may also cause NDD. Typical for NDD are the malfunctioning of neurons and their irreversible loss, which often progress irreversibly to dementia and ultimately to death. Numerous factors are involved in the pathogenesis of NDD: genetic variability, epigenetic changes, extent of oxidative/nitrosative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and DNA damage. The complex interplay of all the above-mentioned factors may be a fingerprint of neurodegeneration, with different diseases being affected to different extents by particular factors. There is a voluminous body of evidence showing the benefits of regular exercise to brain health and cognitive functions. Moreover, the importance of a healthy diet, balanced in macro- and micro-nutrients, in preventing neurodegeneration and slowing down a progression to full-blown disease is evident. Individuals affected by NDD almost inevitably have low-grade inflammation and anomalies in lipid metabolism. Metabolic and lipid profiles in NDD can be improved by the Mediterranean diet. Many studies have associated the Mediterranean diet with a decreased risk of dementia and AD, but a cause-and-effect relationship has not been deduced. Studies with caloric restriction showed neuroprotective effects in animal models, but the results in humans are inconsistent. The pathologies of NDD are complex and there is a great inter-individual (epi)genetic variance within any population. Furthermore, the gut microbiome, being deeply involved in nutrient uptake and lipid metabolism, also represents a pillar of the gut microbiome-brain axis and is linked with the pathogenesis of NDD. Numerous studies on the role of different micronutrients (omega-3 fatty acids, bioactive polyphenols from fruit and medicinal plants) in the prevention, prediction, and treatment of NDD have been conducted, but we are still far away from a personalized diet plan for individual NDD patients. For this to be realized, large-scale cohorts that would include the precise monitoring of food intake, mapping of genetic variants, epigenetic data, microbiome studies, and metabolome, lipidome, and transcriptome data are needed.

Unsaturated fatty acids as a co-therapeutic agents in cancer treatment

Chemotherapy is standard treatments for many malignancies. However, in most cases, this method is not able to induce apoptosis and in many cases, with cancer recurrence, leads to patient death. There are several procedure to control and suppress malignant cells, but among these methods, administration of ɷ-3 fatty acids and ɷ-6 fatty due to their destructive effects on cancer cells is more prominent. Many clinical studies have shown beneficial effects of ɷ-3 and ɷ-6 fatty acids in cardiovascular disorders, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and in most cancers such as colon, breast, prostate and other malignancies. Studies showed that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have a toxic effect on cancer cells. However, the exact mechanism of how ɷ- fatty acids affect cancer cells is still unknown. In this review alternative issues of malignancies co-treatments agents such as PUFAs have been studied. Also, the latest known PUFAs mechanisms on malignancies have been described.

Nutraceutical Status and Scientific Strategies for Enhancing Production of Omega-3 Fatty Acids from Microalgae and their Role in Healthcare

Adherence to Omega-3 fatty acids (O3FAs) as Nutraceuticals for medicinal applications provides health improvement. The prevention and treatment of diseases with O3FAs hold promise in clinical therapy and significantly reduces the risk of chronic disorders. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) O3FAs have beneficial effects in the treatment of cardiovascular disorders, diabetic disease, foetal development, Alzheimer's disease, retinal problem, growth and brain development of infants and antitumor effects. Association to current analysis promotes the application of algal biomass for production of O3FAs, mode of action, fate, weight management, immune functions, pharmaceutical and therapeutic applications serving potent sources in healthcare management. A search of the literature was conducted in the databases of WHO website, Sci.org, PubMed, academics and Google. The authors performed search strategies and current scenario of O3FAs in health associated disorders. Promising outcomes and future strategies towards O3FAs may play a pivotal role in Nutraceutical industries in the cure of human health in the future.

ZNF577 Methylation Levels in Leukocytes From Women With Breast Cancer Is Modulated by Adiposity, Menopausal State, and the Mediterranean Diet

The methylation levels of ZNF577 in breast tumors has been previously identified as a possible epigenetic mark of breast cancer associated with obesity. The aim of the current study was to investigate differences in methylation levels of ZNF577 depending on obesity, menopausal state and dietary pattern in blood leukocytes, a non-invasive sample. The methylation levels of ZNF577 of two CpG sites (CpGs) located in promoter and island previously identified as differentially methylated according to adiposity and menopausal state by 450 k array (cg10635122, cg03562414) were evaluated by pyrosequencing in DNA from the blood leukocytes of breast cancer patients [n = 90; n = 64 (71.1%) overweight/obesity and n = 26 (28.9%) normal-weight] and paired tumor tissue biopsies (n = 8 breast cancer patients with obesity; n = 3/5 premenopausal/postmenopausal women). Differences in methylation levels were evaluated at each CpGs individually and at the mean of the two evaluated CpGs. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was evaluated using the MEDAS-validated questionnaire, and the consumption of food groups of interest was also evaluated using the recommended intakes of the Sociedad Española de Nutricion Comunitaria. The methylation levels of ZNF577 were correlated between paired leukocytes and breast tumor biopsies (r = 0.62; p = 0.001). Moreover, higher methylation was found in leukocytes from patients with obesity (p = 0.002) and postmenopausal patients (p = 0.022) than patients with normal-weight or premenopausal, respectively. After adjusting for the body mass index and age, higher levels of ZNF577 methylation were also found in women with greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet (p = 0.017) or specific foods. Relevantly, the methylation levels of ZNF577 showed a good ability for fish consumption detection [area under the ROC curve (AUC) = 0.72; p = 0.016]. In conclusion, the association between methylation of ZNF577 and adiposity, menopausal state, and adherence to the Mediterranean diet can be detected in the blood leukocytes. The results guarantee the need of performing further studies in longer longitudinal cohorts in order to elucidate the role of ZNF577 methylation in the association between breast cancer, adiposity and dietary patterns.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids and DNA methylation in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) has been designated a major global problem, especially due to its high prevalence in developed countries. CRC mostly occurs sporadically (75%-80%), and only 20%-25% of patients have a family history. Several processes are involved in the development of CRC such as a combination of genetic and epigenetic alterations. Epigenetic changes, including DNA methylation play a vital role in the progression of CRC. Complex interactions between susceptibility genes and environmental factors, such as a diet and sedentary lifestyle, lead to the development of CRC. Clinical and experimental studies have confirmed the beneficial effects of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in preventing CRC. From a mechanistic viewpoint, it has been suggested that PUFAs are pleiotropic agents that alter chromatin remodeling, membrane structure and downstream cell signaling. Moreover, PUFAs can alter the epigenome via modulation of DNA methylation. In this review, we summarize recent investigations linking PUFAs and DNA methylation-associated CRC risk.