DSP c.6310delA p.(Thr2104Glnfs*12) associates with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, increased trabeculation, curly hair, and palmoplantar keratoderma

Decoding common genetic alterations between Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma: A bioinformatics analysis

Background

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is a common cancer with a poor prognosis in advanced stages. Therefore, early EAC diagnosis and treatment have gained attention in recent decades. It has been found that various pathological changes, particularly Barrett's Esophagus (BE), can occur in the esophageal tissue before the development of EAC. In this study, we aimed to identify the molecular contributor in BE to EAC progression by detecting the essential regulatory genes that are differentially expressed in both BE and EAC.

Materials and methods

We conducted a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis to detect BE and EAC-associated genes. The common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected using the GEO and DisGeNET databases, respectively. Then, hub genes and the top modules within the protein-protein interaction network were identified. Moreover, the co-expression network of the top module by the HIPPIE database was constructed. Additionally, the gene regulatory network was constructed based on miRNAs and circRNAs. Lastly, we inspected the DGIdb database for possible interacted drugs.

Results

Our microarray dataset analysis identified 92 common DEGs between BE and EAC with significant enrichment in skin and epidermis development genes. The study also identified 22 common SNPs between BE and EAC. The top module of PPI network analysis included SCEL, KRT6A, SPRR1A, SPRR1B, SPRR3, PPL, SPRR2B, EVPL, and CSTA. We constructed a ceRNA network involving three specific mRNAs, 23 miRNAs, and 101 selected circRNAs. According to the results from the DGIdb database, TD101 was found to interact with the KRT6A gene.

Conclusion

The present study provides novel potential candidate genes that may be involved in the molecular association between Esophageal adenocarcinoma and Barrett's Esophagus, resulting in developing the diagnostic tools and therapeutic targets to prevent progression of BE to EAC.

Cardiac Inflammation in Adult-Onset Genetic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) has a genetic cause in up to 40% of cases, with differences in disease penetrance and clinical presentation, due to different exogeneous triggers and implicated genes. Cardiac inflammation can be the consequence of an exogeneous trigger, subsequently unveiling a phenotype. The study aimed to determine cardiac inflammation in a cohort of genetic DCM patients and investigate whether it associated with a younger disease onset. The study included 113 DCM patients with a genetic etiology, of which 17 had cardiac inflammation as diagnosed in an endomyocardial biopsy. They had a significant increased cardiac infiltration of white blood, cytotoxic T, and T-helper cells (p < 0.05). Disease expression was at a younger age in those patients with cardiac inflammation, compared to those without inflammation (p = 0.015; 50 years (interquartile range (IQR) 42-53) versus 53 years (IQR 46-61). However, cardiac inflammation was not associated with a higher incidence of all-cause mortality, heart failure hospitalization, or life-threatening arrhythmias (hazard ratio 0.85 [0.35-2.07], p = 0.74). Cardiac inflammation is associated with an earlier disease onset in patients with genetic DCM. This might indicate that myocarditis is an exogeneous trigger unveiling a phenotype at a younger age in patients with a genetic susceptibility, or that cardiac inflammation resembles a 'hot-phase' of early-onset disease.