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Li Q, Liu X, Wen J, Chen X, Xie B, Zhao Y. Enhancer RNAs: mechanisms in transcriptional regulation and functions in diseases. Cell Commun Signal 2023; 21:191. [PMID: 37537618 PMCID: PMC10398997 DOI: 10.1186/s12964-023-01206-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 08/05/2023] Open
Abstract
In recent years, increasingly more non-coding RNAs have been detected with the development of high-throughput sequencing technology, including microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs), and piwi-interacting RNA (piRNAs). The discovery of enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) in 2010 has further broadened the range of non-coding RNAs revealed. eRNAs are non-coding RNA molecules produced by the transcription of DNA cis-acting elements, enhancer fragments. Recent studies revealed that the transcription of eRNAs may be a biological marker responding to enhancer activity that can participate in the regulation of coding gene transcription. In this review, we discussed the biological characteristics of eRNAs, their functions in transcriptional regulation, the regulation factors of eRNAs production, and the research progress of eRNAs in different diseases. Video Abstract.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qianhui Li
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Gynecologic Oncology Research Office, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Targeted Therapy for Gynecologic Oncology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Major Obstetric Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, No.63 Duobao Road, Liwan District, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou City, 510150, People's Republic of China
| | - Xin Liu
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Gynecologic Oncology Research Office, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Targeted Therapy for Gynecologic Oncology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Major Obstetric Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, No.63 Duobao Road, Liwan District, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou City, 510150, People's Republic of China
| | - Jingtao Wen
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Gynecologic Oncology Research Office, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Targeted Therapy for Gynecologic Oncology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Major Obstetric Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, No.63 Duobao Road, Liwan District, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou City, 510150, People's Republic of China
| | - Xi Chen
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Gynecologic Oncology Research Office, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Targeted Therapy for Gynecologic Oncology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Major Obstetric Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, No.63 Duobao Road, Liwan District, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou City, 510150, People's Republic of China
| | - Bumin Xie
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Gynecologic Oncology Research Office, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Targeted Therapy for Gynecologic Oncology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Major Obstetric Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, No.63 Duobao Road, Liwan District, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou City, 510150, People's Republic of China
| | - Yang Zhao
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Gynecologic Oncology Research Office, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Targeted Therapy for Gynecologic Oncology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Major Obstetric Diseases, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, No.63 Duobao Road, Liwan District, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou City, 510150, People's Republic of China.
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Khorkova O, Stahl J, Joji A, Volmar CH, Wahlestedt C. Amplifying gene expression with RNA-targeted therapeutics. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2023; 22:539-561. [PMID: 37253858 PMCID: PMC10227815 DOI: 10.1038/s41573-023-00704-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Many diseases are caused by insufficient expression of mutated genes and would benefit from increased expression of the corresponding protein. However, in drug development, it has been historically easier to develop drugs with inhibitory or antagonistic effects. Protein replacement and gene therapy can achieve the goal of increased protein expression but have limitations. Recent discoveries of the extensive regulatory networks formed by non-coding RNAs offer alternative targets and strategies to amplify the production of a specific protein. In addition to RNA-targeting small molecules, new nucleic acid-based therapeutic modalities that allow highly specific modulation of RNA-based regulatory networks are being developed. Such approaches can directly target the stability of mRNAs or modulate non-coding RNA-mediated regulation of transcription and translation. This Review highlights emerging RNA-targeted therapeutics for gene activation, focusing on opportunities and challenges for translation to the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga Khorkova
- OPKO Health, Miami, FL, USA
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Jack Stahl
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Aswathy Joji
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Claude-Henry Volmar
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Claes Wahlestedt
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
- Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
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3
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Höllbacher B, Strickland B, Greulich F, Uhlenhaut NH, Heinig M. Machine learning reveals STAT motifs as predictors for GR-mediated gene repression. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2023; 21:1697-1710. [PMID: 36879886 PMCID: PMC9984779 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2023.02.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Glucocorticoids are potent immunosuppressive drugs, but long-term treatment leads to severe side-effects. While there is a commonly accepted model for GR-mediated gene activation, the mechanism behind repression remains elusive. Understanding the molecular action of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) mediated gene repression is the first step towards developing novel therapies. We devised an approach that combines multiple epigenetic assays with 3D chromatin data to find sequence patterns predicting gene expression change. We systematically tested> 100 models to evaluate the best way to integrate the data types and found that GR-bound regions hold most of the information needed to predict the polarity of Dex-induced transcriptional changes. We confirmed NF-κB motif family members as predictors for gene repression and identified STAT motifs as additional negative predictors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Höllbacher
- Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH), Munich 85764, Neuherberg, Germany.,Department of Computer Science, TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology, Technical University Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Benjamin Strickland
- Metabolic Programming, TUM School of Life Sciences, Weihenstephan & ZIEL-Institute for Food & Health, Freising, Germany
| | - Franziska Greulich
- Metabolic Programming, TUM School of Life Sciences, Weihenstephan & ZIEL-Institute for Food & Health, Freising, Germany.,Institute for Diabetes and Endocrinology (IDE), Helmholtz Zentrum München Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH) and German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - N Henriette Uhlenhaut
- Metabolic Programming, TUM School of Life Sciences, Weihenstephan & ZIEL-Institute for Food & Health, Freising, Germany.,Institute for Diabetes and Endocrinology (IDE), Helmholtz Zentrum München Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH) and German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Matthias Heinig
- Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH), Munich 85764, Neuherberg, Germany.,Department of Computer Science, TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology, Technical University Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany
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J. M. Schaaf M, Meijer OC. Immune Modulations by Glucocorticoids: From Molecular Biology to Clinical Research. Cells 2022; 11:cells11244032. [PMID: 36552795 PMCID: PMC9777355 DOI: 10.3390/cells11244032] [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: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Due to their potent anti-inflammatory and immune-suppressive actions, glucocorticoids have been used in the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune disease for more than 70 years [...].
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcel J. M. Schaaf
- Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands
- Correspondence:
| | - Onno C. Meijer
- Department of Endocrinology, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands
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Ansari SA, Dantoft W, Ruiz-Orera J, Syed AP, Blachut S, van Heesch S, Hübner N, Uhlenhaut NH. Integrative analysis of macrophage ribo-Seq and RNA-Seq data define glucocorticoid receptor regulated inflammatory response genes into distinct regulatory classes. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:5622-5638. [PMID: 36284713 PMCID: PMC9582734 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.09.042] [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: 07/15/2022] [Revised: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Glucocorticoids such as dexamethasone (Dex) are widely used to treat both acute and chronic inflammatory conditions. They regulate immune responses by dampening cell-mediated immunity in a glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-dependent manner, by suppressing the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines and by stimulating the expression of anti-inflammatory mediators. Despite its evident clinical benefit, the mechanistic underpinnings of the gene regulatory networks transcriptionally controlled by GR in a context-specific manner remain mysterious. Next generation sequencing methods such mRNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and Ribosome profiling (ribo-seq) provide tools to investigate the transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms that govern gene expression. Here, we integrate matched RNA-seq data with ribo-seq data from human acute monocytic leukemia (THP-1) cells treated with the TLR4 ligand lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and with Dex, to investigate the global transcriptional and translational regulation (translational efficiency, ΔTE) of Dex-responsive genes. We find that the expression of most of the Dex-responsive genes are regulated at both the transcriptional and the post-transcriptional level, with the transcriptional changes intensified on the translational level. Overrepresentation pathway analysis combined with STRING protein network analysis and manual functional exploration, identified these genes to encode immune effectors and immunomodulators that contribute to macrophage-mediated immunity and to the maintenance of macrophage-mediated immune homeostasis. Further research into the translational regulatory network underlying the GR anti-inflammatory response could pave the way for the development of novel immunomodulatory therapeutic regimens with fewer undesirable side effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suhail A. Ansari
- Institute for Diabetes and Endocrinology (IDE), Helmholtz Center Munich (HMGU) and German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Widad Dantoft
- Institute for Diabetes and Endocrinology (IDE), Helmholtz Center Munich (HMGU) and German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Jorge Ruiz-Orera
- Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Afzal P. Syed
- Institute for Diabetes and Endocrinology (IDE), Helmholtz Center Munich (HMGU) and German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Susanne Blachut
- Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Sebastiaan van Heesch
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Heidelberglaan 25, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Norbert Hübner
- Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany,Charite-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Nina Henriette Uhlenhaut
- Institute for Diabetes and Endocrinology (IDE), Helmholtz Center Munich (HMGU) and German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Neuherberg, Germany,Metabolic Programming, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, ZIEL – Institute for Food and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Freising, Germany,Corresponding author.
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Khorkova O, Stahl J, Joji A, Volmar CH, Zeier Z, Wahlestedt C. Natural antisense transcripts as drug targets. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:978375. [PMID: 36250017 PMCID: PMC9563854 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.978375] [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: 06/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The recent discovery of vast non-coding RNA-based regulatory networks that can be easily modulated by nucleic acid-based drugs has opened numerous new therapeutic possibilities. Long non-coding RNA, and natural antisense transcripts (NATs) in particular, play a significant role in networks that involve a wide variety of disease-relevant biological mechanisms such as transcription, splicing, translation, mRNA degradation and others. Currently, significant efforts are dedicated to harnessing these newly emerging NAT-mediated biological mechanisms for therapeutic purposes. This review will highlight the recent clinical and pre-clinical developments in this field and survey the advances in nucleic acid-based drug technologies that make these developments possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga Khorkova
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Jack Stahl
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Aswathy Joji
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Claude-Henry Volmar
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Zane Zeier
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Claes Wahlestedt
- Center for Therapeutic Innovation and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
- *Correspondence: Claes Wahlestedt,
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Timmermans S, Vandewalle J, Libert C. Dimerization of the Glucocorticoid Receptor and Its Importance in (Patho)physiology: A Primer. Cells 2022; 11:cells11040683. [PMID: 35203332 PMCID: PMC8870481 DOI: 10.3390/cells11040683] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Revised: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a very versatile protein that comes in several forms, interacts with many proteins and has multiple functions. Numerous therapies are based on GRs’ actions but the occurrence of side effects and reduced responses to glucocorticoids have motivated scientists to study GRs in great detail. The notion that GRs can perform functions as a monomeric protein, but also as a homodimer has raised questions about the underlying mechanisms, structural aspects of dimerization, influencing factors and biological functions. In this review paper, we are providing an overview of the current knowledge and insights about this important aspect of GR biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven Timmermans
- Center for Inflammation Research, VIB, 9052 Ghent, Belgium; (S.T.); (J.V.)
- Department of Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Jolien Vandewalle
- Center for Inflammation Research, VIB, 9052 Ghent, Belgium; (S.T.); (J.V.)
- Department of Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Claude Libert
- Center for Inflammation Research, VIB, 9052 Ghent, Belgium; (S.T.); (J.V.)
- Department of Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
- Correspondence:
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