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Dion C, Laberthonnière C, Magdinier F. [Epigenetics, principles and examples of applications]. Rev Med Interne 2023; 44:594-601. [PMID: 37438189 DOI: 10.1016/j.revmed.2023.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2023] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023]
Abstract
Since the discovery of DNA as the support of genetic information, the challenge for generations of life scientists was to understand the mechanisms underlying the process that translate the sequence of a gene to a phenotype. In the 1950s, the concept of epigenetics was defined by the British biologist Conrad H. Waddington as the study of "epigenesis" that governs the biological processes involved in the development of any organism. The term epigenetics, now best defined as "above the DNA sequence" reflects the gene-environment interactions by which genes determine traits. Since, its first description, studies underlying the mechanisms involved in these processes has led to an increasing understanding of the regulation all genome transactions such as transcription, replication, repair and the biological pathways coordinated by these mechanisms. We will discuss here the main principles regulating epigenetic processes, their roles in physiology, their evolution over the life time and their implications in medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Dion
- Aix Marseille Univ, INSERM, Marseille Medical Genetics, 13000 Marseille, France; MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS), London, United Kingdom; Institute of Clinical Sciences (ICS), Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - C Laberthonnière
- Aix Marseille Univ, INSERM, Marseille Medical Genetics, 13000 Marseille, France; Molecular Developmental Biology, Faculty of Science, Radboud University, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - F Magdinier
- Aix Marseille Univ, INSERM, Marseille Medical Genetics, 13000 Marseille, France.
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Calzari L, Zanotti L, Inglese E, Scaglione F, Cavagnola R, Ranucci F, Di Blasio AM, Stefanini G, Carlo G, Parati G, Gentilini D. Role of epigenetics in the clinical evolution of COVID-19 disease. Epigenome-wide association study identifies markers of severe outcome. Eur J Med Res 2023; 28:81. [PMID: 36800980 PMCID: PMC9936487 DOI: 10.1186/s40001-023-01032-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/19/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND COVID-19 has a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations and given its impact on morbidity and mortality, there is an unmet medical need to discover endogenous cellular and molecular biomarkers that predict the expected clinical course of the disease. Recently, epigenetics and especially DNA methylation have been pointed out as a promising tool for outcome prediction in several diseases. METHODS AND RESULTS Using the Illumina Infinium Methylation EPIC BeadChip850K, we investigated genome-wide differences in DNA methylation in an Italian Cohort of patients with comorbidities and compared severe (n = 64) and mild (123) prognosis. Results showed that the epigenetic signature, already present at the time of Hospital admission, can significantly predict risk of severe outcomes. Further analyses provided evidence of an association between age acceleration and a severe prognosis after COVID-19 infection. The burden of Stochastic Epigenetic Mutation (SEMs) has been significantly increased in patients with poor prognosis. Results have been replicated in silico considering COVID-19 negative subjects and available previously published datasets. CONCLUSIONS Using original methylation data and taking advantage of already published datasets, we confirmed in the blood that epigenetics is actively involved in immune response after COVID-19 infection, allowing the identification of a specific signature able to discriminate the disease evolution. Furthermore, the study showed that epigenetic drift and age acceleration are associated with severe prognosis. All these findings prove that host epigenetics undergoes notable and specific rearrangements to respond to COVID-19 infection which can be used for a personalized, timely, and targeted management of COVID-19 patients during the first stages of hospitalization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luciano Calzari
- grid.418224.90000 0004 1757 9530Bioinformatics and Statistical Genomics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Cusano Milanino, Milan, Italy
| | - Lucia Zanotti
- grid.418224.90000 0004 1757 9530Sleep Disorders Center & Department of Cardiovascular, Neural and Metabolic Sciences, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, San Luca Hospital, Milan, Italy
| | - Elvira Inglese
- grid.8982.b0000 0004 1762 5736Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Via Bassi 21, Pavia, Italy ,Chemical-Clinical Analysis Unit, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy
| | - Francesco Scaglione
- Chemical-Clinical Analysis Unit, ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, Milan, Italy ,grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Rebecca Cavagnola
- grid.418224.90000 0004 1757 9530Bioinformatics and Statistical Genomics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Cusano Milanino, Milan, Italy ,grid.8982.b0000 0004 1762 5736Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Via Bassi 21, Pavia, Italy
| | - Francesco Ranucci
- grid.8982.b0000 0004 1762 5736Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Via Bassi 21, Pavia, Italy
| | - Anna Maria Di Blasio
- grid.418224.90000 0004 1757 9530Molecular Biology Laboratory, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Cusano Milanino, Milan, Italy
| | - Giulio Stefanini
- grid.452490.eDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele-Milan, Italy ,grid.417728.f0000 0004 1756 8807IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano-Milan, Italy
| | - Gaetano Carlo
- grid.511455.1Laboratorio di Epigenetica, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Via Maugeri 4, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Gianfranco Parati
- grid.418224.90000 0004 1757 9530Sleep Disorders Center & Department of Cardiovascular, Neural and Metabolic Sciences, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, San Luca Hospital, Milan, Italy ,grid.7563.70000 0001 2174 1754Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan‐Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Davide Gentilini
- Bioinformatics and Statistical Genomics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Cusano Milanino, Milan, Italy. .,Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Via Bassi 21, Pavia, Italy.
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Zhang J, Burnaevskiy N, Annis J, Han W, Hou D, Ladd P, Lee L, Mendenhall AR, Oshima J, Martin GM. Cell-to-Cell Variation in Gene Expression for Cultured Human Cells Is Controlled in Trans by Diverse Genes: Implications for the Pathobiology of Aging. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2021; 75:2295-2298. [PMID: 31957802 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glaa027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Cell-to-cell variation in gene expression increases among homologous cells within multiple tissues during aging. We call this phenomenon variegated gene expression (VGE). Long, healthy life requires robust and coordinated gene expression. We posit that nature may have evolved VGE as a bet-hedging mechanism to protect reproductively active populations. The price we may pay is accelerated aging. That hypothesis will require the demonstration that genetic loci are capable of modulating degrees of VGE. While loci controlling VGE in yeast and genes controlling interindividual variation in gene expression in Caenorhabditis elegans have been identified, there has been no compelling evidence for the role of specific genetic loci in modulations of VGE of specific targets in humans. With the assistance of a core facility, we used a customized library of siRNA constructs to screen 1,195 human genes to identify loci contributing to the control of VGE of a gene with relevance to the biology of aging. We identified approximately 50 loci controlling VGE of the prolongevity gene, SIRT1. Because of its partial homology to FOXO3A, a variant of which is enriched in centenarians, our laboratory independently confirmed that the knockdown of FOXF2 greatly diminished VGE of SIRT1 but had little impact upon the VGE of WRN. While the role of these VGE-altering genes on aging in vivo remains to be determined, we hypothesize that some of these genes can be targeted to increase functionality during aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaming Zhang
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle
| | | | - James Annis
- Quellos High-throughput Screening Core, Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle
| | - Wenyan Han
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle
| | - Deyin Hou
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle
| | - Paula Ladd
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle
| | - Lin Lee
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle
| | | | - Junko Oshima
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle
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Planterose Jiménez B, Liu F, Caliebe A, Montiel González D, Bell JT, Kayser M, Vidaki A. Equivalent DNA methylation variation between monozygotic co-twins and unrelated individuals reveals universal epigenetic inter-individual dissimilarity. Genome Biol 2021; 22:18. [PMID: 33402197 PMCID: PMC7786996 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-020-02223-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2019] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although the genomes of monozygotic twins are practically identical, their methylomes may evolve divergently throughout their lifetime as a consequence of factors such as the environment or aging. Particularly for young and healthy monozygotic twins, DNA methylation divergence, if any, may be restricted to stochastic processes occurring post-twinning during embryonic development and early life. However, to what extent such stochastic mechanisms can systematically provide a stable source of inter-individual epigenetic variation remains uncertain until now. RESULTS We enriched for inter-individual stochastic variation by using an equivalence testing-based statistical approach on whole blood methylation microarray data from healthy adolescent monozygotic twins. As a result, we identified 333 CpGs displaying similarly large methylation variation between monozygotic co-twins and unrelated individuals. Although their methylation variation surpasses measurement error and is stable in a short timescale, susceptibility to aging is apparent in the long term. Additionally, 46% of these CpGs were replicated in adipose tissue. The identified sites are significantly enriched at the clustered protocadherin loci, known for stochastic methylation in developing neurons. We also confirmed an enrichment in monozygotic twin DNA methylation discordance at these loci in whole genome bisulfite sequencing data from blood and adipose tissue. CONCLUSIONS We have isolated a component of stochastic methylation variation, distinct from genetic influence, measurement error, and epigenetic drift. Biomarkers enriched in this component may serve in the future as the basis for universal epigenetic fingerprinting, relevant for instance in the discrimination of monozygotic twin individuals in forensic applications, currently impossible with standard DNA profiling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Planterose Jiménez
- Department of Genetic Identification, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Fan Liu
- Department of Genetic Identification, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Amke Caliebe
- Institute of Medical Informatics and Statistics, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
- University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany
| | - Diego Montiel González
- Department of Genetic Identification, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jordana T. Bell
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Manfred Kayser
- Department of Genetic Identification, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Athina Vidaki
- Department of Genetic Identification, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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Luebeck EG, Curtius K, Hazelton WD, Maden S, Yu M, Thota PN, Patil DT, Chak A, Willis JE, Grady WM. Identification of a key role of widespread epigenetic drift in Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma. Clin Epigenetics 2017; 9:113. [PMID: 29046735 PMCID: PMC5644061 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-017-0409-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2017] [Accepted: 09/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Recent studies have identified age-related changes in DNA methylation patterns in normal and cancer tissues in a process that is called epigenetic drift. However, the evolving patterns, functional consequences, and dynamics of epigenetic drift during carcinogenesis remain largely unexplored. Here we analyze the evolution of epigenetic drift patterns during progression from normal squamous esophagus tissue to Barrett’s esophagus (BE) to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) using 173 tissue samples from 100 (nonfamilial) BE patients, along with publically available datasets including The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Results Our analysis reveals extensive methylomic drift between normal squamous esophagus and BE tissues in nonprogressed BE patients, with differential drift affecting 4024 (24%) of 16,984 normally hypomethylated cytosine-guanine dinucleotides (CpGs) occurring in CpG islands. The majority (63%) of islands that include drift CpGs are associated with gene promoter regions. Island CpGs that drift have stronger pairwise correlations than static islands, reflecting collective drift consistent with processive DNA methylation maintenance. Individual BE tissues are extremely heterogeneous in their distribution of methylomic drift and encompass unimodal low-drift to bimodal high-drift patterns, reflective of differences in BE tissue age. Further analysis of longitudinally collected biopsy samples from 20 BE patients confirm the time-dependent evolution of these drift patterns. Drift patterns in EAC are similar to those in BE, but frequently exhibit enhanced bimodality and advanced mode drift. To better understand the observed drift patterns, we developed a multicellular stochastic model at the CpG island level. Importantly, we find that nonlinear feedback in the model between mean island methylation and CpG methylation rates is able to explain the widely heterogeneous collective drift patterns. Using matched gene expression and DNA methylation data in EAC from TCGA and other publically available data, we also find that advanced methylomic drift is correlated with significant transcriptional repression of ~ 200 genes in important regulatory and developmental pathways, including several checkpoint and tumor suppressor-like genes. Conclusions Taken together, our findings suggest that epigenetic drift evolution acts to significantly reduce the expression of developmental genes that may alter tissue characteristics and improve functional adaptation during BE to EAC progression. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13148-017-0409-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Georg Luebeck
- Program in Computational Biology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109 USA
| | - Kit Curtius
- Centre for Tumour Biology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6BQ UK
| | - William D Hazelton
- Program in Computational Biology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109 USA
| | - Sean Maden
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109 USA
| | - Ming Yu
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109 USA
| | - Prashanthi N Thota
- Department of Gastroenterology, Digestive Disease & Surgery Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195 USA
| | - Deepa T Patil
- Department of Pathology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195 USA
| | - Amitabh Chak
- University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
| | - Joseph E Willis
- University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA
| | - William M Grady
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109 USA.,Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195 USA
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Johnson KC, Houseman EA, King JE, Christensen BC. Normal breast tissue DNA methylation differences at regulatory elements are associated with the cancer risk factor age. Breast Cancer Res 2017; 19:81. [PMID: 28693600 DOI: 10.1186/s13058-017-0873-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2017] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The underlying biological mechanisms through which epidemiologically defined breast cancer risk factors contribute to disease risk remain poorly understood. Identification of the molecular changes associated with cancer risk factors in normal tissues may aid in determining the earliest events of carcinogenesis and informing cancer prevention strategies. METHODS Here we investigated the impact cancer risk factors have on the normal breast epigenome by analyzing DNA methylation genome-wide (Infinium 450 K array) in cancer-free women from the Susan G. Komen Tissue Bank (n = 100). We tested the relation of established breast cancer risk factors, age, body mass index, parity, and family history of disease, with DNA methylation adjusting for potential variation in cell-type proportions. RESULTS We identified 787 cytosine-guanine dinucleotide (CpG) sites that demonstrated significant associations (Q value <0.01) with subject age. Notably, DNA methylation was not strongly associated with the other evaluated breast cancer risk factors. Age-related DNA methylation changes are primarily increases in methylation enriched at breast epithelial cell enhancer regions (P = 7.1E-20), and binding sites of chromatin remodelers (MYC and CTCF). We validated the age-related associations in two independent populations, using normal breast tissue samples (n = 18) and samples of normal tissue adjacent to tumor tissue (n = 97). The genomic regions classified as age-related were more likely to be regions altered in both pre-invasive (n = 40, P = 3.0E-03) and invasive breast tumors (n = 731, P = 1.1E-13). CONCLUSIONS DNA methylation changes with age occur at regulatory regions, and are further exacerbated in cancer, suggesting that age influences breast cancer risk in part through its contribution to epigenetic dysregulation in normal breast tissue.
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Bacalini MG, D'Aquila P, Marasco E, Nardini C, Montesanto A, Franceschi C, Passarino G, Garagnani P, Bellizzi D. The methylation of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA in ageing phenotypes and longevity. Mech Ageing Dev 2017; 165:156-161. [PMID: 28115210 DOI: 10.1016/j.mad.2017.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2016] [Revised: 11/29/2016] [Accepted: 01/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
An increasing body of data is progressively indicating that the comprehension of the epigenetic landscape, actively integrated with the genetic elements, is crucial to delineate the molecular basis of the inter-individual complexity of ageing process. Indeed, it has emerged that DNA methylation changes occur during ageing, consisting mainly in a progressive process of genome demethylation, in a hypermethylation of gene-specific CpG dinucleotides, as well as in an inter-individual divergence of the epigenome due to stochastic events and environmental exposures throughout life, namely as epigenetic drift. Additionally, it has also come to light an implication of the mitochondrial genome in the regulation of the intracellular epigenetic landscape, as demonstrated by the being itself object of epigenetic modifications. An overview of DNA methylation changes occurring during ageing process at both nuclear and mitochondrial level will be described in this review, also taking into account the recent and promising data available on the 5-hydroxymethylcytosine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Giulia Bacalini
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Via Altura 1/8, 40139 Bologna, Italy
| | - Patrizia D'Aquila
- Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy
| | - Elena Marasco
- Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
| | | | - Alberto Montesanto
- Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy
| | - Claudio Franceschi
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Via Altura 1/8, 40139 Bologna, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Passarino
- Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy
| | - Paolo Garagnani
- Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy; Applied Biomedical Research Center, S.Orsola-Malpighi Polyclinic, 40138 Bologna, Italy; Interdepartmental Center "L. Galvani", Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
| | - Dina Bellizzi
- Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy.
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Galamb O, Kalmár A, Barták BK, Patai &AV, Leiszter K, Péterfia B, Wichmann B, Valcz G, Veres G, Tulassay Z, Molnár B. Aging related methylation influences the gene expression of key control genes in colorectal cancer and adenoma. World J Gastroenterol 2016; 22:10325-10340. [PMID: 28058013 PMCID: PMC5175245 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i47.10325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2016] [Revised: 09/20/2016] [Accepted: 11/16/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
AIM To analyze colorectal carcinogenesis and age-related DNA methylation alterations of gene sequences associated with epigenetic clock CpG sites.
METHODS In silico DNA methylation analysis of 353 epigenetic clock CpG sites published by Steve Horvath was performed using methylation array data for a set of 123 colonic tissue samples [64 colorectal cancer (CRC), 42 adenoma, 17 normal; GEO accession number: GSE48684]. Among the differentially methylated age-related genes, secreted frizzled related protein 1 (SFRP1) promoter methylation was further investigated in colonic tissue from 8 healthy adults, 19 normal children, 20 adenoma and 8 CRC patients using bisulfite-specific PCR followed by methylation-specific high resolution melting (MS-HRM) analysis. mRNA expression of age-related “epigenetic clock” genes was studied using Affymetrix HGU133 Plus2.0 whole transcriptome data of 153 colonic biopsy samples (49 healthy adult, 49 adenoma, 49 CRC, 6 healthy children) (GEO accession numbers: GSE37364, GSE10714, GSE4183, GSE37267). Whole promoter methylation analysis of genes showing inverse DNA methylation-gene expression data was performed on 30 colonic samples using methyl capture sequencing.
RESULTS Fifty-seven age-related CpG sites including hypermethylated PPP1R16B, SFRP1, SYNE1 and hypomethylated MGP, PIPOX were differentially methylated between CRC and normal tissues (P < 0.05, Δβ≥ 10%). In the adenoma vs normal comparison, 70 CpG sites differed significantly, including hypermethylated DKK3, SDC2, SFRP1, SYNE1 and hypomethylated CEMIP, SPATA18 (P < 0.05, Δβ≥ 10%). In MS-HRM analysis, the SFRP1 promoter region was significantly hypermethylated in CRC (55.0% ± 8.4 %) and adenoma tissue samples (49.9% ± 18.1%) compared to normal adult (5.2% ± 2.7%) and young (2.2% ± 0.7%) colonic tissue (P < 0.0001). DNA methylation of SFRP1 promoter was slightly, but significantly increased in healthy adults compared to normal young samples (P < 0.02). This correlated with significantly increased SFRP1 mRNA levels in children compared to normal adult samples (P < 0.05). In CRC tissue the mRNA expression of 117 age-related genes were changed, while in adenoma samples 102 genes showed differential expression compared with normal colonic tissue (P < 0.05, logFC > 0.5). The change of expression for several genes including SYNE1, CLEC3B, LTBP3 and SFRP1, followed the same pattern in aging and carcinogenesis, though not for all genes (e.g., MGP).
CONCLUSION Several age-related DNA methylation alterations can be observed during CRC development and progression affecting the mRNA expression of certain CRC- and adenoma-related key control genes.
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Budzinska M, Owczarz M, Pawlik-Pachucka E, Roszkowska-Gancarz M, Slusarczyk P, Puzianowska-Kuznicka M. miR-96, miR-145 and miR-9 expression increases, and IGF-1R and FOXO1 expression decreases in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of aging humans. BMC Geriatr 2016; 16:200. [PMID: 27903254 PMCID: PMC5131432 DOI: 10.1186/s12877-016-0379-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2016] [Accepted: 11/25/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Background In mammals, the IGF-1 pathway affects the phenotype of aging. Since the function of the immune system is modulated by IGF-1, it is plausible that immunosenescence might in part result from altered control by this pathway. We therefore examined whether the expression of IGF-1R, FOXO1, and FOXO3a in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) changes with age and if this might be due to changes in the expression of select miRNAs. Methods The expression of IGF-1R, FOXO1, FOXO3a, as well as of miR-9, miR-96, miR-99a, miR-132, miR-145, and miR-182 was examined in PBMC of young (27.8 ± 3.7 years), elderly (65.6 ± 3.4 years), and long-lived (94.0 ± 3.7 years) Polish Caucasians using real-time PCR. mRNA/miRNA interactions were studied in HEK 293 cells using luciferase-expressing pmirGLO reporter vector. Results The median expression of IGF-1R decreased with age (p < 0.000001), as did the expression of FOXO1 (p < 0.000001), while the expression of FOXO3a remained stable. We also found an age-associated increase of the median expression of miR-96 (p = 0.002), miR-145 (p = 0.024) and miR-9 (p = 0.026), decrease of the expression of miR-99a (p = 0.037), and no changes regarding miR-132 and miR-182. Functional studies revealed that miR-96 and miR-182 interacted with human IGF-1R mRNA, and that miR-145 and miR-132 interacted with human FOXO1 mRNA. Conclusions The age-associated higher expression of miR-96 and miR-145 might contribute to the lower expression of IGF-1R while the higher expression of miR-96, miR-145 and miR-9 might contribute to the lower expression of FOXO1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of aging humans. Sustained expression/function of FOXO3a but not of the other two genes might be important for the maintenance of the immune system function in these individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Budzinska
- Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Medical Centre of Postgraduate Education, Marymoncka 99/103, 01-813, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Magdalena Owczarz
- Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Medical Centre of Postgraduate Education, Marymoncka 99/103, 01-813, Warsaw, Poland.,Department of Human Epigenetics, Mossakowski Medical Research Centre, PAS, Pawinskiego 5, 02-106, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Eliza Pawlik-Pachucka
- Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Medical Centre of Postgraduate Education, Marymoncka 99/103, 01-813, Warsaw, Poland.,Department of Human Epigenetics, Mossakowski Medical Research Centre, PAS, Pawinskiego 5, 02-106, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Malgorzata Roszkowska-Gancarz
- Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Medical Centre of Postgraduate Education, Marymoncka 99/103, 01-813, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Przemyslaw Slusarczyk
- PolSenior Project, International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Trojdena 4, 02-109, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Monika Puzianowska-Kuznicka
- Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Medical Centre of Postgraduate Education, Marymoncka 99/103, 01-813, Warsaw, Poland. .,Department of Human Epigenetics, Mossakowski Medical Research Centre, PAS, Pawinskiego 5, 02-106, Warsaw, Poland.
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Martin GM. Geroscience: Addressing the mismatch between its exciting research opportunities, its economic imperative and its current funding crisis. Exp Gerontol 2016; 94:46-51. [PMID: 27871822 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2016.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2016] [Revised: 11/14/2016] [Accepted: 11/16/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
There is at present a huge disconnect between levels of funding for basic research on fundamental mechanisms of biological aging and, given demographic projections, the anticipated enormous social and economic impacts of a litany of chronic diseases for which aging is by far the major risk factor: One valuable approach, recently instigated by Felipe Sierra & colleagues at the US National Institute on Aging, is the development of a Geroscience Interest Group among virtually all of the NIH institutes. A complementary approach would be to seek major escalations of private funding. The American Federation for Aging Research, the Paul Glenn Foundation and the Ellison Medical Foundation pioneered efforts by the private sector to provide substantial supplements to public sources of funding. It is time for our community to organize efforts towards the enhancements of such crucial contributions, especially in support of the emerging generation of young investigators, many of whom are leaving our ranks to seek alternative employment. To do so, we must provide potential donors with strong economic, humanitarian and scientific rationales. An initial approach to such efforts is briefly outlined in this manuscript as a basis for wider discussions within our community.
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Affiliation(s)
- George M Martin
- Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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Oh G, Ebrahimi S, Wang SC, Cortese R, Kaminsky ZA, Gottesman II, Burke JR, Plassman BL, Petronis A. Epigenetic assimilation in the aging human brain. Genome Biol 2016; 17:76. [PMID: 27122015 PMCID: PMC4848814 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-016-0946-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2015] [Accepted: 04/11/2016] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Epigenetic drift progressively increases variation in DNA modification profiles of aging cells, but the finale of such divergence remains elusive. In this study, we explored the dynamics of DNA modification and transcription in the later stages of human life. Results We find that brain tissues of older individuals (>75 years) become more similar to each other, both epigenetically and transcriptionally, compared with younger individuals. Inter-individual epigenetic assimilation is concurrent with increasing similarity between the cerebral cortex and the cerebellum, which points to potential brain cell dedifferentiation. DNA modification analysis of twins affected with Alzheimer’s disease reveals a potential for accelerated epigenetic assimilation in neurodegenerative disease. We also observe loss of boundaries and merging of neighboring DNA modification and transcriptomic domains over time. Conclusions Age-dependent epigenetic divergence, paradoxically, changes to convergence in the later stages of life. The newly described phenomena of epigenetic assimilation and tissue dedifferentiation may help us better understand the molecular mechanisms of aging and the origins of diseases for which age is a risk factor. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-016-0946-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Oh
- Krembil Family Epigenetics Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College St. R130, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R8, Canada
| | - Sasha Ebrahimi
- Krembil Family Epigenetics Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College St. R130, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R8, Canada
| | - Sun-Chong Wang
- Institute of Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, National Central University, Chungli, 320, Taiwan
| | - Rene Cortese
- Krembil Family Epigenetics Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College St. R130, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R8, Canada.,Department of Pediatrics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 60637, USA
| | - Zachary A Kaminsky
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21287, USA
| | - Irving I Gottesman
- Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455, USA
| | - James R Burke
- Duke University Medical Center, Duke University, Box 2900, Durham, North Carolina, 27701, USA
| | - Brenda L Plassman
- Duke University Medical Center, Duke University, Box 41, Durham, North Carolina, 27701, USA
| | - Art Petronis
- Krembil Family Epigenetics Laboratory, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College St. R130, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R8, Canada.
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