1 1564 127 DNA METHYLATION OF PROXIMAL PLAT PROMOTER IN CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS. BACKGROUND NASAL POLYPS (NP) ARE CHARACTERIZED BY PSEUDOCYSTS DERIVED FROM STROMAL TISSUE EDEMA AND CAUSE PERSISTENT INFECTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS). A LOW LEVEL OF TISSUE-TYPE PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR (GENE NAME PLAT) IS CONSIDERED A CAUSE OF STROMAL TISSUE EDEMA BECAUSE OF INSUFFICIENT PLASMIN ACTIVATION IN NP; HOWEVER, THE MECHANISM REGULATING PLAT GENE EXPRESSION LEVELS IS STILL UNCLEAR. THE EPIGENETIC MECHANISM REGULATING THE PLAT GENE EXPRESSION HAS BEEN STUDIED IN OTHER TISSUES. OBJECTIVE WE AIMED TO INVESTIGATE THE METHYLATION LEVELS IN THE PROXIMAL PLAT PROMOTER AND THEIR EFFECTS ON GENE EXPRESSION IN NP TISSUE. METHODS WE INVESTIGATED THE METHYLATION LEVELS AT 3 CPG SITES IN THE PROXIMAL PLAT PROMOTER REGIONS (-618, -121, AND -105 WITH RESPECT TO THE TRANSCRIPTION INITIATION SITE) BY BISULFITE PYROSEQUENCING AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE GENE EXPRESSION BY QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (QPCR) IN 20 PAIRED SAMPLES OF NP AND INFERIOR TURBINATE TISSUE (IT) FROM PATIENTS WITH CRS. RESULTS THE DNA METHYLATION LEVELS AT ALL CPG SITES WERE HIGHER ( P < .01), AND THE PLAT EXPRESSION WAS LOWER ( P < .001) IN NP COMPARED WITH IT. THE METHYLATION CHANGES AT THE -618 SITE SHOWED A NEGATIVE CORRELATION WITH THE GENE EXPRESSION CHANGES BETWEEN NP AND IT ( R = -.65, P < .01). CONCLUSIONS HYPERMETHYLATION OF PLAT PROMOTER MAY DOWNREGULATE THE GENE EXPRESSION IN NP, LEADING TO EXCESSIVE FIBRIN DEPOSITION BY ABERRANT COAGULATION CASCADE. DNA METHYLATION OF PROXIMAL PLAT PROMOTER MAY CONTRIBUTE TO NP GROWTH AND HAVE A POTENTIAL AS A NEW THERAPEUTIC TARGET. 2018 2 5086 42 PILOT STUDY OF DNA METHYLATION IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS. BACKGROUND: DNA METHYLATION HAS BEEN IMPLICATED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF ALLERGY AND ATOPY. THIS STUDY AIMED TO IDENTIFY WHETHER DNA METHYLATION ALSO PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF NASAL POLYPS (NP). METHODOLOGY: NP TISSUES WERE OBTAINED FROM 32 PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH BILATERAL NP. BIOPSIES OF INFERIOR TURBINATE MUCOSA (ITM) WERE TAKEN FROM 18 PATIENTS WHO UNDERWENT RHINOSEPTOPLASTY (CONTROL GROUP). THE METHYLATED GENES, WHICH WERE DETECTED BY DNA METHYLATION MICROARRAY, WERE VALIDATED BY METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION, BISULPHITE SEQUENCING, REAL-TIME POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY. RESULTS: DNA METHYLATION MICROARRAY IDENTIFIED 8,008 CPG ISLANDS IN 2,848 GENES. ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-EIGHT GENES WERE FOUND TO HAVE A METHYLATED SIGNAL IN THE PROMOTER REGION IN NP SAMPLES COMPARED WITH ITM SAMPLES. THE FOUR TOP GENES THAT CHANGED, COL18A1, EP300, GNAS AND SMURF1, WERE SELECTED FOR FURTHER STUDY. THE METHYLATION FREQUENCY OF COL18A1 WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN NP SAMPLES THAN IN ITM SAMPLES. CONCLUSIONS: DNA METHYLATION MIGHT PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF NP. PROMOTER METHYLATION OF COL18A1 WAS FOUND TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED IN NP TISSUES, FURTHER STUDIES ARE NECESSARY TO CONFIRM THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE EPIGENETIC FACTORS IN THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE DEVELOPMENT OR PERSISTENCE OF NP. 2015 3 6349 34 THE ROLE OF EPIGENETICS IN THE CHRONIC SINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYP. PURPOSE OF REVIEW: CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS (CRSWNP) IS A COMMON AND HETEROGENEOUS INFLAMMATORY DISEASE. THE UNDERLYING EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS AND TREATMENT OF CRSWNP ARE PARTIALLY UNDERSTOOD. OF THE DIFFERENT EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN CRSWNP, HISTONE DEACETYLASES (HDACS), METHYLATION OF DNA, AND THE LEVELS OF MIRNA ARE WIDELY STUDIED. HERE, WE REVIEW THE HUMAN STUDIES OF EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS IN CRSWNP. RECENT FINDINGS: THE PROMOTERS OF COL18A1, PTGES, PLAT, AND TSLP GENES ARE HYPERMETHYLATED IN CRSWNP COMPARED WITH THOSE OF CONTROLS, WHILE THE PROMOTERS OF PGDS, ALOX5AP, LTB4R, IL-8, AND FZD5 GENES ARE HYPOMETHYLATED IN CRSWNP. PROMOTER HYPERMETHYLATION SUPPRESSES THE GENE EXPRESSION, WHILE PROMOTER HYPOMETHYLATION INCREASES THE GENE EXPRESSION. STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THE ELEVATION IN THE LEVELS OF HDAC2, HDAC4, AND H3K4ME3 IN CRSWNP. IN CRSWNP PATIENTS, THERE IS ALSO AN UPREGULATION OF CERTAIN MIRNAS INCLUDING MIR-125B, MIR-155, MIR-19A, MIR-142-3P, AND MIR-21 AND DOWNREGULATION OF MIR-4492. EPIGENETICS TAKES PART IN THE IMMUNOLOGY OF CRSWNP AND MAY GIVE RISE TO ENDOTYPES OF CRSWNP. BOTH HDAC2 AND THE MIRNA INCLUDING MIR-18A, MIR-124A, AND MIR-142-3P MAY TAKE FUNCTION IN THE REGULATION OF GLUCOCORTICOID RESISTANCE. HDAC INHIBITORS AND KDM2B HAVE SHOWN EFFECTIVENESS IN DECREASING NASAL POLYP, AND DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE (DNMT) OR HDAC INHIBITORS MAY HAVE A POTENTIAL EFFICACY FOR THE TREATMENT OF CRSWNP. RECENT ADVANCES IN THE EPIGENETICS OF CRSWNP HAVE LED TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF SEVERAL POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC TARGETS FOR THIS DISEASE. THE USE OF EPIGENETICS MAY PROVIDE NOVEL AND EFFECTIVE BIOMARKERS AND THERAPIES FOR THE TREATMENT OF NASAL POLYP. 2020 4 1805 32 EFFECT OF SMOKING ON THE DNA METHYLATION PATTERN OF THE SOCS1 PROMOTER IN EPITHELIAL CELLS FROM THE SALIVA OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS. BACKGROUND: THE AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE METHYLATION PATTERN IN THE SUPPRESSOR OF CYTOKINE SIGNALING 1 (SOCS1) GENE IN SMOKERS AND NON-SMOKERS WITH CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS (CP). METHODS: METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR) WAS PERFORMED TO DETERMINE THE METHYLATION STATUS OF THE SOCS1 PROMOTER IN 45 SALIVA SAMPLES FROM SMOKERS AND NON-SMOKERS WITH CP. RESULTS: CELLS FROM THE SALIVA OF CP PATIENTS WHO SMOKED WERE 7.08 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO HAVE A METHYLATED SOCS1 PROMOTER THAN CELLS FROM THE SALIVA OF NON-SMOKING PATIENTS. CONCLUSIONS: SOCS1 GENE PROMOTER METHYLATION, WITH ITS POTENTIAL EFFECTS ON THE EXPRESSION OF THIS GENE, SEEMS TO BE A CONSEQUENCE OF EXPOSURE TO TOBACCO AND NOT TO PERIODONTAL DISEASE. FURTHER STUDIES ARE NEEDED TO ELUCIDATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EPIGENETIC CONTROL OF IMMUNE RESPONSE GENE EXPRESSION, EXPOSURE TO ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, AND THE DEVELOPMENT, PROGRESSION, AND PROGNOSIS OF CP. 2019 5 2766 43 EXPRESSION, POLYMORPHISM AND METHYLATION PATTERN OF INTERLEUKIN-6 IN PERIODONTAL TISSUES. PERIODONTITIS IS CONSIDERED AN INFLAMMATORY DISORDER OF BACTERIAL ETIOLOGY THAT RESULTS IN PERIODONTAL TISSUE DESTRUCTION, AS A RESULT OF COMPLEX INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PERIODONTAL PATHOGENS, HOST AND IMMUNE RESPONSE. GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS MAY MODULATE THE INDIVIDUAL RESPONSE SINCE IT IS ABLE TO INFLUENCE THE GENE EXPRESSION. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF -174 G/C POLYMORPHISM AND THE METHYLATION STATUS OF THE PROMOTER REGION OF IL-6 GENE ON THE EXPRESSION OF IL-6 IN GINGIVAL SAMPLES FROM INDIVIDUALS WITH CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS. GINGIVAL BIOPSIES WERE COLLECTED FROM 21 PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS AND 21 CONTROLS. HISTOLOGIC SECTIONS STAINED BY HEMATOXYLIN-EOSIN WERE USED FOR HISTOPATHOLOGICAL EVALUATION. THE IL-6 GENE EXPRESSION WAS ASSESSED BY QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME PCR. THE POLYMORPHISM IL-6 -174 C/G WAS STUDIED BY POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR) AMPLIFICATION AND RESTRICTION ENDONUCLEASE DIGESTION (HSPII). METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION WAS USED TO VERIFY THE DNA METHYLATION PATTERN. THE NUMBER OF INFLAMMATORY CELLS IN TISSUE FRAGMENTS FROM INDIVIDUALS WITH CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS WAS HIGHER THAN IN THE CONTROL GROUP AND THE INFLAMMATORY INFILTRATE WAS PREDOMINANTLY MONONUCLEAR. THE EXPRESSION OF IL-6 WAS HIGHER IN THE GROUP WITH PERIODONTITIS. IN POLYMORPHISM ASSAY, NO STATISTICAL DIFFERENCE IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF GENOTYPES AND ALLELES IN BOTH GROUPS WERE OBSERVED. THE MOST OF SAMPLES WERE PARTIALLY METHYLATED. NO DIFFERENCE WAS OBSERVED IN METHYLATION PATTERN FROM TWO DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE IL-6 GENE AMONG GROUPS. THE HIGH EXPRESSION OF IL-6 IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR RELATED TO CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS, BUT WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH METHYLATION STATUS OR THE -174 (G/C) GENETIC POLYMORPHISM, SUGGESTING THAT OTHER MECHANISMS ARE INVOLVED IN THIS GENE TRANSCRIPTION REGULATION. 2013 6 1500 41 DNA METHYLATION ANALYSIS OF CD4+ T CELLS IN PATIENTS WITH PSORIASIS. PSORIASIS IS A CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY SKIN DISEASE THAT IS CHARACTERIZED BY ABERRANT CROSS-TALK BETWEEN KERATINOCYTES AND IMMUNE CELLS SUCH AS CD4+ T CELLS, RESULTING IN KERATINOCYTE HYPERPROLIFERATION IN THE EPIDERMIS. DNA METHYLATION, ONE OF SEVERAL EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS, PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN GENE EXPRESSION WITHOUT CHANGING THE DNA SEQUENCE. SEVERAL STUDIES HAVE SUGGESTED THE INVOLVEMENT OF EPIGENETIC REGULATION IN SKIN LESIONS FROM PATIENTS WITH PSORIASIS. IN THIS STUDY, WE INVESTIGATED THE GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION STATUS OF CD4+ T CELLS IN PATIENTS WITH PSORIASIS COMPARED WITH HEALTHY SUBJECTS USING METHYLATED DNA IMMUNOPRECIPITATION SEQUENCING (MEDIP-SEQ). THE RESULTS OF MEDIP-SEQ SHOWED THAT THE GLOBAL METHYLATION VALUES OF CD4+ T CELLS ARE HIGHER IN PATIENTS WITH PSORIASIS THAN IN HEALTHY CONTROLS, PARTICULARLY IN THE PROMOTER REGIONS. AMONG THE MOST HYPERMETHYLATED GENES IN THE PROMOTER REGIONS, WE SELECTED THE GENES WHOSE EXPRESSION IS SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED IN THE CD4+ T CELLS OF PSORIASIS PATIENTS. STUDIES USING THE METHYLATION INHIBITOR 5-AZACYTIDINE IN VITRO METHYLATION ASSAYS HAVE SHOWN THAT THE DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION LEVELS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH THE METHYLATION STATUS OF EACH GENE. BISULFITE SEQUENCING OF THE TRANSCRIPTION START REGION OF PHOSPHATIDIC ACID PHOSPHATASE TYPE 2 DOMAIN CONTAINING 3 (PPAPDC3), ONE OF THE SELECTED GENES, SHOWED HYPERMETHYLATION IN THE CD4+ T CELLS OF PSORIASIS PATIENTS. THESE RESULTS SUGGESTED THAT THE METHYLATION STATUS, WHICH IS IDENTIFIED BY MEDIP-SEQ OF THE GENES, WAS CORRELATED WITH THE MRNA EXPRESSION LEVEL OF THE GENES. COLLECTIVELY, THE DNA METHYLATION STATUS IN CD4+ T CELLS MIGHT BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE PATHOGENESIS OF PSORIASIS. 2014 7 3460 50 HYPOMETHYLATION OF THE IL8 PROMOTER IN NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS. BACKGROUND: IL-8 IS AN IMPORTANT CHEMOKINE IMPLICATED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS), BUT LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF IL8 IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CRS. OBJECTIVE: WE SOUGHT TO INVESTIGATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DNA METHYLATION LEVEL IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER AND CRS IN HAN CHINESE SUBJECTS. METHODS: PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS (CRSWNP; N = 187), PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITHOUT NASAL POLYPS (CRSSNP; N = 89), AND CONTROL SUBJECTS (N = 57) WERE ENROLLED IN 2 INDEPENDENT COHORTS. PURIFIED HUMAN NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS FROM EACH PARTICIPANT WERE ASSESSED FOR PERCENTAGE DNA METHYLATION OF CPG SITES IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER BY USING BISULFITE PYROSEQUENCING AND FOR FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF METHYLATION STATUS BY USING IN VITRO ASSAYS. RESULTS: DNA METHYLATION OF CPG SITES 1, 2, AND 3, RESPECTIVELY, IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED IN HUMAN NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS OF PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP COMPARED WITH THAT IN PATIENTS WITH CRSSNP (P < .001) AND CONTROL SUBJECTS (P < .001). PERCENTAGE OF DNA METHYLATION OF THE CPG3 SITE WAS CORRELATED NEGATIVELY WITH BOTH TISSUE EOSINOPHILIC CATIONIC PROTEIN (P < .01) AND MYELOPEROXIDASE (P < .05) LEVELS. IL-1BETA (P < .001) AND TNF-ALPHA (P < .01) SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED IL8 EXPRESSION ACCOMPANIED BY A REDUCTION IN METHYLATION AT THE CPG3 SITE (P < .001). ELECTROPHORETIC MOBILITY SHIFT ASSAYS DEMONSTRATED THAT METHYLATION STATUS OF CPG3 CHANGED THE BINDING OF OCTAMER-BINDING TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR 1 AND NUCLEAR FACTOR KAPPAB. CONCLUSION: DECREASED DNA METHYLATION OF PARTICULARLY CPG SITES IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER MIGHT PLAY A ROLE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CRSWNP. 2019 8 5553 47 ROLE OF EPIGENETICS IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS. CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS) IS A HIGHLY PREVALENT DISEASE CHARACTERIZED BY MUCOSAL INFLAMMATION OF THE NOSE AND PARANASAL SINUSES. CRS CAN BE DIVIDED INTO TWO MAIN CATEGORIES, CRS WITH NASAL POLYPS (NPS; CRSWNP) AND CRS WITHOUT NPS (CRSSNP). ALTHOUGH THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF CRS REMAINS UNCLEAR, DNA METHYLATION HAS BEEN IMPLICATED IN THE ETIOLOGY OF CRSWNP. THE AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO ELUCIDATE WHETHER DNA METHYLATION OF SPECIFIC GENES IS INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NPS. IN TOTAL, 18 INDIVIDUALS WERE INCLUDED IN THE PRESENT STUDY, AND WERE DIVIDED INTO THREE GROUPS: CRSWNP (N=7), CRSSNP (N=7) AND HEALTHY CONTROLS (N=4). NP TISSUES WERE OBTAINED FROM THE SEVEN PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP AND BIOPSIES OF THE INFERIOR TURBINATE MUCOSA FROM ALL THREE GROUPS WERE USED AS CONTROLS. METHYLATED GENES DETECTED BY METHYL?CPG?BINDING DOMAIN SEQUENCING WERE VALIDATED BY METHYLATION?SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR), BISULFITE SEQUENCING, AND REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION?QUANTITATIVE PCR (RT?QPCR). METHYL?CPG?BINDING DOMAIN SEQUENCING IDENTIFIED 43,674 CPG ISLANDS IN 518 GENES. THE PROMOTOR REGIONS OF 10 AND 30 GENES WERE HYPERMETHYLATED AND HYPOMETHYLATED, RESPECTIVELY, IN NP SAMPLES COMPARED WITH CONTROLS. THE TOP FOUR GENES WITH ALTERED HYPOMETHYLATION IN NP TISSUES WERE, KERATIN 19 (KRT19), NUCLEAR RECEPTOR SUBFAMILY 2 GROUP F MEMBER 2 (NR2F2), A DISINTEGRIN?LIKE AND METALLOPEPTIDASE (REPROLYSIN TYPE) WITH THROMBOSPONDIN TYPE 1 MOTIF 1 (ADAMTS1) AND ZINC FINGER PROTEIN 222 (ZNF222). RT?QPCR DEMONSTRATED THAT THE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF KRT19, NR2F2 AND ADAMTS1 WERE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED IN NP TISSUES; HOWEVER, THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE IN THE LEVELS OF ZNF222 BETWEEN NP AND CONTROL TISSUES. FURTHER STUDIES ARE REQUIRED TO CONFIRM THE RELEVANCE OF THESE EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS IN THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING NP FORMATION. 2018 9 3746 49 INSIGHTS INTO THE EPIGENETICS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH AND WITHOUT NASAL POLYPS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. BACKGROUND: EPIGENETICS FACILITATES INSIGHTS ON THE IMPACT OF HOST ENVIRONMENT ON THE GENESIS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS) THROUGH MODULATIONS OF HOST GENE EXPRESSION AND ACTIVITY. EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS SUCH AS DNA METHYLATION CAUSE REVERSIBLE BUT HERITABLE CHANGES IN GENE EXPRESSION OVER GENERATIONS OF PROGENY, WITHOUT ALTERING THE DNA BASE-PAIR SEQUENCES. THESE STUDIES OFFER A CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENVIRONMENT-INDUCED CHANGES THAT RESULT IN HOST PREDISPOSITION TO DISEASE AND MAY HELP IN DEVELOPING NOVEL BIOMARKERS AND THERAPEUTICS. THE GOAL OF THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW IS TO SUMMARIZE THE CURRENT EVIDENCE ON EPIGENETICS OF CRS WITH A FOCUS ON CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS (CRSWNP) AND HIGHLIGHT GAPS THAT MERIT FURTHER RESEARCH. METHODS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LITERATURE WAS PERFORMED TO IDENTIFY INVESTIGATIONS RELATED TO EPIGENETIC STUDIES IN SUBJECTS WITH CRS. RESULTS: THE REVIEW IDENTIFIED 65 STUDIES. THESE HAVE FOCUSED ON DNA METHYLATION AND NON-CODING RNAS, WITH ONLY A FEW ON HISTONE DEACETYLATION, ALTERNATIVE POLYADENYLATION, AND CHROMATIN ACCESSIBILITY. STUDIES INCLUDE THOSE INVESTIGATING IN VIVO AND IN VITRO CHANGES OR BOTH. STUDIES ALSO INCLUDE ANIMAL MODELS OF CRS. ALMOST ALL HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED IN ASIA. THE GENOME-WIDE STUDIES OF DNA METHYLATION FOUND DIFFERENCES IN GLOBAL METHYLATION BETWEEN CRSWNP AND CONTROLS, WHILE OTHERS SPECIFICALLY FOUND SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN METHYLATION OF THE CPG SITES OF THE THYMIC STROMAL LYMPHOPOIETIN (TSLP), IL-8, AND PLAT. IN ADDITION, DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE INHIBITORS AND HISTONE DEACETYLASE INHIBITORS WERE STUDIED AS POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC AGENTS. MAJORITY OF THE STUDIES INVESTIGATING NON-CODING RNAS FOCUSED ON MICRO-RNAS (MIRNA) AND FOUND DIFFERENCES IN GLOBAL EXPRESSION OF MIRNA LEVELS. THESE STUDIES ALSO REVEALED SOME PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS WELL AS NOVEL TARGETS AND PATHWAYS SUCH AS TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR ALPHA, TGF BETA-1, IL-10, EGR2, ARYL HYDROCARBON RECEPTOR, PI3K/AKT PATHWAY, MUCIN SECRETION, AND VASCULAR PERMEABILITY. OVERALL, THE STUDIES HAVE FOUND A DYSREGULATION IN PATHWAYS/GENES INVOLVING INFLAMMATION, IMMUNE REGULATION, TISSUE REMODELING, STRUCTURAL PROTEINS, MUCIN SECRETION, ARACHIDONIC ACID METABOLISM, AND TRANSCRIPTION. CONCLUSIONS: EPIGENETIC STUDIES IN CRS SUBJECTS SUGGEST THAT THERE IS LIKELY A MAJOR IMPACT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. HOWEVER, THESE ARE ASSOCIATION STUDIES AND DO NOT DIRECTLY IMPLY PATHOGENESIS. LONGITUDINAL STUDIES IN GEOGRAPHICALLY AND RACIALLY DIVERSE POPULATION COHORTS ARE NECESSARY TO QUANTIFY GENETIC VS. ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS FOR CRSWNP AND CRS WITHOUT NASAL POLYPS AND ASSESS HERITABILITY RISK, AS WELL AS DEVELOP NOVEL BIOMARKERS AND THERAPEUTIC AGENTS. 2023 10 2771 37 EXTENSIVE PROMOTER DNA HYPERMETHYLATION AND HYPOMETHYLATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH ABERRANT MICRORNA EXPRESSION IN CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA. DYSREGULATED MICRORNA (MIRNA) EXPRESSION CONTRIBUTES TO THE PATHOGENESIS OF HEMATOPOIETIC MALIGNANCIES, INCLUDING CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (CLL). HOWEVER, AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANISMS THAT CAUSE ABERRANT MIRNA TRANSCRIPTIONAL CONTROL IS LACKING. IN THIS STUDY, WE COMPREHENSIVELY INVESTIGATED THE ROLE AND EXTENT OF MIRNA EPIGENETIC REGULATION IN CLL. GENOME-WIDE PROFILING CONDUCTED ON 24 CLL AND 10 HEALTHY B CELL SAMPLES REVEALED GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS UPSTREAM OF MIRNA SEQUENCES THAT DISTINGUISHED MALIGNANT FROM HEALTHY CELLS AND IDENTIFIED PUTATIVE MIRNA PROMOTERS. INTEGRATION OF DNA METHYLATION AND MIRNA PROMOTER DATA LED TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF 128 RECURRENT MIRNA TARGETS FOR ABERRANT PROMOTER DNA METHYLATION. DNA HYPOMETHYLATION ACCOUNTED FOR MORE THAN 60% OF ALL ABERRANT PROMOTER-ASSOCIATED DNA METHYLATION IN CLL, AND PROMOTER DNA HYPOMETHYLATION WAS RESTRICTED TO WELL-DEFINED REGIONS. INDIVIDUAL HYPER- AND HYPOMETHYLATED PROMOTERS ALLOWED DISCRIMINATION OF CLL SAMPLES FROM HEALTHY CONTROLS. PROMOTER DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS WERE CONFIRMED IN AN INDEPENDENT PATIENT COHORT, WITH 11 MIRNAS CONSISTENTLY SHOWING AN INVERSE CORRELATION BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION STATUS AND EXPRESSION LEVEL. TOGETHER, OUR FINDINGS CHARACTERIZE THE ROLE OF EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN THE REGULATION OF MIRNA TRANSCRIPTION AND CREATE A REPOSITORY OF DISEASE-SPECIFIC PROMOTER REGIONS THAT MAY PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS INTO THE PATHOGENESIS OF CLL. 2012 11 3440 38 HYPERMETHYLATION AND LOW TRANSCRIPTION OF TLR2 GENE IN CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS. PERIODONTITIS IS AN INFLAMMATORY DISORDER CHARACTERIZED BY INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PERIODONTAL PATHOGENS AND HOST'S IMMUNE RESPONSE. EPIGENETIC MAY CONTRIBUTE TO DISEASE DEVELOPMENT AND OUTCOME BY INFLUENCING THE EXPRESSION OF GENES INVOLVED IN THE IMMUNE RESPONSE. IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT TOLL-LIKE RECEPTORS (TLR) PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE RESPONSE TO PERIODONTOPATHIC BACTERIA. THE AIM OF STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE METHYLATION STATUS AND THE EXPRESSION OF TLR2 GENE IN GINGIVAL SAMPLES FROM INDIVIDUALS WITH AND WITHOUT PERIODONTITIS. DNA WAS ANALYZED USING THE METHYL PROFILER DNA METHYLATION QPCR ASSAY. DNA METHYLATION AND TRANSCRIPT LEVELS WERE EVALUATED BY REAL-TIME POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION. THE PERIODONTITIS GROUP SHOWED A HYPERMETHYLATED PROFILE AND A LOW EXPRESSION OF GENE. POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE TLR2 METHYLATION FREQUENCY AND PROBING DEPTH WAS OBSERVED. THIS STUDY GIVES THE FIRST EVIDENCE OF METHYLATION FREQUENCY IN INFLAMED PERIODONTAL TISSUES AND OF THE POSSIBLE PARTICIPATION OF METHYLATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERIODONTITIS. 2013 12 2406 39 EPIGENETIC RESPONSES TO RHINOVIRUS EXPOSURE IN AIRWAY EPITHELIAL CELLS ARE CORRELATED WITH KEY TRANSCRIPTIONAL PATHWAYS IN CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS. BACKGROUND: VIRUSES MAY DRIVE IMMUNE MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPOSIS (CRSWNP), BUT LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE UNDERLYING MOLECULAR MECHANISMS. OBJECTIVES: TO IDENTIFY EPIGENETIC AND TRANSCRIPTIONAL RESPONSES TO A COMMON UPPER RESPIRATORY PATHOGEN, RHINOVIRUS (RV), THAT ARE SPECIFIC TO PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP USING A PRIMARY SINONASAL EPITHELIAL CELL CULTURE MODEL. METHODS: AIRWAY EPITHELIAL CELLS WERE COLLECTED AT SURGERY FROM PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP (CASES) AND FROM CONTROLS WITHOUT SINUS DISEASE, CULTURED, AND THEN EXPOSED TO RV OR VEHICLE FOR 48 H. DIFFERENTIAL GENE EXPRESSION AND DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) BETWEEN CASES AND CONTROLS IN RESPONSE TO RV WERE DETERMINED USING LINEAR MIXED MODELS. WEIGHTED GENE CO-EXPRESSION ANALYSIS (WGCNA) WAS USED TO IDENTIFY (A) CO-REGULATED GENE EXPRESSION AND DNAM SIGNATURES, AND (B) GENES, PATHWAYS, AND REGULATORY MECHANISMS SPECIFIC TO CRSWNP. RESULTS: WE IDENTIFIED 5585 DIFFERENTIAL TRANSCRIPTIONAL AND 261 DNAM RESPONSES (FDR <0.10) TO RV BETWEEN CRSWNP CASES AND CONTROLS. THESE DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSES FORMED THREE CO-EXPRESSION/CO-METHYLATION MODULES THAT WERE RELATED TO CRSWNP AND THREE THAT WERE RELATED TO RV (BONFERRONI CORRECTED P < .01). MOST (95%) OF THE DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED CPGS (DMCS) WERE IN MODULES RELATED TO CRSWNP, WHEREAS THE DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES (DEGS) WERE MORE EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED BETWEEN THE CRSWNP- AND RV-RELATED MODULES. GENES IN THE CRSWNP-RELATED MODULES WERE ENRICHED IN KNOWN CRS AND/OR VIRAL RESPONSE IMMUNE PATHWAYS. CONCLUSION: RV ACTIVATES SPECIFIC EPIGENETIC PROGRAMS AND CORRELATED TRANSCRIPTIONAL NETWORKS IN THE SINONASAL EPITHELIUM OF INDIVIDUALS WITH CRSWNP. THESE NOVEL OBSERVATIONS SUGGEST EPIGENETIC SIGNATURES SPECIFIC TO PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP MODULATE RESPONSE TO VIRAL PATHOGENS AT THE MUCOSAL ENVIRONMENTAL INTERFACE. DETERMINING HOW VIRAL RESPONSE PATHWAYS ARE INVOLVED IN EPITHELIAL INFLAMMATION IN CRSWNP COULD LEAD TO THERAPEUTIC TARGETS FOR THIS BURDENSOME AIRWAY DISORDER. 2023 13 507 35 ASSOCIATION OF INCREASED DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE EXPRESSION WITH CARCINOGENESIS AND POOR PROGNOSIS IN PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMA. INTRODUCTION: EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MULTISTAGE CARCINOGENESIS. THE ROLE OF THE THREE FUNCTIONAL DNA METHYLTRANSFERASES (DNMTS) IN PANCREATIC CARCINOGENESIS HAS NOT BEEN FULLY UNDERSTOOD. THE MAIN GOAL OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EXAMINE DNMT EXPRESSION IN DIFFERENT STAGES OF PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMA (PDAC), AND EVALUATE THEIR PROGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE IN PDAC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A LARGE NUMBER OF PREMALIGNANT AND MALIGNANT PANCREATIC LESIONS WERE OBTAINED BY MANUAL MICRODISSECTION. QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME RT-PCR WAS USED TO DETECT DNMTS MRNA EXPRESSION. NONPARAMETRIC TEST, LOGRANK TEST AND COX REGRESSION ANALYSIS WERE USED TO EVALUATE THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF DNMT EXPRESSION. RESULTS: THE MRNA EXPRESSION OF THE THREE DNMTS INCREASED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF PANCREATIC CANCER FROM NORMAL DUCT TO PANCREATIC INTRADUCTAL NEOPLASIA AND FURTHER TO PDAC, AND WERE STATISTICALLY CORRELATED WITH EACH OTHER. EXPRESSION OF THE THREE DNMTS WAS STATISTICALLY CORRELATED WITH TNM STAGING AND HISTORY OF CHRONIC PANCREATITIS. DNMT3A AND DNMT3B, BUT NOT DNMT1 EXPRESSION, WAS STATISTICALLY CORRELATED WITH TUMOUR SIZE. PATIENTS WITH HIGHER LEVELS OF DNMT1, DNMT3A AND/OR DNMT3B EXPRESSION HAD AN OVERALL LOWER SURVIVAL THAN THOSE WITH LOWER LEVELS OF EXPRESSION. UNIVARIATE ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT HIGH EXPRESSION LEVELS OF DNMTS, ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION, TUMOUR DIFFERENTIATION AND TNM STAGING WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT RISK FACTORS. MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT HIGH LEVEL OF DNMT3B EXPRESSION AND TUMOUR DIFFERENTIATION WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT INDEPENDENT POOR PROGNOSTIC FACTORS. CONCLUSIONS: THESE RESULTS SUGGESTED THAT PANCREATIC CARCINOGENESIS INVOLVES AN INCREASED MRNA EXPRESSION OF THREE DNMTS, AND THEY MAY BECOME VALUABLE DIAGNOSTIC AND PROGNOSTIC MARKERS AS WELL AS POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC TARGETS FOR PANCREATIC CANCER. 2012 14 6589 38 TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR-ALPHA GENE PROMOTER METHYLATION IN JAPANESE ADULTS WITH CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS AND RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: OVER-EXPRESSION OF TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR-ALPHA (TNF-ALPHA) PLAYS A PATHOLOGICAL ROLE IN CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS (CP) AND RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (RA), WHICH MIGHT BE REGULATED BY THE EPIGENETIC MECHANISM. THE AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE WHETHER THERE IS A UNIQUE METHYLATION PROFILE OF THE TNF-ALPHA GENE PROMOTER IN BLOOD CELLS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH CP AND RA. MATERIAL AND METHODS: THE STUDY PARTICIPANTS CONSISTED OF 30 JAPANESE ADULTS WITH RA (RA GROUP), 30 RACE-MATCHED ADULTS WITH CP ONLY (CP GROUP) AND 30 RACE-MATCHED HEALTHY CONTROLS (H GROUP). GENOMIC DNA ISOLATED FROM PERIPHERAL BLOOD WAS MODIFIED BY SODIUM BISULFITE AND ANALYZED, BY DIRECT SEQUENCING, TO INVESTIGATE DNA METHYLATION OF THE TNF-ALPHA GENE PROMOTER REGION. THE LEVEL OF TNF-ALPHA PRODUCED IN MONONUCLEAR CELLS STIMULATED WITH PORPHYROMONAS GINGIVALIS LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE WAS DETERMINED USING ELISA. RESULTS: TWELVE CYTOSINE-GUANINE DINUCLEOTIDE (CPG) MOTIFS WERE IDENTIFIED IN THE TNF-ALPHA PROMOTER FRAGMENT FROM -343 TO +57 BP. THE CP GROUP SHOWED A SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER METHYLATION RATE AND FREQUENCY AT -72 BP THAN THE H GROUP (P < 0.01). THE RA GROUP EXHIBITED SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER METHYLATION RATES AT SEVEN CPG MOTIFS (-302, -163, -119, -72, -49, -38 AND +10 BP), AND SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER METHYLATION FREQUENCIES AT SIX CPG MOTIFS (-163, -119, -72, -49, -38 AND +10 BP), THAN THE H GROUP (P < 0.01 FOR ALL COMPARISONS). THE LEVELS OF TNF-ALPHA PRODUCED WERE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS WITH AND WITHOUT METHYLATION AT -163 BP (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT THE HYPERMETHYLATED STATUS OF CPG MOTIFS IN THE TNF-ALPHA GENE PROMOTER IN BLOOD CELLS MAY BE UNIQUE TO JAPANESE ADULTS WITH CP AND RA. 2016 15 353 36 ALTERED LEVELS OF IMMUNE-REGULATORY MICRORNAS IN PLASMA SAMPLES OF PATIENTS WITH LUPUS NEPHRITIS. INTRODUCTION: LUPUS NEPHRITIS (LN) IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY IN THE PATIENTS WITH LUPUS, A CHRONIC AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE. THE ROLE OF GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC FACTORS IS EMPHASIZED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF LN. THE AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE LEVELS OF IMMUNE-REGULATORY MICRORNAS (E.G., MIR-31, MIR-125A, MIR-142-3P, MIR-146A, AND MIR-155) IN PLASMA SAMPLES OF PATIENTS WITH LN. METHODS: IN THIS STUDY, 26 PATIENTS WITH LN AND 26 HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS WERE INCLUDED. THE PLASMA LEVELS OF THE MICRORNAS WERE EVALUATED BY A QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME PCR. MOREOVER, THE CORRELATION OF CIRCULATING PLASMA MICRORNAS WITH DISEASE ACTIVITY AND PATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS ALONG WITH THEIR ABILITY TO DISTINGUISH PATIENTS WITH LN WERE ASSESSED. RESULTS: PLASMA LEVELS OF MIR-125A (P = 0.048), MIR-146A (P = 0.005), AND MIR-155 (P< 0.001) WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN COMPARISON BETWEEN THE CASES AND CONTROLS. THE PLASMA LEVEL OF MIR-146A SIGNIFICANTLY CORRELATED WITH THE LEVEL OF ANTI-DOUBLE STRAND-DNA ANTIBODY AND PROTEINURIA. MOREOVER, THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION BETWEEN MIR-142-3P LEVELS AND DISEASE CHRONICITY AND ACTIVITY INDEX (P <0.05). THE MULTIVARIATE ROC CURVE ANALYSIS INDICATED THE PLASMA CIRCULATING MIR-125A, MIR-142-3P, MIR-146, AND MIR-155 TOGETHER COULD DISCRIMINATE MOST OF THE PATIENTS WITH LN FROM CONTROLS WITH AREA AN UNDER CURVE (AUC) OF 0.89 [95% CI, 0.80-0.98, P<0.001], 88% SENSITIVITY, AND 78% SPECIFICITY. CONCLUSION: BASED ON THE FINDINGS OF THE PRESENT STUDY, THE STUDIED MICRORNAS MAY BE INVOLVED IN THE PATHOGENESIS AND DEVELOPMENT OF LN AND HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BE USED AS DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC MARKERS IN LN. 2018 16 1297 43 DECREASED MRNA EXPRESSION LEVELS OF DNA METHYLTRANSFERASES TYPE 1 AND 3A IN SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS. OBJECTIVES: SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS (SLE) IS A CHRONIC RELAPSING AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE CHARACTERIZED BY THE PRESENCE OF AUTOANTIBODIES DIRECTED AGAINST NUCLEAR ANTIGENS AND BY CHRONIC INFLAMMATION. ALTHOUGH THE ETIOLOGY OF SLE REMAINS UNCLEAR, THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT FACTORS, WHICH IS LARGELY REFLECTED BY THE EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS, WITH DNA METHYLATION CHANGES IN PARTICULAR, IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED AS MAIN PLAYERS IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF SLE. WE STUDIED DNA METHYLTRANSFERASES' (DNMTS) TYPE 1, 3A AND 3B TRANSCRIPT LEVELS IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS FROM PATIENTS DIAGNOSED WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS AND FROM THE HEALTHY CONTROL SUBJECTS. FURTHERMORE, THE ASSOCIATION OF DNMT1, DNMT3A, AND DNMT3B MRNA LEVELS WITH GENDER, AGE, AND MAJOR CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS WAS ANALYZED. METHODS: PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS (PBMCS) WERE ISOLATED FROM 32 SLE PATIENTS AND 40 HEALTHY CONTROLS. REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION AND REAL-TIME QUANTITATIVE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (RT-QPCR) ANALYSES WERE USED TO DETERMINE DNMT1, DNMT3A, AND DNMT3B MRNA EXPRESSION LEVELS. RESULTS: SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER DNMT1 (P = 0.015543) AND DNMT3A (P = 0.003652) TRANSCRIPT LEVELS IN SLE PATIENTS WERE OBSERVED COMPARED WITH HEALTHY CONTROLS. NEVERTHELESS, THE DNMT3B MRNA EXPRESSION LEVELS WERE MARKEDLY LOWER COMPARED WITH DNMT1 AND DNMT3A, BOTH IN PBMCS FROM AFFECTED PATIENTS AND THOSE FROM CONTROL SUBJECTS. FURTHERMORE, THE DNMT1 TRANSCRIPT LEVELS WERE POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH SLE DISEASE ACTIVITY INDEX (SLEDAI) (R (S) = 0.4087, P = 0.020224), WHILE THE DNMT3A TRANSCRIPT LEVELS WERE NEGATIVELY CORRELATED WITH PATIENTS AGE (R (S) = -0.3765, P = 0.03369). CONCLUSIONS: OUR ANALYSES CONFIRMED THE IMPORTANCE OF EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS IN SLE ETIOLOGY. MOREOVER, OUR RESULTS SUGGEST THAT THE PRESENCE OF SOME CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS, SUCH AS PHOTOTOSENSITIVITY AND ARTHRITIS, MIGHT BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE DYSREGULATION OF DNA METHYLTRANSFERASES' MRNA EXPRESSION LEVELS. 2017 17 1620 32 DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE-MEDIATED TRANSCRIPTIONAL SILENCING IN MALIGNANT GLIOMA: A COMBINED WHOLE-GENOME MICROARRAY AND PROMOTER ARRAY ANALYSIS. EPIGENETIC INACTIVATION OF TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENES IS A COMMON FEATURE IN HUMAN CANCER. PROMOTER HYPERMETHYLATION AND HISTONE DEACETYLATION ARE REVERSIBLE EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS ASSOCIATED WITH TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION. DNA METHYLTRANSFERASES (DNMT1 AND DNMT3B) REGULATE AND MAINTAIN PROMOTER METHYLATION AND ARE OVEREXPRESSED IN HUMAN CANCER. WE PERFORMED WHOLE-GENOME MICROARRAY ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY GENES WITH ALTERED EXPRESSION AFTER RNAI-INDUCED SUPPRESSION OF DNMT IN A GLIOBLASTOMA MULTIFORME (GBM) CELL LINE. WE THEN IDENTIFIED GENES WITH BOTH DECREASED EXPRESSION AND EVIDENCE OF PROMOTER CPG ISLAND HYPERMETHYLATION IN GBM TISSUE SAMPLES USING A COMBINED WHOLE-GENOME MICROARRAY TRANSCRIPTOME ANALYSIS IN CONJUNCTION WITH A PROMOTER ARRAY ANALYSIS AFTER DNA IMMUNOPRECIPITATION WITH ANTI-5-METHYLCYTIDINE. DNMT1 AND 3B KNOCKDOWN RESULTED IN THE RESTORED EXPRESSION OF 308 GENES THAT ALSO CONTAINED PROMOTER REGION HYPERMETHYLATION. OF THESE, 43 WERE ALSO FOUND TO BE DOWNREGULATED IN GBM TISSUE SAMPLES. THREE DOWNREGULATED GENES WITH HYPERMETHYLATED PROMOTERS AND RESTORED EXPRESSION IN RESPONSE TO ACUTE DNMT SUPPRESSION WERE ASSAYED FOR METHYLATION CHANGES USING BISULFITE SEQUENCE ANALYSIS OF THE PROMOTER REGION AFTER CHRONIC DNMT SUPPRESSION. RESTORATION OF GENE EXPRESSION WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN PROMOTER REGION METHYLATION, BUT RATHER WITH CHANGES IN HISTONE METHYLATION AND CHROMATIN CONFORMATION. TWO OF THE IDENTIFIED GENES EXHIBITED GROWTH SUPPRESSIVE ACTIVITY IN IN VITRO ASSAYS. COMBINING TARGETED GENETIC MANIPULATIONS WITH COMPREHENSIVE GENOMIC AND EXPRESSION ANALYSES PROVIDES A POTENTIALLY POWERFUL NEW APPROACH FOR IDENTIFYING EPIGENETICALLY REGULATED GENES IN GBM. 2009 18 2019 35 EPIGENETIC CHANGE IN E-CADHERIN AND COX-2 TO PREDICT CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS. BACKGROUND: DNA METHYLATION OF CERTAIN GENES FREQUENTLY OCCURS IN NEOPLASTIC CELLS. ALTHOUGH THE CAUSE REMAINS UNKNOWN, MANY GENES HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED WITH SUCH ATYPICAL METHYLATION IN NEOPLASTIC CELLS. THE HYPERMETHYLATION OF E-CADHERIN AND CYCLOOXYGENASE 2 (COX-2) IN CHRONIC INFLAMMATION SUCH AS CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS MAY DEMONSTRATE MILD LESION/MUTATION EPIGENETIC LEVEL. THIS STUDY COMPARES THE HYPERMETHYLATION STATUS OF E-CADHERIN AND COX-2 GENES WHICH ARE OFTEN FOUND IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS WITH THAT IN CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS. METHODS: TOTAL DNA WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BLOOD SAMPLES OF 108 SYSTEMICALLY HEALTHY NON-PERIODONTITIS SUBJECTS, AND THE GINGIVAL TISSUES AND BLOOD SAMPLES OF 110 CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS PATIENT AS WELL AS NEOPLASTIC TISSUES OF 106 BREAST CANCER PATIENTS. METHYLATION-SPECIFIC PCR FOR E-CADHERIN AND COX-2 WAS PERFORMED ON THESE SAMPLES AND THE PCR PRODUCTS WERE ANALYZED ON 2% AGAROSE GEL. RESULTS: HYPERMETHYLATION OF E-CADHERIN AND COX-2 WAS OBSERVED IN 38% AND 35% OF THE BREAST CANCER SAMPLES, RESPECTIVELY. IN CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS PATIENTS THE DETECTION RATE WAS 25% AND 19% RESPECTIVELY, AND NONE WAS FOUND IN THE SYSTEMICALLY HEALTHY NON-PERIODONTITIS CONTROL SUBJECTS. THE HYPERMETHYLATION STATUS WAS SHOWN TO BE CORRELATED AMONG THE THREE GROUPS WITH STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE (P < 0.0001). THE METHYLATION OF CPG ISLANDS IN E-CADHERIN AND COX-2 GENES IN PERIODONTITIS PATIENTS OCCURS MORE FREQUENTLY IN PERIODONTITIS PATIENTS THAN IN THE CONTROL SUBJECTS, BUT OCCURS LESS FREQUENTLY THAN IN THE BREAST CANCER PATIENTS. CONCLUSIONS: THIS SET OF DATA SHOWS THAT THE EPIGENETIC CHANGE IN E-CADHERIN AND CYCLOOXYGENASE-2 IS ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS. THE EPIGENETIC CHANGES PRESENTED IN CHRONIC INFLAMMATION PATIENTS MIGHT DEMONSTRATE AN IRREVERSIBLE DESTRUCTION IN THE TISSUES OR ORGANS SIMILAR TO THE EFFECTS OF CANCER. CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS TO SOME EXTENT MIGHT BE ASSOCIATED WITH DNA HYPERMETHYLATION WHICH IS RELATED TO CANCER RISK FACTORS. 2010 19 2400 38 EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING OF IMMUNE CELLS IN WOMEN WITH PCOS IMPACT GENES CONTROLLING REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTION. CONTEXT: POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME (PCOS) IS A CHRONIC DISEASE AFFECTING REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTION AND WHOLE-BODY METABOLISM. ALTHOUGH THE ETIOLOGY IS UNCLEAR, EMERGING EVIDENCE INDICATES THAT THE EPIGENETICS MAY BE A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR. OBJECTIVE: TO DETERMINE THE ROLE OF GLOBAL AND GENOME-WIDE EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS IN SPECIFIC IMMUNE CELLS IN PCOS COMPARED WITH CONTROLS AND WHETHER THESE COULD BE RELATED TO CLINICAL FEATURES OF PCOS. DESIGN: CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY. PARTICIPANTS: WOMEN WITH (N = 17) OR WITHOUT PCOS (N = 17). SETTING: RECRUITED FROM THE GENERAL COMMUNITY. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ISOLATED PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS WERE ANALYZED USING MULTICOLOR FLOW CYTOMETRY METHODS TO DETERMINE GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION LEVELS IN A CELL-SPECIFIC FASHION. TRANSCRIPTOMIC AND GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION ANALYSES WERE PERFORMED ON T HELPER CELLS USING RNA SEQUENCING AND REDUCED REPRESENTATION BISULFITE SEQUENCING. RESULTS: WOMEN WITH PCOS HAD LOWER GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION IN MONOCYTES (P = 0.006) AND IN T HELPER (P = 0.004), T CYTOTOXIC (P = 0.004), AND B CELLS (P = 0.03). SPECIFIC GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION ANALYSIS OF T HELPER CELLS FROM WOMEN WITH PCOS IDENTIFIED 5581 DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED CPG SITES. FUNCTIONAL GENE ONTOLOGY ENRICHMENT ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT GENES LOCATED AT THE PROXIMITY OF DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED CPG SITES BELONG TO PATHWAYS RELATED TO REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTION AND IMMUNE CELL FUNCTION. HOWEVER, THESE GENES WERE NOT ALTERED AT THE TRANSCRIPTOMIC LEVEL. CONCLUSIONS: IT WAS SHOWN THAT PCOS IS ASSOCIATED WITH GLOBAL AND GENE-SPECIFIC DNA METHYLATION REMODELING IN A CELL TYPE-SPECIFIC MANNER. FURTHER INVESTIGATION IS WARRANTED TO DETERMINE WHETHER EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING OF IMMUNE CELLS IS IMPORTANT IN DETERMINING THE DIFFERENT PHENOTYPES OF PCOS. 2019 20 2762 31 EXPRESSION OF TET2 ENZYME INDICATES ENHANCED EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION OF CELLS IN PERIODONTITIS. DNA METHYLATION IS AN IMPORTANT EPIGENETIC MECHANISM INVOLVED IN THE REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION, AND A REDUCTION IN DNA METHYLATION INFLUENCES CELL-CYCLE PROGRESSION AND CELL DIFFERENTIATION IN INFLAMMATORY CELLS. THE AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO ANALYZE THE DNA-METHYLATION PATTERN AT LOCAL AND GLOBAL/SYSTEMIC LEVELS IN PATIENTS WITH PERIODONTITIS AND GINGIVITIS. TWENTY-ONE SUBJECTS WITH GENERALIZED, SEVERE PERIODONTITIS AND 17 SUBJECTS WITH GINGIVAL INFLAMMATION BUT NO ATTACHMENT LOSS WERE RECRUITED. GINGIVAL BIOPSIES AND PERIPHERAL BLOOD SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED AND PREPARED FOR IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF 5-METHYLCYTOSINE (5MC), 5-HYDROXYMETHYLCYTOSINE (5HMC), TEN-ELEVEN TRANSLOCATION 2 (TET2), AND DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE 1 (DNMT1). WHILST A SIMILAR PATTERN FOR 5MC AND 5HMC DNA METHYLATION WAS FOUND IN BOTH TYPES OF LESIONS, A SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER PROPORTION OF TET2-POSITIVE CELLS WAS FOUND IN PERIODONTITIS LESIONS THAN IN GINGIVITIS LESIONS. QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME PCR ANALYSIS SHOWED NO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GINGIVITIS AND PERIODONTITIS LESIONS REGARDING EXPRESSION OF TET2 AND ISOCITRATE DEHYDROGENASE (IDH) GENES, WHILE THE GLOBAL LEVEL OF 5HMC WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN BLOOD THAN IN TISSUE IN PATIENTS WITH PERIODONTITIS. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT EPIGENETIC CHANGES ARE MORE COMMON IN PERIODONTITIS LESIONS THAN IN GINGIVITIS LESIONS AND THAT SUCH CHANGES ARE TISSUE SPECIFIC. 2016