1 1792 130 EFFECT OF CHRONIC WESTERN DIETS ON NON-ALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER OF MALE MICE MODIFYING THE PPAR-GAMMA PATHWAY VIA MIR-27B-5P REGULATION. WESTERN DIETS CONTRIBUTE TO METABOLIC DISEASES. HOWEVER, THE EFFECTS OF VARIOUS DIETS AND EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS ARE MOSTLY UNKNOWN. HERE, SIX WEEK-OLD C57BL/6J MALE AND FEMALE MICE WERE FED WITH A LOW-FAT DIET (LFD), HIGH-FAT DIET (HFD), AND HIGH-FAT HIGH-FRUCTOSE DIET (HFD-HF) FOR 20 WEEKS. WE DETERMINED THAT HFD-HF OR HFD MICE EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT METABOLIC DYSREGULATION COMPARED TO THE LFD. HFD-HF AND HFD-FED MALE MICE SHOWED SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED BODY WEIGHT, LIVER SIZE, AND FASTING GLUCOSE LEVELS WITH DOWNREGULATED PPARGAMMA, SCD1, AND FAS PROTEIN EXPRESSION. IN CONTRAST, FEMALE MICE WERE LESS AFFECTED BY HFD AND HFD-HF. AS MIR-27B CONTAINS A SEED SEQUENCE IN PPARGAMMA, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THESE CHANGES ARE ACCOMPANIED BY MALE-SPECIFIC UPREGULATION OF MIR-27B-5P, WHICH IS EVEN MORE PRONOUNCED IN THE HFD-HF GROUP (P < 0.01 VS. LFD) COMPARED TO THE HFD GROUP (P < 0.05 VS. LFD). OTHER MIR-27 SUBTYPES WERE INCREASED BUT NOT SIGNIFICANTLY. HFD-HF SHOWED INSIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN FIBROSIS MARKERS WHEN COMPARED TO LFD. INTERESTINGLY, FAT BALLOONING IN HEPATOCYTES WAS INCREASED IN HFD-FED MICE COMPARED TO HFD-HF FED MICE, HOWEVER, THE HFD-HF LIVER SHOWED AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF SMALL CELLS. HERE, WE CONCLUDED THAT CHRONIC WESTERN DIET-COMPOSITION ADMINISTERED FOR 20 WEEKS MAY SURPASS THE NON-ALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER (NAFL) STAGE BUT MAY BE AT AN INTERMEDIATE STAGE BETWEEN FATTY LIVER AND FIBROSIS VIA MIR-27B-5P-INDUCED PPARGAMMA DOWNREGULATION. 2021 2 3237 44 HEPATIC COX-2 EXPRESSION PROTECTS MICE FROM AN ALCOHOL-HIGH FAT DIET-INDUCED METABOLIC DISORDER BY INVOLVING PROTEIN ACETYLATION RELATED ENERGY METABOLISM. PURPOSE: A DIET HIGH IN FAT AND ETHANOL OFTEN RESULTS IN CHRONIC METABOLIC DISORDER, HEPATIC STEATOSIS, AND LIVER INFLAMMATION. CONSTITUTIVE HEPATIC CYCLOOXYGENASE-2 (COX-2) EXPRESSION COULD PROTECT FROM HIGH FAT-INDUCED METABOLISM DISTURBANCE IN A MURINE MODEL. IN THIS STUDY, WE EXPLORED THE INFLUENCE OF HCOX-2 TRANSGENIC [TG] TO HIGH FAT WITH ETHANOL-INDUCED METABOLIC DISORDER AND LIVER INJURY USING A MOUSE ANIMAL MODEL. METHODS: 12-WEEK-OLD MALE HEPATIC HCOX-2 TRANSGENIC (TG) OR WILD TYPE MICE (WT) WERE FED EITHER A HIGH FAT AND ETHANOL LIQUID DIET (HF+ETH) OR A REGULAR CONTROL DIET (RCD) FOR 5 WEEKS (FOUR GROUPS: RCD/WT, RCD/TG; HF+ETH/TG, HF+ETH/WT). WE ASSESSED METABOLIC BIOMARKERS, CYTOKINE PROFILES, HISTOMORPHOLOGY, AND GENE EXPRESSION TO STUDY THE IMPACT OF PERSISTENT HEPATIC COX-2 EXPRESSION ON DIET-INDUCED LIVER INJURY. RESULTS: IN THE HF+ETH DIET, CONSTITUTIVELY HEPATIC HUMAN COX-2 EXPRESSION PROTECTS MICE FROM BODY WEIGHT GAIN AND WHITE ADIPOSE TISSUE ACCUMULATION, ACCOMPANIED BY IMPROVED IPGTT RESPONSE, SERUM TRIGLYCERIDE/CHOLESTEROL LEVELS, AND LOWER LEVELS OF SERUM AND LIVER INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES. HISTOLOGICALLY, HCOX-2 MICE SHOWED DECREASED HEPATIC LIPID DROPLETS ACCUMULATION, DECREASED HEPATOCYTE BALLOONING, AND IMPROVED STEATOSIS SCORES. HEPATIC HCOX-2 OVEREXPRESSION ENHANCED AKT INSULIN SIGNALING AND INCREASED FATTY ACID SYNTHESIS IN BOTH RCD AND HF+ETH DIET GROUPS. THE ANTI-LIPOGENIC EFFECT OF HCOX-2 TG IN THE HF+ETH DIET ANIMALS WAS MEDIATED BY INCREASING LIPID DISPOSAL THROUGH ENHANCED BETA-OXIDATION VIA ELEVATIONS IN THE EXPRESSION OF PPARALPHA AND PPARGAMMA, AND INCREASED HEPATIC AUTOPHAGY AS ASSESSED BY THE RATIO OF AUTOPHAGY MARKERS LC3 II/I IN HEPATIC TISSUE. VARIOUS PROTEIN ACETYLATION PATHWAY COMPONENTS, INCLUDING HAT, HDAC1, SIRT1, AND SNAIL1, WERE MODULATED IN HCOX-2 TG MICE IN EITHER RCD OR HF+ETH DIET. CONCLUSIONS: HEPATIC HUMAN COX-2 EXPRESSION PROTECTED MICE FROM THE METABOLIC DISORDER AND LIVER INJURY INDUCED BY A HIGH FAT AND ETHANOL DIET BY ENHANCING HEPATIC LIPID EXPENDITURE. EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING OF DIVERSE METABOLIC GENES MIGHT BE INVOLVED IN THE ANTI-LIPOGENIC EFFECT OF COX-2. 2021 3 1368 49 DEVELOPMENTAL ORIGINS OF DISEASE AND DETERMINANTS OF CHROMATIN STRUCTURE: MATERNAL DIET MODIFIES THE PRIMATE FETAL EPIGENOME. CHROMATIN STRUCTURE IS EPIGENETICALLY ALTERED VIA COVALENT MODIFICATIONS OF HISTONES TO ALLOW FOR HERITABLE GENE REGULATION WITHOUT ALTERING THE NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE. MULTIPLE LINES OF EVIDENCE FROM RODENTS HAVE ESTABLISHED A ROLE FOR EPIGENETIC REMODELING IN REGULATING GENE TRANSCRIPTION IN RESPONSE TO AN ALTERED GESTATIONAL MILIEU. HOWEVER, TO DATE, IT IS UNKNOWN WHETHER VARIATIONS IN THE INTRAUTERINE ENVIRONMENT IN PRIMATES SIMILARLY INDUCE CHANGES IN KEY DETERMINANTS OF HEPATIC CHROMATIN STRUCTURE. WE HYPOTHESIZED THAT A MATERNAL HIGH-FAT DIET WOULD ALTER THE EPIGENOMIC PROFILE OF THE DEVELOPING OFFSPRING, WHICH WOULD RESULT IN ALTERATIONS IN FETAL GENE EXPRESSION. AGE- AND WEIGHT-MATCHED ADULT FEMALE JAPANESE MACAQUES WERE PLACED ON CONTROL (13% FAT) OR HIGH-FAT (35% FAT) BREEDER DIETS AND MATED ANNUALLY OVER A 4-YEAR INTERVAL. FETUSES IN SUCCESSIVE YEARS WERE DELIVERED NEAR TERM (E130 OF 167 DAYS) AND UNDERWENT NECROPSY WITH TISSUE HARVEST. FETAL HISTONES WERE ACID EXTRACTED FOR CHARACTERIZATION OF H3 MODIFICATION AND CHROMATIN IMMUNOPRECIPITATION (CHIP) WITH DIFFERENTIAL DISPLAY PCR; FETAL RNA, DNA, AND CYTOPLASMIC AND NUCLEAR PROTEIN EXTRACTS WERE SIMILARLY EXTRACTED FOR COMPARISON. CHRONIC CONSUMPTION OF A MATERNAL HIGH-FAT DIET RESULTS IN A THREEFOLD INCREASE IN FETAL LIVER TRIGLYCERIDES AND HISTOLOGIC CORRELATES OF NON-ALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE. THESE GROSS CHANGES IN THE FETAL LIVER ARE ACCOMPANIED BY A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT HYPERACETYLATION OF FETAL HEPATIC TISSUE AT H3K14 (199.85+/-9.64 VS 88.8+/-45.4; P=0.038) WITH A TREND TOWARDS THE INCREASED ACETYLATION AT H3K9 (140.9+/-38.7 VS 46.6+/-6.53; P=0.097) AND AT H3K18 (69.0+/-3.54 VS 58.0+/-4.04; P=0.096). HOWEVER, EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS ON FETAL HEPATIC H3 ASSOCIATED WITH GENE REPRESSION WERE ABSENT OR SUBTLE (P>0.05). SUBSEQUENT CHARACTERIZATION OF KEY EPIGENETIC DETERMINANTS ASSOCIATED WITH H3 ACETYLATION MARKS REVEALED SIMILAR SIGNIFICANT ALTERATIONS IN ASSOCIATION WITH A HIGH-FAT MATERNAL DIET (E.G., RELATIVE FETAL HISTONE DEACETYLASE 1 (HDAC1) GENE EXPRESSION 0.61+/-0.25; P=0.011). CONSISTENT WITH OUR MRNA EXPRESSION PROFILE, FETAL NUCLEAR EXTRACTS FROM OFFSPRING OF HIGH-FAT DIET ANIMALS WERE OBSERVED TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY RELATIVELY DEPLETE OF HDAC1 PROTEIN (36.07+/-6.73 VS 83.18+/-7.51; P=0.006) AND IN VITRO HDAC FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITY (0.252+/-0.03 VS 0.698+/-0.02; P<0.001). WE EMPLOY THESE OBSERVATIONS IN CHIP DIFFERENTIAL DISPLAY PCR TO ATTEMPT TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL FETAL GENES WHOSE EXPRESSION IS REPROGRAMED UNDER CONDITIONS OF A HIGH-FAT MATERNAL DIET. WE QUANTITATIVELY CONFIRM A MINIMUM OF A 40% ALTERATION IN THE EXPRESSION OF SEVERAL GENES OF INTEREST: GLUTAMIC PYRUVATE TRANSAMINASE (ALANINE AMINOTRANSFERASE) 2 (GPT2) (1.59+/-0.23-FOLD; P=0.08), DNAJA2 (1.36+/-0.21; P=0.09), AND RDH12 (1.88+/-0.15; P=0.01) ARE APPRECIABLY INCREASED IN FETAL HEPATIC TISSUE FROM MATERNAL CALORIC-DENSE DIET ANIMALS WHEN COMPARED WITH CONTROL WHILE NPAS2, A PERIPHERAL CIRCADIAN REGULATOR, WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DOWNMODULATED IN THE OFFSPRING OF HIGH-FAT DIET ANIMALS (0.66+/-0.08; P=0.03). IN THIS STUDY, WE SHOW THAT A CURRENT SIGNIFICANT IN UTERO EXPOSURE (CALORIC-DENSE HIGH-FAT MATERNAL DIET) INDUCES SITE-SPECIFIC ALTERATIONS IN FETAL HEPATIC H3 ACETYLATION. EMPLOYING CHIP, WE EXTEND THESE OBSERVATIONS TO LINK MODIFICATIONS OF H3 ACETYLATION WITH ALTERATIONS IN GENE-SPECIFIC EXPRESSION. THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT A CALORIC-DENSE MATERNAL DIET LEADING TO OBESITY EPIGENETICALLY ALTERS FETAL CHROMATIN STRUCTURE IN PRIMATES VIA COVALENT MODIFICATIONS OF HISTONES AND HENCE LENDS A MOLECULAR BASIS TO THE FETAL ORIGINS OF ADULT DISEASE HYPOTHESIS. 2008 4 3238 41 HEPATIC EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING AFTER LIVER RESECTION IN OFFSPRING ALLEVIATES THE EFFECTS OF MATERNAL OBESITY. OBESITY HAS BECOME A PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM IN RECENT DECADES, AND DURING PREGNANCY, IT CAN LEAD TO AN INCREASED RISK OF GESTATIONAL COMPLICATIONS AND PERMANENT CHANGES IN THE OFFSPRING RESULTING FROM A PROCESS KNOWN AS METABOLIC PROGRAMMING. THE OFFSPRING OF OBESE DAMS ARE AT INCREASED RISK OF DEVELOPING NON-ALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE (NAFLD), EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF HIGH-FAT DIET CONSUMPTION. NAFLD IS A CHRONIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE THAT CAN PROGRESS TO EXTREMELY SEVERE CONDITIONS THAT REQUIRE SURGICAL INTERVENTION WITH THE REMOVAL OF THE INJURED TISSUE. LIVER REGENERATION IS NECESSARY TO PRESERVE ORGAN FUNCTION. A RANGE OF PATHWAYS IS ACTIVATED IN THE LIVER REGENERATION PROCESS, INCLUDING THE HIPPO, TGFBETA, AND AMPK SIGNALING PATHWAYS THAT ARE UNDER EPIGENETIC CONTROL. WE INVESTIGATED WHETHER MICRORNA MODULATION IN THE LIVER OF THE OFFSPRING OF OBESE DAMS WOULD IMPACT GENE EXPRESSION OF HIPPO, TGFBETA, AND AMPK PATHWAYS AND TISSUE REGENERATION AFTER PARTIAL HEPATECTOMY (PHX). FEMALE SWISS MICE FED A STANDARD CHOW OR A HIGH-FAT DIET (HFD) BEFORE AND DURING PREGNANCY AND LACTATION WERE MATED WITH MALE CONTROL MICE. THE OFFSPRING FROM CONTROL (CT-O) AND OBESE (HF-O) DAMS WEANED TO STANDARD CHOW DIET UNTIL DAY 56 WERE SUBMITTED TO PHX SURGERY. PRIOR TO THE SURGERY, HF-O PRESENTED ALTERATIONS IN MIR-122, MIR-370, AND LET-7A EXPRESSION IN THE LIVER COMPARED TO CT-O, AS PREVIOUSLY SHOWN, AS WELL AS IN ITS TARGET GENES INVOLVED IN LIVER REGENERATION. HOWEVER, AFTER THE PHX (4 H OR 48 H POST-SURGERY), DIFFERENCES IN GENE EXPRESSION BETWEEN CT-O AND HF-O WERE SUPPRESSED, AS WELL AS IN MICRORNA EXPRESSION IN THE LIVER. FURTHERMORE, BOTH CT-O AND HF-O PRESENTED A SIMILAR REGENERATIVE CAPACITY OF THE LIVER WITHIN 48 H AFTER PHX. OUR RESULTS SUGGEST THAT SURVIVAL AND REGENERATIVE MECHANISMS INDUCED BY THE PARTIAL HEPATECTOMY MAY OVERCOME THE EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN THE LIVER OF OFFSPRING PROGRAMMED BY MATERNAL OBESITY. 2022 5 1846 37 EFFECTS OF TWO TYPES OF ENERGY RESTRICTION ON METHYLATION LEVELS OF ADIPONECTIN RECEPTOR 1 AND LEPTIN RECEPTOR OVERLAPPING TRANSCRIPT IN A MOUSE MAMMARY TUMOUR VIRUS-TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR-ALPHA BREAST CANCER MOUSE MODEL. THE ROLE OF ADIPONECTIN AND LEPTIN SIGNALLING PATHWAYS HAS BEEN SUGGESTED TO PLAY IMPORTANT ROLES IN THE PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF ENERGY RESTRICTION (ER) ON MAMMARY TUMOUR (MT) DEVELOPMENT. TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF ER ON THE METHYLATION LEVELS IN ADIPONECTIN RECEPTOR 1 (ADIPOR1) AND LEPTIN RECEPTOR OVERLAPPING TRANSCRIPT (LEPROT) GENES USING THE PYROSEQUENCING METHOD IN MAMMARY FAT PAD TISSUE, MOUSE MAMMARY TUMOUR VIRUS-TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR-ALPHA (MMTV-TGF-ALPHA) FEMALE MICE WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO AD LIBITUM (AL), CHRONIC ER (CER, 15 % ER) OR INTERMITTENT ER (3 WEEKS AL AND 1 WEEK 60 % ER IN CYCLIC PERIODS) GROUPS AT 10 WEEKS OF AGE UNTIL 82 WEEKS OF AGE. THE METHYLATION LEVELS OF ADIPOR1 IN THE CER GROUP WERE HIGHER THAN THOSE IN THE AL GROUP AT WEEK 49/50 (P < 0.05), WHILE THE LEVELS OF METHYLATION FOR ADIPOR1 AND LEPROT GENES WERE SIMILAR AMONG THE OTHER GROUPS. ALSO, THE METHYLATION LEVELS AT CPG2 AND CPG3 REGIONS OF THE PROMOTER REGION OF THE ADIPOR1 GENE IN THE CER GROUP WERE THREE TIMES HIGHER (P < 0.05), WHILE CPG1 ISLAND OF LEPROT METHYLATION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER COMPARED WITH THE OTHER GROUPS (P < 0.05). ADIPONECTIN AND LEPTIN GENE EXPRESSION LEVELS WERE CONSISTENT WITH THE METHYLATION LEVELS. WE ALSO OBSERVED A CHANGE WITH AGEING IN METHYLATION LEVELS OF THESE GENES. THESE RESULTS INDICATE THAT DIFFERENT TYPES OF ER MODIFY METHYLATION LEVELS OF ADIPOR1 AND LEPROT IN DIFFERENT WAYS AND CER HAD A MORE SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON METHYLATION LEVELS OF BOTH GENES. EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF THESE GENES MAY PLAY IMPORTANT ROLES IN THE PREVENTIVE EFFECTS OF ER AGAINST MT DEVELOPMENT AND AGEING PROCESSES. 2021 6 1504 35 DNA METHYLATION AND HISTONE DEACETYLATION REGULATING INSULIN SENSITIVITY DUE TO CHRONIC COLD EXPOSURE. IN THIS STUDY, WE INVESTIGATED THE CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHRONIC COLD EXPOSURE AND INSULIN RESISTANCE AND THE MECHANISMS OF HOW DNA METHYLATION AND HISTONE DEACETYLATION REGULATE COLD-REDUCED INSULIN RESISTANCE. 46 ADULT MALE MICE FROM POSTNATAL DAY 90-180 WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO CONTROL GROUP AND COLD-EXPOSURE GROUP. MICE IN COLD-EXPOSURE GROUP WERE PLACED AT TEMPERATURE FROM -1 TO 4 DEGREES C FOR 30 DAYS TO MIMIC CHRONIC COLD ENVIRONMENT. THEN, FASTING BLOOD GLUCOSE, BLOOD INSULIN LEVEL AND INSULIN RESISTANCE INDEX WERE MEASURED WITH ENZYMATIC METHODS. IMMUNOFLUORESCENT LABELING WAS CARRIED OUT TO VISUALIZE THE INSULIN RECEPTOR SUBSTRATE 2 (IRS2), OBESE RECEPTOR (OB-R, A LEPTIN RECEPTOR), VOLTAGE-DEPENDENT ANION CHANNEL PROTEIN 1 (VDAC1), CYTOCHROME C (CYTC), 5-METHYLCYTOSINE (5-MC) POSITIVE CELLS IN HIPPOCAMPAL CA1 AREA. FURTHERMORE, THE EXPRESSIONS OF SOME PROTEINS MENTIONED ABOVE WERE DETECTED WITH WESTERN BLOT. THE RESULTS SHOWED: 1 IN CIRCLE CHRONIC COLD EXPOSURE COULD REDUCE THE INSULIN RESISTANCE INDEX (P < 0.01) AND INCREASE THE NUMBER OF IRS2 POSITIVE CELLS AND OB-R POSITIVE CELLS IN HIPPOCAMPUS (P < 0.01). 2 IN CIRCLE THE EXPRESSIONS OF MITOCHONDRIAL ENERGY-RELATIVE PROTEINS, VDAC1 AND CYTC, WERE HIGHER IN COLD-EXPOSURE GROUP THAN IN CONTROL GROUP WITH BOTH IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STAINING AND WESTERN BLOT (P < 0.01). 3 IN CIRCLE CHRONIC COLD EXPOSURE INCREASED DNA METHYLATION AND HISTONE DEACETYLATION IN THE PYRAMIDAL CELLS OF CA1 AREA AND LED TO AN INCREASE IN THE EXPRESSION OF HISTONE DEACETYLASE 1 (HDAC1) AND DNA METHYLATION RELATIVE ENZYMES (P < 0.01). IN CONCLUSION, CHRONIC COLD EXPOSURE CAN IMPROVE INSULIN SENSITIVITY, WITH THE INVOLVEMENT OF DNA METHYLATION, HISTONE DEACETYLATION AND THE REGULATION OF MITOCHONDRIAL ENERGY METABOLISM. THESE EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS PROBABLY FORM THE BASIC MECHANISM OF COLD-REDUCED INSULIN RESISTANCE. 2017 7 5205 31 PRENATAL STRESS CHANGES THE GLYCOPROTEIN GPM6A GENE EXPRESSION AND INDUCES EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN RAT OFFSPRING BRAIN. PRENATAL STRESS (PS) EXERTS STRONG IMPACT ON FETAL BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND ON ADULT OFFSPRING BRAIN FUNCTIONS. PREVIOUS WORK DEMONSTRATED THAT CHRONIC STRESS ALTERS THE MRNA EXPRESSION OF GPM6A, A NEURONAL GLYCOPROTEIN INVOLVED IN FILOPODIUM EXTENSION. IN THIS WORK, WE ANALYZED THE EFFECT OF PS ON GPM6A EXPRESSION AND THE EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS INVOLVED. PREGNANT WISTAR RATS RECEIVED RESTRAINT STRESS DURING THE LAST WEEK OF GESTATION. MALE OFFSPRING WERE SACRIFICED ON POSTNATAL DAYS 28 AND 60. HIPPOCAMPUS AND PREFRONTAL CORTEX SAMPLES WERE ANALYZED FOR GENE EXPRESSION (QPCR FOR MRNAS AND MICRORNAS), METHYLATION STATUS (BISULFITE CONVERSION) AND PROTEIN LEVELS. HIPPOCAMPAL NEURONS IN CULTURE WERE USED TO ANALYZE MICRORNA OVEREXPRESSION EFFECTS. PRENATAL STRESS INDUCED CHANGES IN GPM6A LEVELS IN BOTH TISSUES AND AT BOTH AGES ANALYZED, INDICATING A PERSISTENT EFFECT. TWO CPG ISLANDS IN THE GPM6A GENE WERE IDENTIFIED. VARIATIONS IN THE METHYLATION PATTERN AT THREE SPECIFIC CPGS WERE FOUND IN HIPPOCAMPUS, BUT NOT IN PFC SAMPLES FROM PS OFFSPRING. MICRORNAS PREDICTED TO TARGET GPM6A WERE IDENTIFIED IN SILICO. QPCR MEASUREMENTS SHOWED THAT PS MODIFIED THE EXPRESSION OF SEVERAL MICRORNAS IN BOTH TISSUES, BEING MICRORNA-133B THE MOST SIGNIFICANTLY ALTERED. FURTHER STUDIES OVEREXPRESSING THIS MICRORNA IN NEURONAL CULTURES SHOWED A REDUCTION IN GMP6A MRNA AND PROTEIN LEVEL. MOREOVER FILOPODIUM DENSITY WAS ALSO REDUCED, SUGGESTING THAT GPM6A FUNCTION WAS AFFECTED. GESTATIONAL STRESS AFFECTED GPM6A GENE EXPRESSION IN OFFSPRING LIKELY THROUGH CHANGES IN METHYLATION STATUS AND IN POSTTRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION BY MICRORNAS. THUS, OUR FINDINGS PROPOSE GPM6A AS A NOVEL TARGET FOR EPIGENETIC REGULATION DURING PRENATAL STRESS. 2014 8 155 32 ABERRANT METHYLATION OF POLO-LIKE KINASE CPG ISLANDS IN PLK4 HETEROZYGOUS MICE. BACKGROUND: HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC), ONE OF THE MOST COMMON CANCERS WORLD-WIDE OCCURS TWICE AS OFTEN IN MEN COMPARED TO WOMEN. PREDISPOSING CONDITIONS SUCH AS ALCOHOLISM, CHRONIC VIRAL HEPATITIS, AFLATOXIN B1 INGESTION, AND CIRRHOSIS ALL CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF HCC. METHODS: WE USED A COMBINATION OF METHYLATION SPECIFIC PCR AND BISULFITE SEQUENCING, QREAL-TIME PCR (QPCR), AND WESTERN BLOT ANALYSIS TO EXAMINE EPIGENETIC CHANGES FOR THE POLO-LIKE KINASES (PLKS) DURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC) IN PLK4 HETEROZYGOUS MICE AND MURINE EMBRYONIC FIBROBLASTS (MEFS). RESULTS: HERE WE REPORT THAT THE PROMOTER METHYLATION OF PLK4 CPG ISLANDS INCREASES WITH AGE, WAS MORE PREVALENT IN MALES AND THAT PLK4 EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION AND SUBSEQUENT DOWNREGULATION OF EXPRESSION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF HCC IN PLK4 MUTANT MICE. INTERESTINGLY, THE OPPOSITE OCCURS WITH ANOTHER PLK FAMILY MEMBER, PLK1 WHICH WAS TYPICALLY HYPERMETHYLATED IN NORMAL LIVER TISSUE BUT BECAME HYPOMETHYLATED AND UPREGULATED IN LIVER TUMOURS. FURTHERMORE, UPON ALCOHOL EXPOSURE MURINE EMBRYONIC FIBROBLASTS EXHIBITED INCREASED PLK4 HYPERMETHYLATION AND DOWNREGULATION ALONG WITH INCREASED CENTROSOME NUMBERS AND MULTINUCLEATION. CONCLUSIONS: THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT ABERRANT PLK METHYLATION IS CORRELATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF HCC IN MICE. 2011 9 658 29 BLOOD DNA METHYLATION PREDICTS DIABETIC KIDNEY DISEASE PROGRESSION IN HIGH FAT DIET-FED MICE. DIABETIC KIDNEY DISEASE (DKD) PROGRESSES AT DIFFERENT RATES AMONG PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS (T2D). EARLY IDENTIFICATION OF PATIENTS WITH A HIGHER RISK OF DKD PROGRESSION IS ESSENTIAL TO IMPROVE PROGNOSIS. EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS, PARTICULARLY DNA METHYLATION, HAVE BEEN INDEPENDENTLY IMPLICATED IN T2D AND CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE. THE CURRENT STUDY AIMED TO DETERMINE CHANGES IN BLOOD DNA METHYLATION THAT REFLECTS AND PREDICTS DKD PROGRESSION. C57BL/6 MICE WERE FED A HIGH-FAT DIET (HFD) FROM WEANING AND SUBCLASSIFIED INTO TWO GROUPS, HFD-1 AND HFD-2, ACCORDING TO URINARY KIDNEY INJURY MARKER KIM-1/CREATININE RATIOS (LOW VS. HIGH) AND HISTOLOGICAL ABNORMALITIES (MILD-MODERATE VS. ADVANCED). DNA METHYLATION PROFILES WERE DETERMINED BY REDUCED REPRESENTATIVE BISULFIDE SEQUENCING (RRBS). OUR RESULTS CONFIRMED EARLY AND ESTABLISHED DKD AT WEEK 9 AND WEEK 32, RESPECTIVELY. AT WEEK 32, ADVANCED KIDNEY INJURY WAS ASSOCIATED WITH DYSREGULATION OF METHYLATION AND DEMETHYLATION ENZYMES IN THE KIDNEY. BLOOD RRBS REVEALED 579 AND 203 DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED SITES (DMS) BETWEEN HFD-1 AND HFD-2 ANIMALS AT WEEK 32 AND WEEK 9, RESPECTIVELY, AMONG WHICH 11 WERE COMMON. THE DMS IN BLOOD AND KIDNEY AT WEEK 32 WERE BOTH RELATED TO ORGAN DEVELOPMENT, NEUROGENESIS, CELL JUNCTION, AND WNT SIGNALLING, WHILE THE DMS IN BLOOD AT WEEK 9 SUGGESTED A SPECIFIC ENRICHMENT OF KIDNEY DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES. IN CONCLUSION, OUR DATA STRONGLY SUPPORT THE IMPLICATION OF EARLY BLOOD DNA METHYLATION MODIFICATIONS AND DKD PROGRESSION IN T2D THAT COULD BE USED TO IMPROVE THE DISEASE'S PROGNOSTICATION. 2022 10 4089 40 MATERNAL OBESITY PROGRAMS SENESCENCE SIGNALING AND GLUCOSE METABOLISM IN OSTEO-PROGENITORS FROM RAT AND HUMAN. NUTRITIONAL STATUS DURING INTRAUTERINE AND EARLY POSTNATAL LIFE IMPACTS THE RISK OF CHRONIC DISEASES, PRESUMABLY VIA EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS. HOWEVER, EVIDENCE ON THE IMPACT OF GESTATIONAL EVENTS ON REGULATION OF EMBRYONIC BONE CELL FATE IS SPARSE. WE INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS OF MATERNAL OBESITY ON FETAL OSTEOBLAST DEVELOPMENT IN BOTH RODENTS AND HUMANS. FEMALE RATS WERE FED CONTROL OR AN OBESOGENIC HIGH-FAT DIET (HFD) FOR 12 WEEKS AND MATED WITH MALE RATS FED CONTROL DIETS, AND RESPECTIVE MATERNAL DIETS WERE CONTINUED DURING PREGNANCY. EMBRYONIC RAT OSTEOGENIC CALVARIAL CELLS (EOCCS) WERE TAKEN FROM GESTATIONAL DAY 18.5 FETUSES FROM CONTROL AND HFD DAMS. EOCCS FROM HFD OBESE DAMS SHOWED INCREASES IN P53/P21-MEDIATED CELL SENESCENCE SIGNALING BUT DECREASED GLUCOSE METABOLISM. DECREASED AEROBIC GLYCOLYSIS IN HFD-EOCCS WAS ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASED OSTEOBLASTIC CELL DIFFERENTIATION AND PROLIFERATION. UMBILICAL CORD HUMAN MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS (MSCS) FROM 24 PREGNANT WOMEN (12 OBESE AND 12 LEAN) ALONG WITH PLACENTAS WERE COLLECTED UPON DELIVERY. THE UMBILICAL CORD MSCS OF OBESE MOTHERS DISPLAYED LESS POTENTIAL TOWARD OSTEOBLASTOGENESIS AND MORE TOWARDS ADIPOGENESIS. HUMAN MSCS AND PLACENTA FROM OBESE MOTHERS ALSO EXHIBITED INCREASED CELL SENESCENCE SIGNALING, WHEREAS MSCS SHOWED DECREASED GLUCOSE METABOLISM AND INSULIN RESISTANCE. FINALLY, WE SHOWED THAT OVEREXPRESSION OF P53 LINKED INCREASED CELL SENESCENCE SIGNALING AND DECREASED GLUCOSE METABOLISM IN FETAL OSTEO-PROGENITORS FROM OBESE RATS AND HUMANS. THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST PROGRAMMING OF FETAL PREOSTEOBLASTIC CELL SENESCENCE SIGNALING AND GLUCOSE METABOLISM BY MATERNAL OBESITY. 2016 11 6008 40 THE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AGENT 5-ASA REDUCES THE LEVEL OF SPECIFIC TSRNAS IN SPERM CELLS OF HIGH-FAT FED C57BL/6J MOUSE SIRES AND IMPROVES GLUCOSE TOLERANCE IN FEMALE OFFSPRING. INTRODUCTION: THE PREVALENCE OF OBESITY AND ASSOCIATED COMORBIDITIES HAVE INCREASED TO EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS GLOBALLY. PATERNAL OBESITY IS AN INDEPENDENT RISK FACTOR FOR DEVELOPING OBESITY AND TYPE 2 DIABETES IN THE FOLLOWING GENERATION, AND GROWING EVIDENCE SUGGESTS EPIGENETIC INHERITANCE AS A MECHANISM FOR THIS PREDISPOSITION. HOW AND WHY OBESITY INDUCES EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN SPERM CELLS REMAIN TO BE CLARIFIED IN DETAIL. YET, RECENT STUDIES SHOW THAT ALTERATIONS IN SPERM CONTENT OF TRANSFER RNA-DERIVED SMALL RNAS (TSRNAS) CAN TRANSMIT THE EFFECTS OF PATERNAL OBESITY TO OFFSPRING. OBESITY IS CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH LOW-GRADE CHRONIC INFLAMMATION. THUS, WE EVALUATED WHETHER THE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AGENT 5-AMINOSALICYLIC ACID (5-ASA) COULD INTERVENE IN THE TRANSMISSION OF EPIGENETIC INHERITANCE OF PATERNAL OBESITY BY REDUCING THE INFLAMMATORY STATE IN OBESE FATHERS. METHODS: MALE C57BL/6JBOMTAC MICE WERE EITHER FED A HIGH-FAT DIET OR A HIGH-FAT DIET WITH 5-ASA FOR TEN WEEKS BEFORE MATING. THE OFFSPRING METABOLIC PHENOTYPE WAS EVALUATED, AND SPERMATOZOA FROM SIRES WERE ISOLATED FOR ASSESSMENT OF SPECIFIC TSRNAS LEVELS. RESULTS: 5-ASA INTERVENTION REDUCED THE LEVELS OF GLU-CTC TSRNAS IN SPERM CELLS AND IMPROVED GLUCOSE TOLERANCE IN FEMALE OFFSPRING FED A CHOW DIET. PATERNAL HIGH-FAT DIET-INDUCED OBESITY PER SE HAD ONLY A MODERATE IMPACT ON THE METABOLIC PHENOTYPE OF BOTH MALE AND FEMALE OFFSPRING IN OUR SETTING. CONCLUSION: THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT THE LOW-GRADE INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE ASSOCIATED WITH OBESITY MAY BE AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN EPIGENETIC INHERITANCE OF PATERNAL OBESITY. 2023 12 2427 33 EPIGENETIC SILENCING OF MICRORNA-125B-5P PROMOTES LIVER FIBROSIS IN NONALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE VIA INTEGRIN ALPHA8-MEDIATED ACTIVATION OF RHOA SIGNALING PATHWAY. BACKGROUND: NONALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE (NAFLD) IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON CHRONIC LIVER DISEASES THAT MAY PROGRESS TO LIVER FIBROSIS OR CANCER. THE PRESENT STUDY AIMED TO INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF MICRORNA-125B-5P (MIR-125B-5P) IN NAFLD AND TO FURTHER EXPLORE UNDERLYING MOLECULAR MECHANISMS. METHODS: A MOUSE MODEL OF NAFLD WAS CONSTRUCTED BY HIGH CHOLESTEROL DIET FEEDING AND A CELL-MODEL WAS DEVELOPED BY TREATING THE MOUSE LIVER CELL LINE NCTC1469 WITH PALMITIC ACID. GAIN- AND LOSS-OF-FUNCTION EXPERIMENTS WERE PERFORMED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF MIR-125B-5P, INTEGRIN ALPHA8 (ITGA8), AND THE RHOA SIGNALING PATHWAY ON LIVER FIBROSIS IN NAFLD. AFTER THE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF MIR-125B-5P, ITGA8, AND RHOA WERE DETERMINED, LIVER FIBROSIS WAS EVALUATED IN VIVO AND IN VITRO. THE BINDING RELATIONSHIP OF MIR-125B-5P AND ITGA8 WAS THEN VALIDATED. FINALLY, MIR-125B-5P PROMOTER METHYLATION IN NAFLD LIVER TISSUES AND CELLS WAS DETERMINED. RESULTS: IN NAFLD CLINICAL SAMPLES, MOUSE MODEL, AND CELL-MODEL, MIR-125B-5P EXPRESSION WAS REDUCED, WHILE ITGA8 EXPRESSION WAS INCREASED. MOREOVER, MIR-125B-5P TARGETED AND DOWNREGULATED ITGA8, LEADING TO INHIBITION OF THE RHOA SIGNALING PATHWAY. IN NAFLD LIVER TISSUES AND CELLS, THE CPG ISLAND IN THE MIR-125B-5P PROMOTER WAS METHYLATED, CAUSING EPIGENETIC SILENCING OF MIR-125B-5P. BOTH MIR-125B-5P SILENCING AND ITGA8 OVEREXPRESSION PROMOTED IN VITRO AND IN VIVO LIVER FIBROSIS IN NAFLD VIA ACTIVATION OF THE RHOA SIGNALING PATHWAY. CONCLUSIONS: COLLECTIVELY, EPIGENETIC SILENCING OF MIR-125B-5P UPREGULATES ITGA8 EXPRESSION TO ACTIVATE THE RHOA SIGNALING PATHWAY, LEADING TO LIVER FIBROSIS IN NAFLD. 2020 13 891 41 CHRONIC EFFECTS OF CLOFIBRIC ACID IN ZEBRAFISH (DANIO RERIO): A MULTIGENERATIONAL STUDY. CLOFIBRIC ACID (CA) IS AN ACTIVE METABOLITE OF THE BLOOD LIPID LOWERING AGENT CLOFIBRATE, A PHARMACEUTICAL DESIGNED TO WORK AS AGONIST OF PEROXISOME PROLIFERATOR-ACTIVATED RECEPTOR ALPHA (PPARA). IT IS THE MOST COMMONLY REPORTED FIBRATE IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS WITH LOW DEGRADATION RATE AND POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL PERSISTENCE. PREVIOUS FISH EXPOSURES SHOWED THAT CA MAY IMPACT SPERMATOGENESIS, GROWTH AND THE EXPRESSION OF FAT BINDING PROTEIN GENES. HOWEVER, THERE ARE LIMITED DATA ON THE EFFECTS OF CHRONIC MULTIGENERATIONAL CA EXPOSURES. HERE, WE ASSESSED CHRONIC MULTIGENERATIONAL EFFECTS OF CA EXPOSURE USING ZEBRAFISH (DANIO RERIO) AS A TELEOST MODEL. ZEBRAFISH WERE EXPOSED THROUGH THE DIET TO CA (1 AND 10MG/G) DURING THEIR WHOLE LIFETIME. GROWTH, REPRODUCTION-RELATED PARAMETERS AND EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT WERE ASSESSED IN THE EXPOSED FISH (F1 GENERATION) AND THEIR OFFSPRING (F2 GENERATION), TOGETHER WITH MUSCLE TRIGLYCERIDE CONTENT AND GONAD HISTOLOGY. IN ORDER TO STUDY THE POTENTIAL UNDERLYING MECHANISMS, THE TRANSCRIPTION LEVELS OF GENES CODING FOR ENZYMES INVOLVED IN LIPID METABOLISM PATHWAYS WERE DETERMINED. THE RESULTS SHOW THAT CHRONIC LIFE-CYCLE EXPOSURE TO CA INDUCED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN GROWTH OF F1 GENERATION AND LOWERED TRIGLYCERIDE MUSCLE CONTENT (10MG/G GROUP). ALSO, AN IMPACT IN MALE GONAD DEVELOPMENT WAS OBSERVED TOGETHER WITH A DECREASE IN THE FECUNDITY (10MG/G GROUP) AND HIGHER FREQUENCY OF EMBRYO ABNORMALITIES IN THE OFFSPRING OF FISH EXPOSED TO THE LOWEST CA DOSE. THE PROFILE OF THE TARGET GENES WAS SEX- AND TISSUE-DEPENDENT. IN F1 AN UP-REGULATION OF MALE HEPATIC PPARAA, PPARB AND ACOX TRANSCRIPT LEVELS WAS OBSERVED, SUGGESTING AN ACTIVATION OF THE FATTY ACID METABOLISM (PROVIDED THAT TRANSCRIPT LEVEL CHANGE INDICATES ALSO A PROTEIN LEVEL CHANGE). INTERESTINGLY, THE F2 GENERATION, RAISED WITH CONTROL DIET, DISPLAYED A RESPONSE PATTERN DIFFERENT FROM THAT OBSERVED IN F1, SHOWING AN INCREASE IN WEIGHT IN THE DESCENDANTS OF CA EXPOSED FISH, IN COMPARISON WITH CONTROL ANIMALS, WHICH POINTS TO A MULTIGENERATIONAL EFFECT. 2015 14 663 29 BLOOD ORANGE JUICE INTAKE MODULATES PLASMA AND PBMC MICRORNA EXPRESSION IN OVERWEIGHT AND INSULIN-RESISTANT WOMEN: IMPACT ON MAPK AND NFKAPPAB SIGNALING PATHWAYS. BLOOD ORANGE CONSUMPTION PRESENTS POTENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS AND MAY MODULATE EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS SUCH AS MICRORNAS (MIRNAS) EXPRESSION. MIRNAS ARE NON-CODING RNAS RESPONSIBLE FOR POST-TRANSCRIPTIONAL GENE REGULATION, AND THESE MOLECULES CAN ALSO BE USED AS BIOMARKERS IN BODY FLUIDS. THIS STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF CHRONIC BLOOD ORANGE JUICE (BOJ) INTAKE ON THE INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE AND MIRNA EXPRESSION PROFILE IN PLASMA AND BLOOD CELLS IN OVERWEIGHT WOMEN. THE STUDY COHORT WAS COMPRISED OF TWENTY WOMEN AGED 18-40 YEARS OLD, DIAGNOSED AS OVERWEIGHT, WHO CONSUMED 500 ML/D OF BOJ FOR FOUR WEEKS. CLINICAL DATA WERE COLLECTED AT BASELINE AND AFTER 4 WEEKS OF JUICE CONSUMPTION, E.G., ANTHROPOMETRIC AND HEMODYNAMIC PARAMETERS, FOOD INTAKE, BLOOD CELL COUNT, AND METABOLIC AND INFLAMMATORY BIOMARKERS. BOJ SAMPLES WERE ANALYZED AND CHARACTERIZED. ADDITIONALLY, PLASMA AND BLOOD CELLS WERE ALSO COLLECTED FOR MIRNA EXPRESSION PROFILING AND EVALUATION OF THE EXPRESSION OF GENES AND PROTEINS IN THE MAPK AND NFKAPPAB SIGNALING PATHWAYS. BOJ INTAKE INCREASED THE EXPRESSION OF MIR-144-3P IN PLASMA AND THE EXPRESSION OF MIR-424-5P, MIR-144-3P, AND MIR-130B-3P IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS (PBMC). CONVERSELY, THE BEVERAGE INTAKE DECREASED THE EXPRESSION OF LET-7F-5P AND MIR-126-3P IN PBMC. COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSES IDENTIFIED DIFFERENT TARGETS OF THE DYSREGULATED MIRNA ON INFLAMMATORY PATHWAYS. FURTHERMORE, BOJ INTAKE INCREASED VITAMIN C CONSUMPTION AND THE PJNK/JNK RATIO AND DECREASED THE EXPRESSION OF IL6 MRNA AND NFKAPPAB PROTEIN. THESE RESULTS DEMONSTRATE THAT BOJ REGULATES THE EXPRESSION OF GENES INVOLVED IN THE INFLAMMATORY PROCESS AND DECREASES NFSMALL KA, CYRILLICB-PROTEIN EXPRESSION IN PBMC. 2023 15 3206 39 HDAC9 IS AN EPIGENETIC REPRESSOR OF KIDNEY ANGIOTENSINOGEN ESTABLISHING A SEX DIFFERENCE. BACKGROUND: SEXUAL DIFFERENCE HAS BEEN SHOWN IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE INDUCED BY HYPERTENSION. FEMALES ARE PROTECTED FROM HYPERTENSION AND RELATED END-ORGAN DAMAGE. AUGMENTATION OF RENAL PROXIMAL TUBULAR ANGIOTENSINOGEN (AGT) EXPRESSION CAN PROMOTE INTRARENAL ANGIOTENSIN FORMATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF ASSOCIATED HYPERTENSION AND KIDNEY INJURY. FEMALE RODENTS EXHIBIT LOWER INTRARENAL AGT LEVELS THAN MALES UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS, SUGGESTING THAT THE SUPPRESSED INTRARENAL AGT PRODUCTION BY PROGRAMMED MECHANISMS IN FEMALES MAY PROVIDE PROTECTION FROM THESE DISEASES. THIS STUDY WAS PERFORMED TO EXAMINE WHETHER EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS SERVE AS REPRESSORS OF AGT. METHODS: MALE AND FEMALE SPRAGUE DAWLEY RATS WERE USED TO INVESTIGATE SEX DIFFERENCES OF SYSTEMIC, HEPATIC, AND INTRARENAL AGT LEVELS. ALL HISTONE DEACETYLASE (HDAC) MRNA LEVELS IN THE KIDNEYS WERE DETERMINED USING A PCR ARRAY. HDAC9 PROTEIN EXPRESSION IN THE KIDNEYS AND CULTURED RENAL PROXIMAL TUBULAR CELLS (PTC) WAS ANALYZED BY WESTERN BLOT ANALYSIS AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY. THE EFFECTS OF HDAC9 ON AGT EXPRESSION WERE EVALUATED BY USING AN INHIBITOR AND SIRNA. CHIP ASSAY WAS PERFORMED TO INVESTIGATE THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE AGT PROMOTER AND HDAC9. RESULTS: PLASMA AND LIVER AGT LEVELS DID NOT SHOW DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE SPRAGUE-DAWLEY RATS. IN CONTRAST, FEMALES EXHIBITED LOWER AGT LEVELS THAN MALES IN THE RENAL CORTEX AND URINE. IN THE ABSENCE OF SUPPLEMENTED SEX HORMONES, PRIMARY CULTURED RENAL CORTICAL CELLS ISOLATED FROM FEMALE RATS SUSTAINED LOWER AGT LEVELS THAN THOSE FROM MALES, SUGGESTING THAT THE KIDNEYS HAVE A UNIQUE MECHANISM OF AGT REGULATION CONTROLLED BY EPIGENETIC FACTORS RATHER THAN SEX HORMONES. HDAC9 MRNA AND PROTEIN LEVELS WERE HIGHER IN THE RENAL CORTEX OF FEMALE RATS VERSUS MALE RATS (7.09 +/- 0.88, RATIO TO MALE) WHILE OTHER HDACS DID NOT EXHIBIT A SEX DIFFERENCE. HDAC9 EXPRESSION WAS LOCALIZED IN PTC WHICH ARE THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF INTRARENAL AGT. IMPORTANTLY, HDAC9 KNOCKDOWN AUGMENTED AGT MRNA (1.92 +/- 0.35-FOLD) AND PROTEIN (2.25 +/- 0.50-FOLD) LEVELS, SIMILAR TO AN HDAC9 INHIBITOR. FURTHERMORE, AN INTERACTION BETWEEN HDAC9 AND A DISTAL 5' FLANKING REGION OF AGT VIA A HISTONE COMPLEX CONTAINING H3 AND H4 WAS DEMONSTRATED. CONCLUSIONS: THESE RESULTS INDICATE THAT HDAC9 IS A NOVEL SUPPRESSING FACTOR INVOLVED IN AGT REGULATION IN PTC, LEADING TO LOW LEVELS OF INTRARENAL AGT IN FEMALES. THESE FINDINGS WILL HELP TO DELINEATE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HYPERTENSION AND RENIN-ANGIOTENSIN SYSTEM (RAS) ASSOCIATED KIDNEY INJURY. 2017 16 1295 31 DECREASED GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION IN THE WHITE BLOOD CELLS OF HIGH FAT DIET FED VERVET MONKEYS (CHLOROCEBUS AETHIOPS). EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANY CHRONIC DISEASES AND DUE TO THEIR REVERSIBLE NATURE OFFER A UNIQUE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY TO REVERSE THE DISEASE PHENOTYPE. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED WHETHER GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION CORRELATES WITH DYSGLYCEMIA IN THE VERVET MONKEY (CHLOROCEBUS AETHIOPS). DIET-INDUCED CHANGES IN DNA METHYLATION WERE OBSERVED WHERE GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION WAS TWOFOLD LOWER IN MONKEYS FED A HIGH FAT DIET (N = 10) COMPARED TO MONKEYS FED A STANDARD DIET (N = 15). AN INVERSE CORRELATION WAS OBSERVED BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION, BLOOD GLUCOSE CONCENTRATIONS, BODYWEIGHT, AND AGE, ALTHOUGH THE ASSOCIATION WAS NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. CONSUMPTION OF A HIGH FAT DIET IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF METABOLIC DISEASE; THUS, THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THE USE OF GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION AS A BIOMARKER TO ASSESS THE RISK FOR METABOLIC DISEASE. MOREOVER, THIS STUDY PROVIDES FURTHER SUPPORT FOR THE USE OF THE VERVET MONKEY AS A MODEL SYSTEM TO STUDY METABOLIC DISEASES SUCH AS TYPE 2 DIABETES. INTEGRATION OF ALTERED DNA METHYLATION PROFILES INTO PREDICTIVE MODELS COULD FACILITATE RISK STRATIFICATION AND ENABLE INTERVENTION STRATEGIES TO INHIBIT DISEASE PROGRESSION. SUCH INTERVENTIONS COULD INCLUDE LIFESTYLE MODIFICATIONS, FOR EXAMPLE, THE INCREASED CONSUMPTION OF FUNCTIONAL FOODS WITH THE CAPACITY TO MODULATE DNA METHYLATION, THUS POTENTIALLY REVERSING THE DISEASE PHENOTYPE AND PREVENTING DISEASE. 2014 17 6794 35 [EFFECT OF BENZO(A)PYRENE ON THE EXPRESSION OF AHR-REGULATED MICRORNA IN FEMALE AND MALE RAT LUNGS]. SMOKING IS THE MAIN RISK FACTOR FOR LUNG CANCER, MAINLY DUE TO PRESENCE OF NITROSAMINES AND POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS, INCLUDING BENZO[A]PYRENE (BP) IN TOBACCO SMOKE COMPOSITION. THE GENOTOXIC EFFECT OF BP IS BASED ON THE HIGH DNA-BINDING ABILITY OF ITS METABOLITES, WHILE THE EPIGENETIC EFFECTS ARE MEDIATED BY A CHANGE IN THE EXPRESSION OF CANCER RELATED GENES OR REGULATORY RNAS. IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT WOMEN HAVE A HIGHER RISK TO DEVELOP LUNG CANCER UPON SMOKING RATHER THAN MEN. WE HYPOTHESIZED THAT CROSSTALK BETWEEN SIGNALING PATHWAYS ACTIVATED BY BP AND ESTROGENS COULD UNDERLIE THE SEX-DEPENDENT DIFFERENCES IN MIRNAS EXPRESSION. TO TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS, MALE AND FEMALE RATS WERE SUBJECTED TO SHORT-TERM OR LONG-TERM BP EXPOSURE. USING IN SILICO ANALYSIS, MIRNAS CONTAINING THE ER- AND AHR-BINDING SITES IN THE PROMOTERS OF THE GENES (OR HOST GENES) WERE SELECTED. DURING CHRONIC EXPOSURE OF BP THE EXPRESSION OF MIR-22-3P, -29A-3P, -126A-3P, -193B-5P IN THE LUNGS OF MALE RATS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED, WHILE THE LEVEL OF MIRNA-483-3P WERE DECREASED. EXPRESSION OF MIRNA-483-3P WAS UP-REGULATED DURING CHRONIC BP EXPOSURE IN THE LUNGS OF FEMALE RATS AND THE LEVELS OF OTHER STUDIED MIRNAS WERE UNCHANGED. IN TURN, CHANGES IN THE EXPRESSION OF MIRNAS WERE FOLLOWED BY CHANGES IN THE EXPRESSION OF THEIR TARGET GENES, INCLUDING PTEN, EMP2, IGF1, ITGA6, SLC34A2, AND THE OBSERVED CHANGES IN FEMALE AND MALE RAT LUNGS WERE VARIED. THUS, OUR RESULTS SUGGEST THAT SEX-DEPENDENT EPIGENETIC EFFECTS OF BP MAY BE BASED ON DIFFERENT EXPRESSION OF AHR- AND ER- REGULATED MIRNAS. 2020 18 5092 27 PLACENTAL EPIGENETIC MARKS RELATED TO GESTATIONAL WEIGHT GAIN REVEAL POTENTIAL GENES ASSOCIATED WITH OFFSPRING OBESITY PARAMETERS. OBJECTIVE: OFFSPRING EXPOSED TO GESTATIONAL OBESITY HAVE AN INCREASED RISK FOR CHRONIC DISEASES. INCREASING EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT EPIGENETICS MAY PLAY A MECHANISTIC ROLE IN METABOLIC PROGRAMMING. THIS STUDY AIMED TO IDENTIFY PLACENTAL DNA METHYLATION MARKS ASSOCIATED WITH GESTATIONAL WEIGHT GAIN (GWG) AND TO STUDY THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH OFFSPRING OBESITY PARAMETERS AT SCHOOL AGE. METHODS: A GLOBAL METHYLATION ARRAY WAS PERFORMED IN 24 PLACENTAS FROM MOTHERS WITH DIFFERENT DEGREES OF GWG (SCREENING SAMPLE). THE METHYLATION PERCENTAGE OF FOUR CYTOSINE-GUANINE (CPG) SITES AND THE RELATIVE EXPRESSION OF THE RESPECTIVE ANNOTATED GENES WERE STUDIED IN 90 ADDITIONAL PLACENTAS (VALIDATION SAMPLE). ASSOCIATIONS OF THESE EPIGENETIC MARKS WITH CLINICAL PARAMETERS IN THE OFFSPRING AT 6 YEARS OF AGE WERE EXAMINED. RESULTS: THE SCREENING ANALYSIS IDENTIFIED 104 CPG SITES (97 GENES) ASSOCIATED WITH GWG. THE VALIDATION ANALYSIS OF FOUR SELECTED CPG SITES (ANNOTATING FOR FRAT1, SNX5, AND KCNK3 GENES) SHOWED THAT THE UPREGULATION OF SNX5 METHYLATION, THE DOWNREGULATION OF FRAT1 METHYLATION, AND KCNK3 UNDEREXPRESSION ASSOCIATED WITH AN ADVERSE METABOLIC PHENOTYPE IN CHILDREN OF WOMEN WITH INCREASED GWG. CONCLUSIONS: THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT PLACENTAL REGULATION OF FRAT1, SNX5, AND KCNK3 RELATES TO OBESITY PARAMETERS IN OFFSPRING EXPOSED TO EXCESSIVE GWG AND THEREBY COULD CONDITION THE RISK FOR FUTURE METABOLIC DISORDERS. 2023 19 3354 37 HISTONE DEMETHYLATION PROFILES IN NONALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE AND PROGNOSTIC VALUES IN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA: A BIOINFORMATIC ANALYSIS. NONALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE (NAFLD) IS THE MOST COMMON CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE WITH MULTIFACTORIAL PATHOGENESIS; HISTONE DEMETHYLASES (HDMS) ARE EMERGING AS ATTRACTIVE TARGETS. WE IDENTIFIED HDM GENES (INCLUDING KDM5C, KDM6B, KDM8, KDM4A, AND JMJD7) THAT WERE DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED IN NAFLD AND NORMAL SAMPLES BY EXPLORING GENE EXPRESSION PROFILING DATASETS. THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE EXPRESSION OF GENES RELATED TO HISTONE DEMETHYLATION BETWEEN MILD AND ADVANCED NAFLD. IN VITRO AND IN VIVO STUDIES INDICATED THAT KDM6B AND JMJD7 WERE UPREGULATED AT THE MRNA LEVEL IN NAFLD. WE EXPLORED THE EXPRESSION LEVELS AND PROGNOSTIC VALUES OF THE IDENTIFIED HDM GENES IN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC). KDM5C AND KDM4A WERE UPREGULATED IN HCC COMPARED TO NORMAL TISSUE, WHILE KDM8 SHOWED DOWNREGULATION. THE ABNORMAL EXPRESSION LEVELS OF THESE HDMS COULD PROVIDE PROGNOSTIC VALUES. FURTHERMORE, KDM5C AND KDM4A WERE ASSOCIATED WITH IMMUNE CELL INFILTRATION IN HCC. HDMS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH CELLULAR AND METABOLIC PROCESSES AND MAY BE INVOLVED IN THE REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION. DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED HDM GENES IDENTIFIED IN NAFLD MAY PROVIDE VALUE TO UNDERSTANDING PATHOGENESIS AND IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF EPIGENETIC THERAPEUTIC TARGETS. HOWEVER, ON THE BASIS OF THE INCONSISTENT RESULTS OF IN VITRO STUDIES, FUTURE IN VIVO EXPERIMENTS COMBINED WITH TRANSCRIPTOMIC ANALYSIS ARE NEEDED FOR FURTHER VALIDATION. 2023 20 2395 36 EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING IN MIST1(-/-) MICE PREDICTS THE MOLECULAR RESPONSE TO CERULEIN-INDUCED PANCREATITIS. GENE EXPRESSION IS AFFECTED BY MODIFICATIONS TO HISTONE CORE PROTEINS WITHIN CHROMATIN. CHANGES IN THESE MODIFICATIONS, OR EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING, CAN DICTATE CELL FATE AND PROMOTE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISEASE. THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT OF EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING IN RESPONSE TO CHRONIC STRESS THAT OCCURS FOLLOWING ABLATION OF MIST1 (MIST1(-/-) ), WHICH IS REPRESSED IN PANCREATIC DISEASE. CHROMATIN IMMUNOPRECIPITATION FOR TRIMETHYLATION OF LYSINE RESIDUE 4 ON HISTONE 3 (H3K4ME3) IN PURIFIED ACINAR CELLS FROM WILD TYPE AND MIST1(-/-) MICE WAS FOLLOWED BY NEXT GENERATION SEQUENCING (CHIP-SEQ) OR CHIP-QPCR. H3K4ME3-ENRICHED GENES WERE ASSESSED FOR EXPRESSION BY QRT-PCR IN PANCREATIC TISSUE BEFORE AND AFTER INDUCTION OF CERULEIN-INDUCED PANCREATITIS. WHILE MOST OF H3K4ME3-ENRICHMENT IS RESTRICTED TO TRANSCRIPTIONAL START SITES, >25% OF ENRICHMENT SITES ARE FOUND WITHIN, DOWNSTREAM OR BETWEEN ANNOTATED GENES. LESS THAN 10% OF THESE SITES WERE ALTERED IN MIST1(-/-) ACINI, WITH MOST CHANGES IN H3K4ME3 ENRICHMENT NOT REFLECTING ALTERED GENE EXPRESSION. INGENUITY PATHWAY ANALYSIS OF GENES DIFFERENTIALLY-ENRICHED FOR H3K4ME3 REVEALED AN ASSOCIATION WITH PANCREATITIS AND PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMA IN MIST1(-/-) TISSUE. MOST OF THESE GENES WERE NOT DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED BUT SEVERAL WERE READILY INDUCED BY ACUTE EXPERIMENTAL PANCREATITIS, WITH SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED EXPRESSION IN MIST1(-/-) TISSUE RELATIVE TO WILD TYPE MICE. WE SUGGEST THAT THE CHRONIC CELL STRESS OBSERVED IN THE ABSENCE OF MIST1 RESULTS IN EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING OF GENES INVOLVED IN PROMOTING PANCREATITIS TO A POISED STATE, THEREBY INCREASING THE SENSITIVITY TO EVENTS THAT PROMOTE DISEASE. 2014