1 1843 108 EFFECTS OF TELOMERASE INHIBITOR ON EPIGENETIC CHROMATIN MODIFICATION ENZYMES IN MALIGNANCIES. TELOMERASE HAS A CRITICAL ROLE IN CELL PROLIFERATION, TUMOR MAINTAINING, AND THERAPY RESISTANCE, WHICH ACT BY MODIFYING MANY SIGNALING PATHWAYS. 2-[(E)-3-NAPHTALEN-2-YL-BUT-2-ENOYLAMINO]-BENZOIC ACID (BIBR1532) IS ONE OF THE MOST STUDIED TELOMERASE INHIBITORS, AND IT TARGETS TELOMERASE COMPONENTS TERC AND TERT. IN THIS NOVEL STUDY, WE AIMED TO INVESTIGATE THE EPIGENETIC EFFECTS OF BIBR1532 ON BOTH HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES AND SOLID TUMORS. K-562 HUMAN CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA CELL LINE AND U87MG GLIOBLASTOMA CELL LINE WERE COMPARED WITH CONTROL GROUPS WITHOUT BIBR1532 TREATMENT. CYTOTOXIC EFFECTS OF BIBR1532 WERE DETERMINED BY USING WST-1 ASSAY. APOPTOTIC EFFECTS OF BIBR1532 WERE DETECTED BY USING ANNEXIN V METHOD. TO ASSESS EXPRESSION CHANGES IN THE HUMAN EPIGENETIC CHROMATIN MODIFICATION ENZYME GENES, TOTAL RNA WAS ISOLATED FROM K-562 AND U87MG CELLS TREATED WITH BIBR1532 AND UNTREATED CONTROL CELLS. BIBR1532 INDUCED 2.41-FOLD APOPTOTIC CELL DEATH IN U87MG CELL LINES COMPARED WITH CONTROL GROUPS. APOPTOSIS WAS SLIGHTLY INDUCED IN K-562 CELLS WITH BIBR1532 TREATMENT COMPARED WITH CONTROL CELLS. WE OBSERVED THAT BIBR1532 ALSO REGULATES SIMILAR GENES IN BOTH CELL LINES, AND IT IS USEFUL ON EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS. AS A RESULT, TELOMERASE INHIBITOR BIBR1532 HAS A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON BOTH HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES AND SOLID TUMORS.	2018	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
2 5775  34 SPERMIDINE/SPERMINE N(1)-ACETYLTRANSFERASE ACTIVITY ASSOCIATES WITH WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT IN MYELOID LEUKEMIAS. THE METABOLISM OF POLYAMINES, THE CATIONIC SMALL MOLECULES ESSENTIAL FOR CELL PROLIFERATION AND DIFFERENTIATION, IS ALTERED IN CANCER CELLS AND CAN BE EXPLOITED IN CANCER DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPY. SPERMIDINE/SPERMINE N(1)-ACETYLTRANSFERASE (SSAT), WHICH REGULATES INTRACELLULAR LEVELS OF POLYAMINES BY CATABOLIZING SPERMIDINE AND SPERMINE, HAS A CONTROVERSIAL ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CANCERS. IN THIS STUDY, THE POLYAMINE METABOLISM AND FUNCTION OF SSAT WERE CHARACTERIZED IN ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA (AML), CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA (CML), AND ACUTE LYMPHOID LEUKEMIA PATIENT SAMPLES. ALSO, MICE OVEREXPRESSING SSAT AND HAVING A MYELOPROLIFERATIVE PHENOTYPE WERE ANALYZED FOR THEIR RESPONSE TO DECITABINE AND HISTONE DEACETYLASE INHIBITOR TRICHOSTATIN A. THE PRESENCE OF EPIGENETIC FACTORS IN THE BONE MARROW CELLS OF SSAT MICE WAS ANALYZED. ELEVATED LEVELS OF SPERMIDINE AND SPERMINE, AS WELL AS INCREASED ACTIVITY OF SSAT, WERE DETECTED IN AML, CML, AND ACUTE LYMPHOID LEUKEMIA PATIENTS COMPARED WITH THE CONTROLS. HOWEVER, WE FOUND SSAT ACTIVITY TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT ONLY IN AML AND CML PATIENTS. DECITABINE TREATMENT BROUGHT THE PERIPHERAL BLOOD AND BONE MARROW CELL COUNTS OF SSAT MICE TO THE LEVEL OF WILD-TYPE MICE. SPERMIDINE/SPERMINE N(1)-ACETYLTRANSFERASE MICE HAD INCREASED HISTONE METHYLATION AND AN INCREASED LEVEL OF HISTONE DEACETYLASE 1 IN THEIR BONE MARROW CELLS. THE STUDY SUGGESTS THAT SSAT INFLUENCES THE DEVELOPMENT OF MYELOID MALIGNANCIES, AND EPIGENETIC FACTORS PARTLY CONTRIBUTE TO THE SSAT OVEREXPRESSION-INDUCED MYELOPROLIFERATIVE DISEASE IN MICE.	2014	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
3 5934  37 TARGETING FEATURES OF CURAXIN CBL0137 ON HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES IN VITRO AND IN VIVO. THE ANTICANCER ACTIVITY OF CURAXIN CBL0137, A DNA-BINDING SMALL MOLECULE WITH CHROMATIN REMODULATING EFFECT, HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED IN DIFFERENT CANCERS. HEREIN, A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF CBL0137 ACTIVITY WAS PERFORMED IN RESPECT TO ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA (AML), ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA (ALL), CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA AND MULTIPLE MYELOMA (MM) CULTURED IN VITRO. MTT ASSAY SHOWED AML AND MM HIGHER SENSITIVITY TO CBL0137'S CYTOSTATIC EFFECT COMPARATIVELY TO OTHER HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCY CELLS. FLOW CYTOMETRY CELL CYCLE ANALYSIS REVEALED AN INCREASE IN SUBG1 AND G2/M POPULATIONS AFTER CBL0137 CELL TREATMENT, BUT THE PREVALENT TYPE OF ARREST VARIED. APOPTOSIS ACTIVATION BY CBL0137 MEASURED BY ANNEXIN-V/PI DUAL STAINING WAS MORE ACTIVE IN AML AND MM CELLS. RT2 PCR ARRAY SHOWED THAT CHANGES CAUSED BY CBL0137 IN SIGNALING PATHWAYS INVOLVED IN CANCER PATHOGENESIS WERE MORE INTENSIVE IN AML AND MM CELLS. ON THE MURINE MODEL OF AML WEHI-3, CBL0137 SHOWED SIGNIFICANT ANTICANCER EFFECTS IN VIVO, WHICH WERE EVALUATED BY CORRESPONDING CHANGES IN SPLEEN AND LIVER. THUS, MORE PRONOUNCED ANTICANCER EFFECTS OF CBL0137 IN VITRO WERE OBSERVED IN RESPECT TO AML AND MM. EXPERIMENTS IN VIVO ALSO INDICATED THE PERSPECTIVE OF CBL0137 USE FOR AML TREATMENT. THIS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FRONTLINE TREATMENT APPROACH IN AML USING EPIGENETIC DRUGS.	2023	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
4 1950  30 EPIGENETIC ACTIVATION OF TENSIN 4 PROMOTES GASTRIC CANCER PROGRESSION. GASTRIC CANCER (GC) IS A COMPLEX DISEASE INFLUENCED BY MULTIPLE GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC FACTORS. CHRONIC INFLAMMATION CAUSED BY HELICOBACTER PYLORI INFECTION AND DIETARY RISK FACTORS CAN RESULT IN THE ACCUMULATION OF ABERRANT DNA METHYLATION IN GASTRIC MUCOSA, WHICH PROMOTES GC DEVELOPMENT. TENSIN 4 (TNS4), A MEMBER OF THE TENSIN FAMILY OF PROTEINS, IS LOCALIZED TO FOCAL ADHESION SITES, WHICH CONNECT THE EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX AND CYTOSKELETAL NETWORK. WE IDENTIFIED UPREGULATION OF TNS4 IN GC USING QUANTITATIVE REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION PCR WITH 174 PAIRED SAMPLES OF GC TUMORS AND ADJACENT NORMAL TISSUES. TRANSCRIPTIONAL ACTIVATION OF TNS4 OCCURRED EVEN DURING THE EARLY STAGE OF TUMOR DEVELOPMENT. TNS4 DEPLETION IN GC CELL LINES THAT EXPRESSED HIGH TO MODERATE LEVELS OF TNS4, I.E., SNU-601, KATO III, AND MKN74, REDUCED CELL PROLIFERATION AND MIGRATION, WHEREAS ECTOPIC EXPRESSION OF TNS4 IN THOSE LINES THAT EXPRESSED LOWER LEVELS OF TNS4, I.E., SNU-638, MKN1, AND MKN45 INCREASED COLONY FORMATION AND CELL MIGRATION. THE PROMOTER REGION OF TNS4 WAS HYPOMETHYLATED IN GC CELL LINES THAT SHOWED UPREGULATION OF TNS4. WE ALSO FOUND A SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN TNS4 EXPRESSION AND CPG METHYLATION IN 250 GC TUMORS BASED ON THE CANCER GENOME ATLAS (TCGA) DATA. THIS STUDY ELUCIDATES THE EPIGENETIC MECHANISM OF TNS4 ACTIVATION AND FUNCTIONAL ROLES OF TNS4 IN GC DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESSION AND SUGGESTS A POSSIBLE APPROACH FOR FUTURE GC TREATMENTS.	2023	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
5 1067  33 CLINICAL UTILITY OF PDSS2 EXPRESSION TO STRATIFY PATIENTS AT RISK FOR RECURRENCE OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA. IDENTIFICATION OF NOVEL GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS IS REQUIRED FOR OPTIMAL STRATIFICATION OF PATIENTS WITH HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC) AT RISK FOR RECURRENCE AND ADVERSE PROGNOSIS. COENZYME Q10 (COQ10), WHICH MEDIATES APOPTOSIS, IS SYNTHESIZED BY PRENYL DIPHOSPHATE SYNTHASE SUBUNIT 2 (PDSS2). IN THE PRESENT STUDY WE EVALUATED THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND REGULATORY MECHANISMS OF PDSS2 EXPRESSION IN HCC. PDSS2 EXPRESSION LEVELS AND THOSE OF GENES ENCODING POTENTIALLY INTERACTING PROTEINS AS WELL AS THE METHYLATION STATUS OF THE PDSS2 PROMOTER REGION WERE ANALYZED IN HCC CELL LINES. PDSS2 MRNA LEVELS IN 151 PAIRS OF RESECTED SPECIMENS WERE DETERMINED TO EVALUATE THE ASSOCIATION OF PDSS2 EXPRESSION AND CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL FACTORS. THE EXPRESSION AND DISTRIBUTION OF PDSS2 WERE DETERMINED USING IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY. PDSS2 MRNA EXPRESSION WAS DECREASED IN SIX OF NINE HCC CELL LINES AND SIGNIFICANTLY CORRELATED WITH THOSE OF HEPATOCYTE NUCLEAR FACTOR 4ALPHA. PDSS2 TRANSCRIPTION IN HCC CELLS WITH DECREASED PDSS2 EXPRESSION ACCOMPANYING HYPERMETHYLATION WAS REACTIVATED AFTER TREATING THESE CELLS WITH A METHYLATION INHIBITOR. MEAN EXPRESSION LEVELS OF PDSS2 MRNA RELATIVE TO THAT OF UNINVOLVED LIVER DIMINISHED GRADUALLY IN THE ORDER OF CHRONIC HEPATITIS TO CIRRHOSIS, AND EACH WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN THOSE OF HCCS. PDSS2 AND PDSS2 MRNA LEVELS WERE CONSISTENT. DECREASED PDSS2 MRNA LEVELS WERE DETECTED IN HCC TISSUES OF 56 PATIENTS, CORRELATED WITH SHORTER DISEASE-SPECIFIC SURVIVAL, AND WAS IDENTIFIED AS AN INDEPENDENT PROGNOSTIC FACTOR. PDSS2 IS A PUTATIVE TUMOR SUPPRESSOR, AND PROMOTER HYPERMETHYLATION IS A KEY REGULATORY MECHANISM IN HCC. DECREASED LEVELS OF PDSS2 MRNA EXPRESSION MAY REPRESENT A NOVEL BIOMARKER OF HCC.	2014	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
6 2763  27 EXPRESSION OF THE LEUKEMIC PROGNOSTIC MARKER CD7 IS LINKED TO EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS IN CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA. BACKGROUND: EXPRESSION LEVELS OF THE CELL SURFACE GLYCOPROTEIN, CD7, AND THE SERINE PROTEASE, ELASTASE 2 (ELA2), IN THE LEUKEMIC CELLS OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA (CML) HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH CLINICAL OUTCOME. HOWEVER, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE MECHANISMS THAT UNDERLIE THE VARIABLE EXPRESSION OF THESE GENES IN THE LEUKEMIC CELLS. RESULTS: TO ADDRESS THIS QUESTION, WE COMPARED THE LEVEL OF THEIR EXPRESSION WITH THE DNA METHYLATION AND HISTONE ACETYLATION STATUS OF 5' SEQUENCES OF BOTH GENES IN LEUKEMIC CELL LINES AND PRIMITIVE (LIN-CD34+) LEUKEMIC CELLS FROM CHRONIC PHASE CML PATIENTS. DNA METHYLATION OF THE ELA2 GENE PROMOTER DID NOT CORRELATE WITH ITS EXPRESSION PATTERN IN LIN-CD34+ CELLS FROM CHRONIC PHASE CML PATIENT SAMPLES EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS CLEAR DIFFERENTIAL DNA METHYLATION OF THIS LOCUS IN ELA2-EXPRESSING AND NON-EXPRESSING CELL LINES. IN CONTRAST, WE FOUND A STRONG RELATION BETWEEN CD7 EXPRESSION AND TRANSCRIPTION-PERMISSIVE CHROMATIN MODIFICATIONS, BOTH AT THE LEVEL OF DNA METHYLATION AND HISTONE ACETYLATION WITH EVIDENCE OF HYPOMETHYLATION OF THE CD7 PROMOTER REGION IN THE LIN-CD34+ CELLS FROM CML PATIENTS WITH HIGH CD7 EXPRESSION. CONCLUSION: THESE FINDINGS INDICATE A LINK BETWEEN EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS AND CD7 EXPRESSION IN PRIMITIVE CML CELLS.	2010	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
7 1668  37 DOWNREGULATION OF SOCS1 INCREASES INTERFERON-INDUCED ISGYLATION DURING DIFFERENTIATION OF INDUCED-PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS TO HEPATOCYTES. BACKGROUND & AIMS: INCREASED EXPRESSION OF IFN-STIMULATED GENE 15 (ISG15) AND SUBSEQUENTLY INCREASED ISGYLATION ARE KEY FACTORS IN THE HOST RESPONSE TO VIRAL INFECTION. IN THIS STUDY, WE SOUGHT TO CHARACTERIZE THE EXPRESSION OF ISG15, ISGYLATION, AND ASSOCIATED ENZYMES AT EACH STAGE OF DIFFERENTIATION FROM INDUCED PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS (IPSCS) TO HEPATOCYTES. METHODS: TO STUDY THE REGULATION OF ISGYLATION, WE UTILIZED PATIENT SAMPLES AND IN VITRO CELL CULTURE MODELS INCLUDING IPSCS, HEPATOCYTES-LIKE CELLS, IMMORTALIZED CELL LINES, AND PRIMARY HUMAN HEPATOCYTES. PROTEIN/MRNA EXPRESSION WERE MEASURED FOLLOWING TREATMENT WITH POLY(I:C), IFNALPHA AND HCV INFECTION. RESULTS: WHEN COMPARED TO HLCS, WE OBSERVED SEVERAL NOVEL ASPECTS OF THE ISGYLATION PATHWAY IN IPSCS. THESE INCLUDE A LOWER BASELINE EXPRESSION OF THE ISGYLATION-ACTIVATING ENZYME, UBE1L, A LACK OF IFN-INDUCED EXPRESSION OF THE ISGYLATION-CONJUGATION ENZYME UBE2L6, AN ATTENUATED ACTIVATION OF THE TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR STAT1 AND CONSTITUTIVE EXPRESSION OF SOCS1. ISGYLATION WAS OBSERVED IN IPSCS FOLLOWING DOWNREGULATION OF SOCS1, WHICH FACILITATED STAT1 ACTIVATION AND SUBSEQUENTLY INCREASED EXPRESSION OF UBE2L6. INTRIGUINGLY, HCV PERMISSIVE TRANSFORMED HEPATOMA CELL LINES DEMONSTRATED HIGHER INTRINSIC EXPRESSION OF SOCS1 AND WEAKER ISGYLATION FOLLOWING IFN TREATMENT. SOCS1 DOWNREGULATION IN HCV-INFECTED HUH 7.5.1 CELLS LED TO INCREASED ISGYLATION. CONCLUSIONS: HEREIN, WE SHOW THAT HIGH BASAL LEVELS OF SOCS1 INHIBIT STAT1 ACTIVATION AND SUBSEQUENTLY IFN-INDUCED UBE2L6 AND ISGYLATION IN IPSCS. FURTHERMORE, AS IPSCS DIFFERENTIATE INTO HEPATOCYTES, EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS REGULATE ISGYLATION BY MODIFYING UBE1L AND SOCS1 EXPRESSION LEVELS. OVERALL, THIS STUDY DEMONSTRATES THAT THE DEVELOPMENT OF CELL-INTRINSIC INNATE IMMUNITY DURING THE DIFFERENTIATION OF IPSCS TO HEPATOCYTES PROVIDES INSIGHT INTO CELL TYPE-SPECIFIC REGULATION OF HOST DEFENSE RESPONSES AND RELATED ONCOGENIC PROCESSES. IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS: TO ELUCIDATE THE MECHANISM UNDERLYING REGULATION OF ISGYLATION, A KEY PROCESS IN THE INNATE IMMUNE RESPONSE, WE STUDIED CHANGES IN ISGYLATION-ASSOCIATED GENES AT THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF DIFFERENTIATION FROM IPSCS TO HEPATOCYTES. WE FOUND THAT HIGH BASAL LEVELS OF SOCS1 INHIBIT STAT1 ACTIVATION AND SUBSEQUENTLY IFN-INDUCED UBE2L6 AND ISGYLATION IN IPSCS. IMPORTANTLY, EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF SOCS1 AND SUBSEQUENTLY ISGYLATION MAY BE IMPORTANT FACTORS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CELL TYPE-SPECIFIC HOST DEFENSE RESPONSES IN HEPATOCYTES THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WHEN STUDYING CHRONIC INFECTIONS AND ONCOGENIC PROCESSES IN THE LIVER.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
8 2080  26 EPIGENETIC DNA METHYLATION OF EBI3 MODULATES HUMAN INTERLEUKIN-35 FORMATION VIA NFKB SIGNALING: A PROMISING THERAPEUTIC OPTION IN ULCERATIVE COLITIS. ULCERATIVE COLITIS (UC), A SEVERE CHRONIC DISEASE WITH UNCLEAR ETIOLOGY THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED RISK FOR COLORECTAL CANCER, IS ACCOMPANIED BY DYSREGULATION OF CYTOKINES. EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS-INDUCED GENE 3 (EBI3) ENCODES A SUBUNIT IN THE UNIQUE HETERODIMERIC IL-12 CYTOKINE FAMILY OF EITHER PRO- OR ANTI-INFLAMMATORY FUNCTION. AFTER HAVING RECENTLY DEMONSTRATED THAT UPREGULATION OF EBI3 BY HISTONE ACETYLATION ALLEVIATES DISEASE SYMPTOMS IN A DEXTRAN SULFATE SODIUM (DSS)-TREATED MOUSE MODEL OF CHRONIC COLITIS, WE NOW AIMED TO EXAMINE A POSSIBLE FURTHER EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF EBI3 BY DNA METHYLATION UNDER INFLAMMATORY CONDITIONS. TREATMENT WITH THE DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE INHIBITOR (DNMTI) DECITABINE (DAC) AND TNFALPHA LED TO SYNERGISTIC UPREGULATION OF EBI3 IN HUMAN COLON EPITHELIAL CELLS (HCEC). USE OF DIFFERENT SIGNALING PATHWAY INHIBITORS INDICATED NFKAPPAB SIGNALING WAS NECESSARY AND PROPORTIONAL TO THE SYNERGISTIC EBI3 INDUCTION. MALDI-TOF/MS AND HPLC-ESI-MS/MS ANALYSIS OF DAC/TNFALPHA-TREATED HCEC IDENTIFIED IL-12P35 AS THE MOST PROBABLE BINDING PARTNER TO FORM A FUNCTIONAL PROTEIN. EBI3/IL-12P35 HETERODIMERS (IL-35) INDUCE THEIR OWN GENE UPREGULATION, SOMETHING THAT WAS INDEED OBSERVED IN HCEC CULTURED WITH MEDIA FROM PREVIOUSLY DAC/TNFALPHA-TREATED HCEC. THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT UNDER INFLAMMATORY AND DEMETHYLATING CONDITIONS THE UPREGULATION OF EBI3 RESULTS IN THE FORMATION OF ANTI-INFLAMMATORY IL-35, WHICH MIGHT BE CONSIDERED AS A THERAPEUTIC TARGET IN COLITIS.	2021	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
9  368  37 AMYLOID BETA-MEDIATED EPIGENETIC ALTERATION OF INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH FACTOR BINDING PROTEIN 3 CONTROLS CELL SURVIVAL IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. SWEDISH DOUBLE MUTATION (KM670/671NL) OF AMYLOID PRECURSOR PROTEIN (APP) IS REPORTED TO INCREASE TOXIC AMYLOID BETA (ABETA) PRODUCTION VIA ABERRANT CLEAVAGE AT THE BETA-SECRETASE SITE AND THEREBY CAUSE EARLY-ONSET ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (AD). HOWEVER, THE UNDERLYING MOLECULAR MECHANISMS LEADING TO AD PATHOGENESIS REMAINS LARGELY UNKNOWN. PREVIOUSLY, OUR TRANSCRIPTOME SEQUENCE ANALYSES REVEALED GLOBAL EXPRESSIONAL MODIFICATIONS OF OVER 600 GENES IN APP-SWEDISH MUTANT-EXPRESSING H4 (H4-SW) CELLS COMPARED TO WILD TYPE H4 CELLS. INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH FACTOR BINDING PROTEIN 3 (IGFBP3) IS ONE GENE THAT SHOWED SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED MRNA EXPRESSION IN H4-SW CELLS. IN THIS STUDY, WE INVESTIGATED THE FUNCTIONAL ROLE OF IGFBP3 IN AD PATHOGENESIS AND ELUCIDATED THE MECHANISMS REGULATING ITS EXPRESSION. WE OBSERVED DECREASED IGFBP3 EXPRESSION IN THE H4-SW CELL LINE AS WELL AS THE HIPPOCAMPUS OF AD MODEL TRANSGENIC MICE. TREATMENT WITH EXOGENOUS IGFBP3 PROTEIN INHIBITED ABETA1-42- INDUCED CELL DEATH AND CASPASE-3 ACTIVITY, WHEREAS SIRNA-MEDIATED SUPPRESSION OF IGFBP3 EXPRESSION INDUCED CELL DEATH AND CASPASE-3 CLEAVAGE. IN PRIMARY HIPPOCAMPAL NEURONS, ADMINISTRATION OF IGFBP3 PROTEIN BLOCKED APOPTOTIC CELL DEATH DUE TO ABETA1-42 TOXICITY. THESE DATA IMPLICATE A PROTECTIVE ROLE FOR IGFBP3 AGAINST ABETA1-42-MEDIATED APOPTOSIS. NEXT, WE INVESTIGATED THE REGULATORY MECHANISMS OF IGFBP3 EXPRESSION IN AD PATHOGENESIS. WE OBSERVED ABNORMAL IGFBP3 HYPERMETHYLATION WITHIN THE PROMOTER CPG ISLAND IN H4-SW CELLS. TREATMENT WITH THE DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE INHIBITOR 5-AZA-2'-DEOXYCYTIDINE RESTORED IGFBP3 EXPRESSION AT BOTH THE MRNA AND PROTEIN LEVELS. CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO ABETA1-42 INDUCED IGFBP3 HYPERMETHYLATION AT CPGS, PARTICULARLY AT LOCI -164 AND -173, AND SUBSEQUENTLY SUPPRESSED IGFBP3 EXPRESSION. THEREFORE, WE DEMONSTRATE THAT EXPRESSION OF ANTI-APOPTOTIC IGFBP3 IS REGULATED BY EPIGENETIC DNA METHYLATION, SUGGESTING A MECHANISM THAT CONTRIBUTES TO AD PATHOGENESIS.	2014	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
10  829  30 CHARACTERIZATION OF P190-BCR-ABL CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA REVEALS SPECIFIC SIGNALING PATHWAYS AND THERAPEUTIC TARGETS. THE ONCOGENIC PROTEIN BCR-ABL HAS TWO MAJOR ISOFORMS, P190(BCR-ABL) AND P210(BCR-ABL). WHILE P210(BCR-ABL) IS THE HALLMARK OF CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA (CML), P190(BCR-ABL) OCCURS IN THE MAJORITY OF PHILADELPHIA-POSITIVE ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA (PH + ALL) PATIENTS. IN CML, P190(BCR-ABL) OCCURS IN A MINORITY OF PATIENTS ASSOCIATING WITH DISTINCT HEMATOLOGICAL FEATURES AND INFERIOR OUTCOMES, YET THE PATHOGENIC ROLE OF P190(BCR-ABL) AND POTENTIAL TARGETING THERAPIES ARE LARGELY UNCHARACTERIZED. WE EMPLOYED NEXT GENERATION SEQUENCING, PHOSPHO-PROTEOMIC PROFILING, AND DRUG SENSITIVITY TESTING TO CHARACTERIZE P190(BCR-ABL) IN CML AND HEMATOPOIETIC PROGENITOR CELL LINE MODELS (BA/F3 AND HPC-LSK). P190(BCR-ABL) CML PATIENTS DEMONSTRATED POOR RESPONSE TO IMATINIB AND FREQUENT MUTATIONS IN EPIGENETIC MODIFIERS GENES. IN CONTRAST WITH P210(BCR-ABL), P190(BCR-ABL) EXHIBITED SPECIFIC TRANSCRIPTIONAL UPREGULATION OF INTERFERON, INTERLEUKIN-1 RECEPTOR, AND P53 SIGNALING PATHWAYS, ASSOCIATED WITH HYPERPHOSPHORYLATION OF RELEVANT SIGNALING MOLECULES INCLUDING JAK1/STAT1 AND PAK1 IN ADDITION TO SRC HYPERPHOSPHORYLATION. COMPARABLE TO P190(BCR-ABL) CML PATIENTS, P190(BCR-ABL) CELL LINES DEMONSTRATED SIMILAR TRANSCRIPTIONAL AND PHOSPHO-SIGNALING SIGNATURES. WITH THE DRUG SENSITIVITY SCREENING WE IDENTIFIED TARGETED DRUGS WITH SPECIFIC ACTIVITY IN P190(BCR-ABL) CELL LINES INCLUDING IAP-, PAK1-, AND SRC INHIBITORS AND GLUCOCORTICOIDS. OUR RESULTS PROVIDE NOVEL INSIGHTS INTO THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE DISTINCT FEATURES OF P190(BCR-ABL) CML AND PROMISING THERAPEUTIC TARGETS FOR THIS HIGH-RISK PATIENT GROUP.	2021	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
11 1951  32 EPIGENETIC ACTIVATION OF THE TUSC3 GENE AS A POTENTIAL THERAPY FOR XMEN DISEASE. BACKGROUND: X-LINKED MAGT1 DEFICIENCY WITH INCREASED SUSCEPTIBILITY TO EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS INFECTION AND N-LINKED GLYCOSYLATION DEFECT (XMEN) DISEASE IS A RARE COMBINED IMMUNODEFICIENCY CAUSED BY LOSS-OF-FUNCTION MUTATIONS IN THE MAGNESIUM TRANSPORTER 1 (MAGT1) GENE. MAGT1 DEFICIENCY IMPAIRS MAGNESIUM TRANSPORT AND THE N-LINKED GLYCOSYLATION OF A PANEL OF PROTEINS, WHICH SUBSEQUENTLY ABOLISHES THE EXPRESSION OF KEY IMMUNE RECEPTORS SUCH AS NATURAL KILLER GROUP 2, MEMBER D (AKA NKG2D). THESE EFFECTS INDUCE IMMUNE SYSTEM ABNORMALITIES, CHRONIC EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS INFECTION, AND NEOPLASIA. RECENT RESEARCH SHOWS THAT MAGT1 AND TUMOR CANDIDATE SUPPRESSOR 3 (TUSC3) SHARE HIGH SEQUENCE AND FUNCTIONAL SIMILARITY. OBJECTIVE: WE SOUGHT TO INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF ACTIVATING TUSC3 EXPRESSION TO PROVIDE A POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY FOR XMEN DISEASE. METHODS: THE EXPRESSION PROFILES OF MAGT1 AND TUSC3 WERE ANALYZED USING MULTIPLE DATABASES, REAL-TIME QUANTITATIVE PCR, AND WESTERN BLOT. THE EFFECTS OF DECITABINE AND PANOBINOSTAT ON THE REGULATION OF TUSC3 EXPRESSION WERE EXPLORED IN BOTH MAGT1 KNOCKOUT (KO)/PATIENT-DERIVED LYMPHOCYTES AND MAGT1 KO HEPATOCYTES. RESULTS: ALTHOUGH TUSC3 IS WIDELY EXPRESSED, IT IS UNDETECTABLE SPECIFICALLY IN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM AND LIVER, CONSISTENT WITH THE MAIN DISEASED TISSUES IN PATIENTS WITH XMEN DISEASE. CRISPR/CAS9-MEDIATED KO OF MAGT1 IN THE NKL CELL LINE SUCCESSFULLY MIMICKED THE PHENOTYPES OF XMEN PATIENT-DERIVED LYMPHOCYTES, AND EXOGENOUS EXPRESSION OF TUSC3 RESCUED THE DEFICIENCIES IN KO NKL CELLS. USING THIS IN VITRO MODEL, WE IDENTIFIED 2 EPIGENETIC DRUGS, DECITABINE AND PANOBINOSTAT, BY SCREENING. COMBINATION TREATMENT USING THESE 2 DRUGS SIGNIFICANTLY UPREGULATED TUSC3 EXPRESSION AND RESCUED THE IMMUNE AND LIVER ABNORMALITIES. CONCLUSIONS: EPIGENETIC ACTIVATION OF TUSC3 EXPRESSION CONSTITUTES AN EFFECTIVE THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY FOR XMEN DISEASE.	2023	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
12  145  37 ABERRANT DNA METHYLATION STATUS AND MRNA EXPRESSION LEVEL OF SMG1 GENE IN CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA: A CASE-CONTROL STUDY. OOBJECTIVE: CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA (CML) IS A MYELOPROLIFERATIVE MALIGNANCY WITH DIFFERENT STAGES. ABERRANT EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS, SUCH AS DNA METHYLATION, HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED AS A SIGNATURE FOR DIVERSE CANCERS WHICH ALSO PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN CML PATHOGENESIS AND DEVELOPMENT. SUPPRESSOR WITH MORPHOGENETIC EFFECT ON GENITALIA (SMG1) GENE RECENTLY HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO THE SPOTLIGHT AS A POTENT TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENE THAT CAN BE SUPPRESSED BY TUMORS FOR FURTHER PROGRESS. THE PRESENT STUDY AIMS TO INVESTIGATE SMG1 STATUS IN CML PATIENTS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: IN THIS CASE-CONTROL STUDY, PERIPHERAL BLOOD FROM 30 PATIENTS WITH DIFFERENT PHASES OF CML [NEW CASE (N)=10, COMPLETE MOLECULAR REMISSION (CMR)=10, BLASTIC PHASE (BP)=10] AND 10 HEALTHY SUBJECTS WERE COLLECTED. METHYLATION STATUS AND EXPRESSION LEVEL OF SMG1 GENE PROMOTER WAS ASSESSED BY METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (MSP) AND QUANTITATIVE REVERSE-TRANSCRIPTION PCR, RESPECTIVELY. RESULTS: MSP RESULTS OF SMG1 GENE PROMOTOR IN THE NEW CASE GROUP WERE METHYLATED (60% METHYLATED, 30% HEMIMETHYLATED AND 10% UNMETHYLATED). ALL CMR AND CONTROL GROUP PATIENTS WERE UNMETHYLATED IN THE SMG1 GENE PROMOTER. IN THE BP GROUP, METHYLATED SMG1 PROMOTER WAS SEEN (50% OF PATIENTS HAD A METHYLATED STATUS AND 50% HAD HEMIMETHYLATED STATUS). IN COMPARISON WITH THE HEALTHY SUBJECTS, EXPRESSION LEVEL OF SMG1 IN THE NEW CASE GROUP WAS DECREASED (P<0.01); IN THE CMR GROUP AND BP-CML GROUPS, IT WAS INCREASED (P<0.05). NO SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION BETWEEN PATIENTS' HEMATOLOGICAL FEATURES AND SMG1 METHYLATION WAS SEEN. CONCLUSION: OUR RESULTS DEMONSTRATED THAT ABERRANT METHYLATION OF SMG1 OCCURRED IN CML PATIENTS AND IT HAD A SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATION WITH SMG1 EXPRESSION. SMG1 GENE PROMOTER SHOWED DIVERSE METHYLATED STATUS AND SUBSEQUENT EXPRESSION LEVELS IN DIFFERENT PHASES OF CML. THESE FINDINGS SUGGESTED POSSIBLE PARTICIPATION OF SMG1 SUPPRESSION IN THE CML PATHOGENESIS.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
13 1622  30 DNA METHYLTRANSFERASES IN MALAR MELASMA AND THEIR MODIFICATION BY SUNSCREEN IN COMBINATION WITH 4% NIACINAMIDE, 0.05% RETINOIC ACID, OR PLACEBO. BACKGROUND: MALAR MELASMA HAS A CHRONIC AND RECURRENT CHARACTER THAT MAY BE RELATED TO EPIGENETIC CHANGES. OBJECTIVE: TO RECOGNIZE THE EXPRESSION AND DNA METHYLATION OF DNA METHYLTRANSFERASES (DNMTS) IN MALAR MELASMA AND PERILESIONAL SKIN, AS WELL AS THE CHANGES IN DNMTS AFTER THEIR TREATMENT WITH SUNSCREEN IN COMBINATION WITH 4% NIACINAMIDE, 0.05% RETINOIC ACID, OR PLACEBO. METHODS: THIRTY FEMALE PATIENTS WERE CLINICALLY EVALUATED FOR THE EXPRESSION OF DNMT1 AND DNMT3B USING REAL-TIME PCR AND IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE. THESE INITIAL RESULTS WERE COMPARED TO RESULTS AFTER EIGHT WEEKS OF TREATMENT WITH SUNSCREEN IN COMBINATION WITH NIACINAMIDE, RETINOIC ACID, OR PLACEBO. RESULTS: THE RELATIVE EXPRESSION OF DNMT1 WAS SIGNIFICANTLY ELEVATED IN MELASMA COMPARED WITH UNAFFECTED SKIN IN ALL SUBJECTS, INDICATING DNA HYPERMETHYLATION. AFTER TREATMENT, IT WAS DECREASED IN ALL GROUPS: NIACINAMIDE (7 VERSUS 1; P<0.01), RETINOIC ACID (7 VERSUS 2; P<0.05), AND PLACEBO (7 VERSUS 3; P<0.05), WHICH CORRELATES WITH CLINICAL IMPROVEMENT. DNMT3B WAS NOT OVEREXPRESSED IN LESIONAL SKIN BUT REDUCED IN ALL GROUPS. CONCLUSIONS: WE FOUND DNA HYPERMETHYLATION IN MELASMA LESIONS. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS SUCH AS SOLAR RADIATION MAY INDUCE CELLULAR CHANGES THAT TRIGGER HYPERPIGMENTATION THROUGH THE ACTIVATION OF PATHWAYS REGULATED BY EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS. HOWEVER, LIMITING OR DECREASING DNA METHYLATION THROUGH SUNSCREEN, NIACINAMIDE, AND RETINOIC ACID TREATMENTS THAT PROVIDE PHOTOPROTECTION AND GENETIC TRANSCRIPTION CAN COUNTERACT THIS.	2019	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
14 3484  37 IDENTIFICATION OF CHROMATIN REMODELING GENES ARID4A AND ARID4B AS LEUKEMIA SUPPRESSOR GENES. BACKGROUND: LEUKEMIA EVOLVES THROUGH A MULTISTEP PROCESS FROM PREMALIGNANCY TO MALIGNANCY. EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS, INCLUDING HISTONE MODIFICATIONS, HAVE BEEN PROPOSED TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN TUMORIGENESIS. THE INVOLVEMENT OF TWO CHROMATIN REMODELING GENES, RETINOBLASTOMA-BINDING PROTEIN 1 (RBBP1/ARID4A) AND RBBP1-LIKE 1 (RBBP1L1/ARID4B), IN LEUKEMOGENESIS WAS NOT CHARACTERIZED. METHODS: THE LEUKEMIC PHENOTYPE OF MICE DEFICIENT FOR ARID4A WITH OR WITHOUT HAPLOINSUFFICIENCY FOR ARID4B WAS INVESTIGATED BY SERIALLY MONITORING COMPLETE BLOOD COUNTS TOGETHER WITH MICROSCOPIC HISTOLOGIC ANALYSIS AND FLOW CYTOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF BONE MARROW AND SPLEEN FROM THE ARID4A(-/-) MICE OR ARID4A(-/-)ARID4B(+/-) MICE. REGULATION IN BONE MARROW CELLS OF DOWNSTREAM GENES IMPORTANT FOR NORMAL HEMATOPOIESIS WAS ANALYZED BY REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION-POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION. GENOTYPIC EFFECTS ON HISTONE MODIFICATIONS WERE EXAMINED BY WESTERN BLOTTING AND IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS. ALL STATISTICAL TESTS WERE TWO-SIDED. RESULTS: YOUNG (2-5 MONTHS OLD) ARID4A-DEFICIENT MICE HAD INEFFECTIVE BLOOD CELL PRODUCTION IN ALL HEMATOPOIETIC LINEAGES. BEYOND 5 MONTHS OF AGE, THE ARID4A(-/-) MICE MANIFESTED MONOCYTOSIS, ACCOMPANIED BY SEVERE ANEMIA AND THROMBOCYTOPENIA. THESE SICK ARID4A(-/-) MICE SHOWED BONE MARROW FAILURE WITH MYELOFIBROSIS ASSOCIATED WITH SPLENOMEGALY AND HEPATOMEGALY. FIVE OF 42 ARID4A(-/-) MICE AND 10 OF 12 ARID4A(-/-)ARID4B(+/-) MICE PROGRESSED TO ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA (AML) AND HAD RAPID FURTHER INCREASES OF LEUKOCYTE COUNTS. EXPRESSION OF HOX GENES (HOXB3, HOXB5, HOXB6, AND HOXB8) WAS DECREASED IN ARID4A-DEFICIENT BONE MARROW CELLS WITH OR WITHOUT ARID4B HAPLOINSUFFICIENCY, AND FOXP3 EXPRESSION WAS REDUCED IN ARID4A(-/-)ARID4B(+/-) BONE MARROW. INCREASES OF HISTONE TRIMETHYLATION OF H3K4, H3K9, AND H4K20 (FOLD INCREASES IN TRIMETHYLATION = 32, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [CI] = 27 TO 32; 45, 95% CI = 41 TO 49; AND 2.2, 95% CI = 1.7 TO 2.7, RESPECTIVELY) WERE OBSERVED IN THE BONE MARROW OF ARID4A-DEFICIENT MICE. CONCLUSIONS: ARID4A-DEFICIENT MICE INITIALLY DISPLAY INEFFECTIVE HEMATOPOIESIS, FOLLOWED BY TRANSITION TO CHRONIC MYELOMONOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (CMML)-LIKE MYELODYSPLASTIC/MYELOPROLIFERATIVE DISORDER, AND THEN TRANSFORMATION TO AML. THE DISEASE PROCESSES IN THE ARID4A-DEFICIENT MICE ARE VERY SIMILAR TO THE COURSE OF EVENTS IN HUMANS WITH CMML AND AML. THIS MOUSE MODEL HAS THE POTENTIAL TO FURNISH ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS INTO THE ROLE OF EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS IN LEUKEMOGENESIS, AND IT MAY BE USEFUL IN DEVELOPING NOVEL PHARMACOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO TREATMENT OF PRELEUKEMIC AND LEUKEMIC STATES.	2008	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
15 1016  37 CIITA EXPRESSION IS REGULATED BY HISTONE DEACETYLASE ENZYMES AND HAS A ROLE IN ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN PRE-FORMED FIBRIL-INDUCED ANTIGEN PRESENTATION IN MURINE MICROGLIAL CELL LINE. AIM: PARKINSON'S DISEASE (PD) IS A CHRONIC NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDER RELATED WITH SEVERAL GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC FACTORS. IN THE CONTEXT OF EPIGENETIC FACTORS, HISTONE ACETYLATION IS ONE OF THE MOST ASSOCIATED MECHANISMS WITH PARKINSON'S DISEASE PROGRESSION. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATES THE EFFECTS OF THE INCREASED HISTONE ACETYLATION ON ANTIGEN PRESENTATION IN MICROGLIAL CELLS WHICH WERE INDUCED BY PRE-FORMED FIBRILS OF ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN (PFF ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN). METHODS: PARKINSON'S DISEASE MODEL WAS CREATED WITH PFF ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN ADMINISTRATION TO THE BV-2 MICROGLIAL CELLS. BV-2 CELLS WERE CO-TREATED WITH CUDC-907 AND TMP-195 TO INCREASE HISTONE ACETYLATION IN THE PRESENCE OF ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN. ANTIGEN REPRESENTATION WAS EVALUATED BY DETERMINING EXPRESSION LEVELS OF MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX-II (MHC-II) AND CLASS-II MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX (CIITA). RESULTS: OUR RESULTS SHOWED THAT PFF ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED MHC-II EXPRESSION, AND THAT EFFECT WAS MOST SEVERE AT 6 H OF ADMINISTRATION OF ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN. INCREASING HISTONE ACETYLATION VIA CUDC-907 AND TMP-195 ENHANCED MHC-II LEVELS EXPRESSION, WHICH WAS MORE SEVERE IN CUDC-907. ADDITIONALLY, CIITA EXPRESSION LEVELS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED WITH PFF ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN ADMINISTRATION AND INTENSIFIED WITH THE CO-TREATMENT OF CUDC-907 AND TMP-195. FURTHERMORE, PFF ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN CAUSED A TIME-DEPENDENT INCREASE IN THE IFN-GAMMA (IFN-?) AND INTERLEUKIN-16(IL-16) LEVELS, AND THAT INCREASE WAS POTENTIATED WITH CUDC-907 AND TMP-195. CONCLUSION: CHANGES IN MHC-II AND CIITA EXPRESSION INDICATE THAT HISTONE ACETYLATION INCREASES THE ANTIGEN PRESENTATION PROPERTIES OF MICROGLIAL CELLS AFTER PFF ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN OR HISTONE DEACETYLASE INHIBITOR (HDACI) ADMINISTRATION. OUR RESULTS SHOW THAT MICROGLIAL ANTIGEN PRESENTATION MIGHT HAVE AN ESSENTIAL ROLE IN THE PATHOLOGY OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE, AND ALPHA-SYNUCLEIN LIKELY TO PLAY A PRIMARY ROLE IN THIS MECHANISM.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
16  768  26 CD47 (CLUSTER OF DIFFERENTIATION 47). CD47, ALSO KNOWN AS INTEGRIN-ASSOCIATED PROTEIN, IS A CONSTITUTIVELY AND UBIQUITOUSLY EXPRESSED TRANSMEMBRANE RECEPTOR. CD47 IS CONSERVED ACROSS AMNIOTES INCLUDING MAMMALS, REPTILES, AND BIRDS. EXPRESSION IS INCREASED IN MANY CANCERS AND, IN NON-MALIGNANT CELLS, BY STRESS AND WITH AGING. THE UP-REGULATION OF CD47 EXPRESSION IS GENERALLY EPIGENETIC, WHEREAS GENE AMPLIFICATION OCCURS WITH LOW FREQUENCY IN SOME CANCERS. CD47 IS A HIGH AFFINITY SIGNALING RECEPTOR FOR THE SECRETED PROTEIN THROMBOSPONDIN-1 (THBS1) AND THE COUNTER-RECEPTOR FOR SIGNAL REGULATORY PROTEIN-ALPHA (SIRPA, SIRPALPHA) AND SIRPGAMMA (SIRPG). CD47 INTERACTION WITH SIRPALPHA SERVES AS A MARKER OF SELF TO INNATE IMMUNE CELLS AND THEREBY PROTECTS CANCER CELLS FROM PHAGOCYTIC CLEARANCE. CONSEQUENTLY, HIGHER CD47 CORRELATES WITH A POOR PROGNOSIS IN SOME CANCERS, AND THERAPEUTIC BLOCKADE CAN SUPPRESS TUMOR GROWTH BY ENHANCING INNATE ANTITUMOR IMMUNITY. CD47 EXPRESSED ON CYTOTOXIC T CELLS, DENDRITIC CELLS, AND NK CELLS MEDIATES INHIBITORY THBS1 SIGNALING THAT FURTHER LIMITS ANTITUMOR IMMUNITY. CD47 LATERALLY ASSOCIATES WITH SEVERAL INTEGRINS AND THEREBY REGULATES CELL ADHESION AND MIGRATION. CD47 HAS ADDITIONAL LATERAL BINDING PARTNERS IN SPECIFIC CELL TYPES, AND LIGATION OF CD47 IN SOME CASES MODULATES THEIR FUNCTION. THBS1-CD47 SIGNALING IN NON-MALIGNANT CELLS INHIBITS NITRIC OXIDE/CGMP, CALCIUM, AND VEGF SIGNALING, MITOCHONDRIAL HOMEOSTASIS, STEM CELL MAINTENANCE, PROTECTIVE AUTOPHAGY, AND DNA DAMAGE RESPONSE, AND PROMOTES NADPH OXIDASE ACTIVITY. CD47 SIGNALING IS A PHYSIOLOGICAL REGULATOR OF PLATELET ACTIVATION, ANGIOGENESIS AND BLOOD FLOW. THBS1/CD47 SIGNALING IS FREQUENTLY DYSREGULATED IN CHRONIC DISEASES.	2021	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
17 2974  26 GENETIC AND METHYLATION STATUS OF CDKN2A (P14(ARF)/P16(INK4A)) AND TP53 GENES IN RECURRENT RESPIRATORY PAPILLOMATOSIS. RECURRENT RESPIRATORY PAPILLOMATOSIS (RRP) IS A RARE AND CHRONIC DISEASE AFFECTING THE UPPER AIRWAY WITH PAPILLOMATOUS LESIONS CAUSED BY THE HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HPV) INFECTION, ESPECIALLY HPV-6 AND/OR HPV-11 TYPES. LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC DRIVERS IN RRP PATHOPHYSIOLOGY. FOR THIS PURPOSE, WE ANALYZED 27 PAPILLOMATOUS LESIONS FROM PATIENTS WITH RRP TO EVALUATE SOMATIC MUTATIONS AND METHYLATION STATUS IN CDKN2A (P14(ARF)/P16(INK4A)) AND TP53, WHICH ARE KEY TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENES FOR THE CELL CYCLE CONTROL. SANGER SEQUENCING ANALYSIS REVEALED ONE SOMATIC MUTATION IN TP53 (C.733_734INSA) AND FOUR MUTATIONS IN CDKN2A (C.-30G > T, C.29_30INSA, C.69DELT, AND C.300C > A). THESE MUTATIONS WERE OBSERVED IN 10 PATIENTS, 6 OF WHICH CARRIED DOUBLE MUTATION. FURTHERMORE, 50% (5/10) OF THESE PATIENTS CARRYING SOMATIC MUTATIONS HAD RRP SEVERITY, REPRESENTING 62.5% (5/8) OF THE SEVERITY CASES IN THIS STUDY, ALBEIT NO SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATION WAS FOUND BETWEEN SOMATIC MUTATIONS AND DISEASE SEVERITY. METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION ASSAYS REVEALED P14(ARF) PROMOTER HYPERMETHYLATION IN 100% OF CASES, FOLLOWED BY TP53 (96.3%) AND P16(INK4A) (55.6%), SUGGESTING THE INFLUENCE OF HPV IN THE DNA METHYLATION MACHINERY. IN CONCLUSION, SOMATIC MUTATIONS WERE NOT COMMON EVENTS IDENTIFIED IN PATIENTS WITH RRP. HOWEVER, EPIGENETIC MODULATION BY HIGH METHYLATION RATES, PARTICULARLY FOR THE P14(ARF)/TP53 PATHWAY, SEEMS TO BE IN THE COURSE OF RRP DEVELOPMENT.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
18 6636  33 UNRAVELING A NEW PLAYER IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS PATHOGENESIS: THE RNA-BINDING PROTEIN HUR. BACKGROUND: ELAV-LIKE PROTEINS ARE A SMALL FAMILY OF RNA-BINDING PROTEINS THAT ARE FUNDAMENTAL PLAYERS IN POST-TRANSCRIPTIONAL MECHANISMS AND ARE INVOLVED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF NEUROLOGIC AND PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS. HUR, THE UBIQUITOUSLY EXPRESSED MEMBER OF THE FAMILY, IS ALSO IMPLICATED IN SUSTAINING INFLAMMATION AND INFLAMMATORY DISEASES, SUPPORTING THE PRODUCTION OF PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES. INFLAMMATION PLAYS A CENTRAL ROLE IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS), WHICH REPRESENTS THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF PERMANENT PHYSICAL DISABILITY IN YOUNG ADULTS. MS IS A CHRONIC AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE AFFECTING THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, WITH A COMPLEX AETIOLOGY INVOLVING GENETIC, ENVIRONMENTAL AND EPIGENETIC FACTORS. NO DATA ARE AVAILABLE ON THE POTENTIAL ENTANGLEMENT OF HUR IN MS PATHOGENESIS IN PATIENTS. IN THE PRESENT WORK, WE AIMED AT EXPLORING HUR PROTEIN LEVELS IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS (PBMCS) FROM MS PATIENTS, COMPARED TO HEALTHY CONTROLS. TO FURTHER ELUCIDATE THE POSSIBLE INVOLVEMENT OF HUR IN MS, WE ALSO INVESTIGATED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THIS SPECIFIC RNA-BINDING PROTEIN AND HSP70-2 PROTEIN, ALSO CONSIDERING THE HSP70-2 RS1061581 POLYMORPHISM, GIVEN THAT HSP70-2 MRNA HAS BEEN REPORTED AS A HUR TARGET AND THIS SPECIFIC POLYMORPHISM TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH MS RISK. METHODS: ALLELES AND GENOTYPES FOR HSP70-2 RS1061581 POLYMORPHISM WERE ASSESSED, BY USING A POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION-RESTRICTION FRAGMENT LENGTH POLYMORPHISM, FOLLOWED BY DIGESTION WITH RESTRICTION ENZYME, IN MS PATIENTS AND HEALTHY CONTROLS. PBMCS FROM A SUBGROUP OF PATIENTS AND CONTROLS WERE USED TO EVALUATE HUR AND HSP70-2 PROTEIN CONTENT BY WESTERN BLOT. RESULTS: PBMCS FROM 52 MS PATIENTS HAD A LOWER HUR AND HIGHER HSP70-2 PROTEIN CONTENT COMPARED TO 43 HEALTHY CONTROLS. AN INCREASE OF 100 UNITS OF HUR SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED THE RISK OF DEVELOPING MS BY 9.8% (OR: 0.902, 95% CI: 0.83-0.98), CONTROLLING FOR HSP70-2 PROTEIN EXPRESSION, HSP70-2 RS1061581 GENOTYPE, AGE AND SEX. MOREOVER, HOLDING HUR LEVELS, AN INCREASE OF 100 UNITS OF HSP70-2 PROTEIN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED THE MS RISK BY 18.1% (OR: 1.181, 95% CI: 1.03-1.36) AND THE GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY OF DEVELOPING MS FOR HSP70-2 RS1061581 GG CARRIERS IS CONFIRMED. OF INTEREST, MS PATIENTS WITH A MODERATE TO SEVERE FORM OF MS (MSSS >/= 3) SHOWED A TREND TOWARDS A REDUCTION OF HUR PROTEIN LEVELS COMPARED TO PATIENTS WITH MILD DISEASE SEVERITY (MSSS < 3). CONCLUSIONS: HUR PROTEIN LEVELS ARE REDUCED IN MS PATIENTS COMPARED TO HEALTHY SUBJECTS, AND THE PROTEIN AMOUNT MAY CONTINUE TO DECLINE WITH DISEASE PROGRESSION, SUGGESTING A PUTATIVE ROLE OF THIS RNA-BINDING PROTEIN. MOREOVER, OUR RESULTS SUGGEST THAT MS PATHOLOGY MAY HAVE DISRUPTED THE LINK BETWEEN HUR AND ITS TARGET TRANSCRIPT HSP70-2. IT WILL BE IMPORTANT TO FURTHER EXPLORE THE EXACT ROLE OF HUR IN MS, CONSIDERING THE COMPLEX INTERPLAY WITH OTHER RNA-BINDING FACTORS AND TARGET MRNAS.	2020	

19  671  41 BOTHROPS MOOJENI L-AMINO ACID OXIDASE INDUCES APOPTOSIS AND EPIGENETIC MODULATION ON BCR-ABL(+) CELLS. BACKGROUND: RESISTANCE TO APOPTOSIS IN CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA (CML) IS ASSOCIATED WITH CONSTITUTIVE TYROSINE KINASE ACTIVITY OF THE BCR-ABL ONCOPROTEIN. THE DEREGULATED EXPRESSION OF APOPTOSIS-RELATED GENES AND ALTERATION IN EPIGENETIC MACHINERY MAY ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO APOPTOSIS RESISTANCE IN CML. TYROSINE KINASE INHIBITORS TARGET THE BCR-ABL ONCOPROTEIN AND ARE USED IN CML TREATMENT. THE RESISTANCE OF CML PATIENTS TO TYROSINE KINASE INHIBITORS HAS GUIDED THE SEARCH FOR NEW COMPOUNDS THAT MAY INDUCE APOPTOSIS IN BCR-ABL(+) LEUKEMIC CELLS AND IMPROVE THE DISEASE TREATMENT. METHODS: IN THE PRESENT STUDY, WE INVESTIGATED WHETHER THE L-AMINO ACID OXIDASE ISOLATED FROM BOTHROPS MOOJENI SNAKE VENOM (BMOOLAAO-I) (I) WAS CYTOTOXIC TO BCR-ABL(+) CELL LINES (HL-60.BCR-ABL, K562-S, AND K562-R), HL-60 (ACUTE PROMYELOCYTIC LEUKEMIA) CELLS, THE NON-TUMOR CELL LINE HEK-293, AND PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS (PBMC); AND (II) AFFECTED EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS, INCLUDING DNA METHYLATION AND MICRORNAS EXPRESSION IN VITRO. RESULTS: BMOOLAAO-I INDUCED ROS PRODUCTION, APOPTOSIS, AND DIFFERENTIAL DNA METHYLATION PATTERN OF REGULATORY APOPTOSIS GENES. THE TOXIN UPREGULATED EXPRESSION OF THE PRO-APOPTOTIC GENES BID AND FADD AND DOWNREGULATED DFFA EXPRESSION IN LEUKEMIC CELL LINES, AS WELL AS INCREASED MIR-16 EXPRESSION - WHOSE MAJOR PREDICTED TARGET IS THE ANTI-APOPTOTIC GENE BCL2 - IN BCR-ABL(+) CELLS. CONCLUSION: BMOOLAAO-I EXERTS SELECTIVE ANTITUMOR ACTION MEDIATED BY H(2)O(2) RELEASE AND INDUCES APOPTOSIS, AND ALTERATIONS IN EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS. THESE RESULTS SUPPORT FUTURE INVESTIGATIONS ON THE EFFECT OF BMOOLAAO-I ON IN VIVO MODELS TO DETERMINE ITS POTENTIAL IN CML THERAPY.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
20 5017  25 PERSISTENT INFECTION OF CULTURED CELLS WITH MOUSE HEPATITIS VIRUS (MHV) RESULTS FROM THE EPIGENETIC EXPRESSION OF THE MHV RECEPTOR. THE A59 STRAIN OF MURINE CORONAVIRUS MOUSE HEPATITIS VIRUS (MHV) CAN CAUSE PERSISTENT INFECTION OF 17C1-1 CELLS AND OTHER MURINE CELL LINES. PERSISTENTLY INFECTED CULTURES RELEASED LARGE AMOUNTS OF VIRUS (10(7) TO 10(8) PFU/ML) AND WERE RESISTANT TO SUPERINFECTION WITH MHV BUT NOT TO INFECTION WITH UNRELATED SEMLIKI FOREST AND VESICULAR STOMATITIS VIRUSES. THE CULTURE MEDIUM FROM PERSISTENTLY INFECTED CULTURES DID NOT CONTAIN A SOLUBLE INHIBITOR SUCH AS INTERFERON THAT PROTECTED UNINFECTED CELLS FROM INFECTION BY MHV OR VESICULAR STOMATITIS VIRUS. THE PERSISTENT INFECTION WAS CURED IF FEWER THAN 100 CELLS WERE TRANSFERRED DURING SUBCULTURING, AND SUCH CURED CULTURES WERE SUSCEPTIBLE TO REINFECTION AND THE REESTABLISHMENT OF PERSISTENT INFECTION. CULTURES OF 17C1-1 CELLS THAT HAD BEEN NEWLY CLONED FROM SINGLE CELLS CONSISTED OF A MIXTURE OF MHV-RESISTANT AND -SUSCEPTIBLE CELLS. 17C1-1/#97 CELLS, WHICH WERE CURED BY SUBCLONING AFTER 97 PASSAGES OF A PERSISTENTLY INFECTED CULTURE OVER A 1-YEAR PERIOD, CONTAINED 5 TO 10% OF THEIR POPULATION AS SUSCEPTIBLE CELLS, WHILE 17C1-1/#402 CELLS, WHICH WERE CURED BY SUBCLONING AFTER 402 PASSAGES OVER A 3-YEAR PERIOD, HAD LESS THAN 1% SUSCEPTIBLE CELLS. SUSCEPTIBILITY TO INFECTION CORRELATED WITH THE EXPRESSION OF MHV RECEPTOR GLYCOPROTEIN (MHVR [BGP1A]). FLUORESCENCE-ACTIVATED CELL SORTER ANALYSIS WITH ANTIBODY TO MHVR SHOWED THAT 17C1-1/#97 CELLS CONTAINED A SMALL FRACTION OF MHVR-EXPRESSING CELLS. THESE MHVR-EXPRESSING CELLS WERE SELECTIVELY ELIMINATED WITHIN 24 H AFTER CHALLENGE WITH MHV-A59, AND PRETREATMENT OF 17C1-1/#97 CELLS WITH MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY CC1, WHICH BINDS TO THE N-TERMINAL DOMAIN OF MHVR, BLOCKED INFECTION. WE CONCLUDE THAT THE SUBPOPULATION OF MHVR-EXPRESSING CELLS WERE INFECTED AND KILLED IN ACUTELY OR PERSISTENTLY INFECTED CULTURES, WHILE THE SUBPOPULATION OF MHVR-NONEXPRESSING CELLS SURVIVED AND PROLIFERATED. THE SUBPOPULATION OF MHVR-NEGATIVE CELLS PRODUCED A SMALL PROPORTION OF PROGENY CELLS THAT EXPRESSED MHVR AND BECAME INFECTED, THEREBY MAINTAINING THE PERSISTENT INFECTION AS A STEADY-STATE CARRIER CULTURE. THUS, IN 17C1-1 CELL CULTURES, THE UNSTABLE OR EPIGENETIC EXPRESSION OF MHVR PERMITTED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PERSISTENT, CHRONIC INFECTION.	1995