1 3453 142 HYPOMETHYLATED UBIQUITIN-CONJUGATING ENZYME2 Q1 (UBE2Q1) GENE PROMOTER IN THE SERUM IS A PROMISING BIOMARKER FOR HEPATITIS B VIRUS-ASSOCIATED HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA. ABERRANT DNA METHYLATION, WHICH CAN BE DETECTED IN CIRCULATING CELL-FREE DNA (CFDNA), IS ONE OF THE MAJOR EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS IN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC). UBE2Q1, A PUTATIVE MEMBER OF THE UBIQUITIN-CONJUGATING ENZYME FAMILY, MIGHT PLAY SUBSTANTIAL ROLES IN TUMORIGENESIS. HOWEVER, THE METHYLATION STATUS OF THE UBE2Q1 GENE IN HCC REMAINS UNKNOWN. WE AIMED TO DETERMINE THE METHYLATION STATUS OF THE UBE2Q1 GENE PROMOTER AND TO EVALUATE ITS POTENTIAL CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE FOR HCC DETECTION. THE METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (MSP) ASSAY WAS USED TO DETECT THE UBE2Q1 GENE METHYLATION STATUS IN SERUM SAMPLES FROM 80 PATIENTS WITH HEPATITIS B VIRUS (HBV)-RELATED HCC, 40 PATIENTS WITH LIVER CIRRHOSIS (LC), 40 PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS B (CHB), AND 20 HEALTHY CONTROLS (HCS). SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER METHYLATION FREQUENCIES WERE DETECTED IN HCC PATIENTS (33.75%) COMPARED WITH LC PATIENTS (55.00%, P = 0.026) AND CHB PATIENTS (60.00%, P = 0.006) AND HCS (65.00%, P = 0.011). HYPOMETHYLATION OF THE UBE2Q1 GENE WAS NEGATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE TUMOR NODE METASTASIS STAGE (R(S) = -0.30, P = 0.008). THE UBE2Q1 GENE METHYLATION STATUS COMBINED WITH ALPHA FETOPROTEIN USING CUT-OFF POINTS OF 20, 200 AND 400 NG/ML SHOWED SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY VALUES OF 58.8% AND 75.0%, 53.8% AND 87.5%, AND 37.5% AND 88.7%, RESPECTIVELY, AND YIELDED A SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED AREA UNDER THE ROC CURVE (0.720, 0.760 AND 0.694, RESPECTIVELY) FOR DISCRIMINATING HCC FROM LC AND CHB. OUR STUDY RESULTS SUGGEST THAT HYPOMETHYLATION OF THE UBE2Q1 GENE PROMOTER IS A POTENTIAL BIOMARKER FOR DETECTING HBV-ASSOCIATED HCC. 2017 2 4220 58 METHYLATED CYSTEINE DIOXYGENASE-1 GENE PROMOTER IN THE SERUM IS A POTENTIAL BIOMARKER FOR HEPATITIS B VIRUS-RELATED HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA. HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC) IS THE THIRD LEADING CAUSE OF CANCER-RELATED MORTALITY WORLDWIDE. EPIGENETIC ANALYSIS HAS ATTRACTED INCREASING ATTENTION IN THE MOLECULAR DIAGNOSIS OF HCC. CYSTEINE DIOXYGENASE 1 (CDO1) IS A KEY ENZYME IN THE TAURINE BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAY AND CONVERTS CYSTEINE TO CYSTEINE SULFINATE. THE CDO1 GENE IS A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENE AND IS USUALLY SILENCED BY THE METHYLATION OF ITS PROMOTER IN CARCINOGENESIS. IN THIS STUDY, WE EVALUATED WHETHER THE METHYLATION STATUS OF CDO1 GENE PROMOTER IS OF DIAGNOSTIC VALUE FOR HEPATITIS B VIRUS (HBV)-RELATED HCC. THE CDO1 PROMOTER METHYLATION STATUS WAS DETERMINED IN SERUM SAMPLES USING METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (MSP) IN A COHORT OF 123 PATIENTS WITH HBV-RELATED HCC, 28 WITH LIVER CIRRHOSIS (LC), 29 WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS B (CHB) AND 20 HEALTHY CONTROLS. THE FREQUENCY OF THE CDO1 PROMOTER METHYLATION IN HBV-RELATED HCC (42.3%) WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN THAT IN LC (14.3%), CHB (6.9%) AND HEALTHY CONTROLS (0%) (P = 0.006; P < 0.0001; P < 0.0001; RESPECTIVELY). FURTHERMORE, IN HCC PATIENTS, THE FREQUENCY OF CDO1 PROMOTER METHYLATION WAS HIGHER IN ADVANCED STAGES (III-IV) (53%) THAN THE EARLY STAGES (I-II) (20%) (P = 0.001). EVALUATION OF THE CDO1 PROMOTER METHYLATION STATUS IN SERUM, IN COMBINATION WITH AFP (> 20 NG/ML), SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED THE DIAGNOSTIC VALUE, WITH SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY OF 82.9% AND 75.4%, RESPECTIVELY IN DISTINGUISHING HCC FROM LC AND CHB. IN CONCLUSION, METHYLATION STATUS OF SERUM CDO1 GENE PROMOTER MAY BE HELPFUL IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF HCC AND THE ESTIMATION OF THE HCC STAGES. 2014 3 6832 35 [HYPOMETHYLATION OF TNF-ALPHA GENE PROMOTER IN THE PATIENTS WITH ACUTE-ON-CHRONIC HEPATITIS B LIVER FAILURE]. OBJECTIVE: THE PRESENT STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO INVESTIGATE THE POSSIBLE EPIGENETIC ALTERATION IN THE PROMOTER OF TNF-ALPHA IN THE PATIENTS WITH ACUTE-ON-CHRONIC HEPATITIS B LIVER FAILURE (ACHBLF). METHODS: THE METHYLATION OF TNF-ALPHA PROMOTER IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS (PBMCS) WAS MEASURED BY METHYLATION SPECIFIC PCR (MSP). THE LEVEL OF SERUM TNF-ALPHA WAS DETERMINED BY ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY (ELISA). MODEL FOR END-STAGE LIVER DISEASE (MELD) WAS PERFORMED FOR THE EVALUATION OF LIVER FAILURE. RESULTS: THE SERUM LEVEL OF TNF-ALPHA IN PATIENTS WITH ACHBLF(44.9260 +/- 26.48523) WAS HIGHER THAN THAT IN CHB (18.92505 +/- 9.04461) AND HEALTHY CONTROLS (11.9172 +/- 5.04612) (P < 0.05). MOREOVER, THE SERUM TNF-ALPHA LEVEL WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED IN METHYLATION GROUP AS COMPARED TO UNMETHYLAITON GROUP IN PATIENTS WITH ACHBLF (P < 0.05). MELD WAS NOT SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT BETWEEN METHYLATED AND UNMETHYLATED GROUP OF ACHBLF PATIENTS (P > 0.05). IN ADDITION, THE SERUM LEVEL OF TNF-ALPHA WAS FOUND TO BE POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH SERUM TOTAL BILIRUBIN (R = 0.891, P < 0.01) AND MELD SCORE (R = 0.792, P < 0.01), BUT TO BE NEGATIVELY CORRELATED WITH PROTHROMBIN ACTIVITY (R = - 0.511, P < 0.05) IN PATIENTS WITH ACHBLF. CONCLUSION: THE TNF-ALPHA METHYLATION PATTEN IS STABLE FOR THE LIVER FAILURE, SUGGESTING THE EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENT ON METHYLATION. 2011 4 4225 39 METHYLATION DEGREE OF METALLOPROTEINASE INHIBITOR RECK GENE: LINKS TO RECK PROTEIN LEVEL AND HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA IN CHRONIC HCV INFECTION PATIENTS. THE RECK GENE, A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENE, INHIBITS ANGIOGENESIS, INVASION, AND TUMOR METASTASIS. EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF THE RECK GENE CONSTITUTES A POTENT APPROACH TO THE MOLECULAR BASIS OF LIVER MALIGNANCY. THIS STUDY AIMS TO EVALUATE THE PROMOTER METHYLATION STATUS OF THE RECK GENE AND ITS SERUM LEVEL IN PATIENTS WITH HEPATITIS C VIRUS (HCV)-RELATED HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC) AND THE POTENTIAL ASSOCIATION OF RECK GENE METHYLATION WITH CLINICAL CRITERIA OF HCC. ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE SUBJECTS WERE INCLUDED (HEALTHY CONTROL [55], CHRONIC HCV PATIENTS [55], HCV-RELATED HCC PATIENTS [45]). THE METHYLATION STATUS OF THE RECK GENE PROMOTER AND SERUM RECK LEVEL WERE INVESTIGATED BY METHYLATION-SPECIFIC PCR AND ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY TECHNIQUES, RESPECTIVELY. RECK GENE PROMOTER HYPERMETHYLATION WAS RECORDED IN 46.7% OF HCC PATIENTS, AND 10.9% OF HCV PATIENTS, BUT NOT IN CONTROL SUBJECTS (0%). IT WAS RELATED TO RECK PROTEIN LEVEL, VARICES, EDEMA, ASCITES, LYMPH NODE METASTASIS, VASCULAR INVASION, AND THE LARGEST DIAMETER OF FOCAL LESIONS. MEANWHILE, IT WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH FOCAL LESION NUMBER NOR DISTANT METASTASIS OF HCC. IN CONCLUSION, RECK GENE PROMOTER HYPERMETHYLATION IS LINKED TO HCV GENOTYPE-4-RELATED HCC. MOREOVER, DIFFERENT DEGREES OF RECK GENE PROMOTER METHYLATION ARE ASSOCIATED WITH SERUM RECK LEVEL, LYMPH NODE METASTASIS, AND VASCULAR INVASION, WHICH COULD PROVE ITS PATHOGENIC ROLE IN HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS IN CHRONIC HCV-INFECTED PATIENTS. 2021 5 1457 50 DISEASE PROGRESSION FROM CHRONIC HEPATITIS C TO CIRRHOSIS AND HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA IS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASING DNA PROMOTER METHYLATION. BACKGROUND: CHANGES IN DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS ARE BELIEVED TO BE EARLY EVENTS IN HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS. A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF METHYLATION STATES AND HOW THEY CORRELATE WITH DISEASE PROGRESSION WILL AID IN FINDING POTENTIAL STRATEGIES FOR EARLY DETECTION OF HCC. THE AIM OF OUR STUDY WAS TO ANALYZE THE METHYLATION FREQUENCY OF TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENES, P14, P15, AND P73, AND A MISMATCH REPAIR GENE (O6MGMT) IN HCV RELATED CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE AND HCC TO IDENTIFY CANDIDATE EPIGENETIC BIOMARKERS FOR HCC PREDICTION. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 516 EGYPTIAN PATIENTS WITH HCV-RELATED LIVER DISEASE WERE RECRUITED FROM KASR ALAINI MULTIDISCIPLINARY HCC CLINIC FROM APRIL 2010 TO JANUARY 2012. SUBJECTS WERE DIVIDED INTO 4 DIFFERENT CLINICALLY DEFINED GROUPS - HCC GROUP (N=208), LIVER CIRRHOSIS GROUP (N=108), CHRONIC HEPATITIS C GROUP (N=100), AND CONTROL GROUP (N=100) - TO ANALYZE THE METHYLATION STATUS OF THE TARGET GENES IN PATIENT PLASMA USING EPITECT METHYL QPCR ARRAY TECHNOLOGY. METHYLATION WAS CONSIDERED TO BE HYPERMETHYLATED IF >10% AND/OR INTERMEDIATELY METHYLATED IF >60%. RESULTS: IN OUR SERIES, A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE HYPERMETHYLATION STATUS OF ALL STUDIED GENES WAS NOTED WITHIN THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE AND ULTIMATELY HCC. HYPERMETHYLATION OF THE P14 GENE WAS DETECTED IN 100/208 (48.1%), 52/108 (48.1%), 16/100 (16%) AND 8/100 (8%) AMONG HCC, LIVER CIRRHOSIS, CHRONIC HEPATITIS AND CONTROL GROUPS, RESPECTIVELY, WITH A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE STUDIED GROUPS (P-VALUE 0.008). WE ALSO DETECTED P15 HYPERMETHYLATION IN 92/208 (44.2%), 36/108 (33.3%), 20/100 (20%) AND 4/100 (4%) , RESPECTIVELY (P-VALUE 0.006). IN ADDITION, HYPERMETHYLATION OF P73 WAS DETECTED IN 136/208 (65.4%), 72/108 (66.7%), 32/100 (32%) AND 4/100 (4%) (P-VALUE <0.001). ALSO, WE DETECTED O6MGMT HYPERMETHYLATION IN 84/208 (40.4%), 60/108 (55.3%), 20/100 (20%) AND 4/100 (4%), RESPECTIVELY (P VALUE <0.001. CONCLUSIONS: THE EPIGENETIC CHANGES OBSERVED IN THIS STUDY INDICATE THAT HCC TUMORS EXHIBIT SPECIFIC DNA METHYLATION SIGNATURES WITH POTENTIAL CLINICAL APPLICATIONS IN DIAGNOSIS AND PROGNOSIS. IN ADDITION, METHYLATION FREQUENCY COULD BE USED TO MONITOR WHETHER A PATIENT WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C IS LIKELY TO PROGRESS TO LIVER CIRRHOSIS OR EVEN HCC. WE CAN CONCLUDE THAT METHYLATION PROCESSES ARE NOT JUST EARLY EVENTS IN HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS BUT ACCUMULATE WITH PROGRESSION TO CANCER. 2014 6 388 40 AN INTEGRATED ANALYSIS OF SOCS1 DOWN-REGULATION IN HBV INFECTION-RELATED HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA. PERSISTENT INFLAMMATION TOGETHER WITH GENETIC/EPIGENETIC ABERRATIONS IS STRONGLY ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS B VIRUS (HBV) INFECTION-RELATED HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS. HERE, WE INVESTIGATED THE ALTERATIONS OF THE SUPPRESSOR OF CYTOKINE SIGNALLING (SOCS) FAMILY GENES IN HBV-RELATED HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC). A TOTAL OF 116 PATIENTS WITH HCC WERE ENROLLED IN THIS STUDY. THE METHYLATION STATUSES OF SOCS1-7 AND CISH GENES WERE QUANTITATIVELY MEASURED AND CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF SOCS1 METHYLATION WAS STATISTICALLY ANALYSED. THE GENE COPY NUMBER VARIATION WAS ASSAYED BY ACGH. LUCIFERASE REPORTER ASSAY AND WESTERN BLOT WERE USED TO DETECT THE INVOLVEMENT OF SOCS1 IN P53 SIGNALLING. WE FOUND HIGH FREQUENCIES OF SOCS1 GENE HYPERMETHYLATION IN BOTH TUMOUR (56.03%) AND ADJACENT NONTUMOUR TISSUES (54.31%), BUT TUMOUR TISSUES EXHIBITED INCREASED METHYLATION INTENSITY (24.01% VS 13.11%, P < 0.0001), PARTICULARLY IN PATIENTS WITH LARGER TUMOUR SIZE OR CIRRHOSIS BACKGROUND (P < 0.0001). IN ADDITION, THE FREQUENCY AND INTENSITY OF SOCS1 HYPERMETHYLATION IN TUMOUR TISSUES WERE BOTH SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN THOSE IN NONTUMOUR TISSUES IN MALE GENDER PATIENTS AND IN PATIENTS >/=45 YEARS OLD (P = 0.0214 AND P < 0.0001, P = 0.0232 AND P < 0.0001, RESPECTIVELY). SOCS1 GENE DELETION WAS FOUND IN 8 OF 25 ACGH ASSAYED TUMOUR SPECIMENS, WHICH WAS ASSOCIATED WITH LOWER SOCS1 MRNA EXPRESSION (P = 0.0448). FURTHERMORE, ECTOPIC SOCS1 OVEREXPRESSION COULD ACTIVATE THE P53 SIGNALLING PATHWAY IN HCC CELL LINES. HYPERMETHYLATION OF SOCS2-7 AND CISH GENES WAS SELDOM FOUND IN HCC. OUR RESULTS SUGGESTED THAT THE GENE LOSS AND EPIGENETIC SILENCING OF SOCS1 WERE STRONGLY ASSOCIATED WITH HBV-RELATED HCC. 2014 7 2688 30 EVIDENCE THAT METHYLATION OF HEPATITIS B VIRUS COVALENTLY CLOSED CIRCULAR DNA IN LIVER TISSUES OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS B MODULATES HBV REPLICATION. EPIGENETIC FACTORS MAY MODULATE CHRONIC HEPATITIS B VIRAL INFECTION BY AFFECTING VIRION GENE TRANSCRIPTION. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO COMPARE THE METHYLATION STATUS OF THE INTRAHEPATIC COVALENTLY CLOSED CIRCULAR DNA (CCCDNA) CPG ISLAND 2 AND HBV REPLICATION CAPABILITY. HBV CCCDNA WAS EXTRACTED FROM LIVER BIOPSIES OF 55 HBSAG-POSITIVE PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS B (32 HBEAG-POSITIVE AND 23 HBEAG-NEGATIVE), AND WAS ANALYZED FOR METHYLATION STATUS AND QUANTITY. THE TWO HPA II RECOGNITION SEQUENCES CCPGG IN THE CPG ISLAND 2 WERE METHYLATED IN INFECTED LIVER TISSUES FROM 24 (43.6%) OF 55 PATIENTS. POSITIVE RATIOS OF CCCDNA METHYLATION WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN HBEAG-NEGATIVE PATIENTS (15/23, 65.2%) THAN HBEAG-POSITIVE PATIENTS (9/32, 28.1%) (P < 0.05). THE PERCENTAGE OF METHYLATED-CCCDNA/TOTAL-CCCDNA OF HBEAG-NEGATIVE SAMPLES (A MEDIAN OF 48%, RANGING FROM 5% TO 83%) WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER (P < 0.001) THAN HBEAG-POSITIVE SAMPLES (A MEDIAN OF 14%, RANGING FROM 0.26% TO 35%). RATIOS OF RELAXED CIRCULAR DNA (RCDNA) TO CCCDNA MOLECULES REVEALED THAT CCCDNA METHYLATION CORRELATED WITH IMPAIRED VIRION PRODUCTIVITY IN HBEAG-POSITIVE INDIVIDUALS (P < 0.05). THE BISULFITE DNA SEQUENCING SHOWED THAT METHYLATION DENSITY WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN HBEAG-NEGATIVE THAN IN HBEAG-POSITIVE PATIENTS (P < 0.05). THE METHYLATION LEVEL OF THE CPG ISLAND 2 OF THE CCCDNA IN HBEAG-NEGATIVE PATIENTS WAS HIGHER THAN THAT IN HBEAG-POSITIVE PATIENTS, SUGGESTING THAT HBV CCCDNA METHYLATION MAY BE RELEVANT TO REPLICATION CAPABILITY OF HBV. 2009 8 1067 40 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 9 145 39 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 10 6248 32 THE METHYLATION STATUS OF THE DDX43 PROMOTER IN CHINESE PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA. ABERRANT DNA METHYLATION IS A COMMON EPIGENETIC ALTERATION AND AN IMPORTANT FEATURE IN HUMAN CANCERS. THE DEAD BOX POLYPEPTIDE 43 (DDX43) HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE OVEREXPRESSED IN VARIOUS SOLID TUMORS AND SOME HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES. IN THE PRESENT STUDY, WE INVESTIGATED THE METHYLATION STATUS OF THE DDX43 PROMOTER IN 87 CHINESE PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA (CML) USING REAL-TIME QUANTITATIVE METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION AND EXAMINED THE DDX43 TRANSCRIPT IN 35 PATIENTS USING REAL-TIME QUANTITATIVE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION. DDX43 PROMOTER HYPOMETHYLATION WAS OBSERVED IN 22 (25.3%) CML PATIENTS. NO SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION WAS FOUND BETWEEN THE HYPOMETHYLATION OF THE DDX43 PROMOTER WITH THE AGE, SEX, WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNTS, HEMOGLOBIN CONCENTRATION, PLATELET COUNTS, AND CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITIES OF CML PATIENTS (P>0.05). THE FREQUENCY OF DDX43 HYPOMETHYLATION IN PATIENTS IN THE CHRONIC PHASE, IN THE ACCELERATED PHASE, AND IN BLAST CRISIS WAS 23.4% (15/64), 25.0% (2/8), AND 33.3% (5/15), RESPECTIVELY (P>0.05). THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION BETWEEN DDX43 HYPOMETHYLATION AND DDX43 TRANSCRIPT (R=0.469, P=0.004). OUR DATA SUGGEST THAT HYPOMETHYLATION OF THE DDX43 PROMOTER MAY BE AN EARLY AND FREQUENT MOLECULAR EVENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CML IN CHINESE PATIENTS. 2013 11 6243 45 THE MECHANISM OF APOLIPROTEIN A1 DOWN-REGULATED BY HEPATITIS B VIRUS. BACKGROUND: HEPATITIS B VIRUS (HBV) INFECTION CORRELATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF CIRRHOSIS, LIVER FAILURE AND HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC), POSES A HUGE HEALTH BURDEN ON THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY. HOWEVER, THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC HEPATITIS B (CHB) REMAINS UNCLEAR. APOLIPOPROTEIN A1 (APOA1) MAINLY SECRETED BY HEPATOCYTES, REPRESENTS THE MAJOR PROTEIN COMPONENT OF HIGH-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN. APOA1 SECRETION MAY BE DISRUPTED BY HBV INFECTION. IN THIS STUDY, WE MAINLY INVESTIGATED THE MOLECULAR MECHANISM OF APOA1 DOWN REGULATED BY HBV FOR REVEALING THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHB. METHODS: APOA1 EXPRESSION IN LIVERS OF CHB PATIENTS AS WELL AS HEALTHY CONTROLS WERE PERFORMED BY REAL-TIME PCR (RT-PCR) AND WESTERN BLOT. THE SERUM APOA1 LEVELS WERE MEASURED BY ENZYMED-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY (ELISA). EXPRESSION OF APOA1 MRNA AND PROTEIN LEVELS WERE PERFORMED BY RT-PCR AND WESTERN BLOT IN HUMAN HEPATOMA HEPG2 CELLS AND SUBLINE HEPG2.2.15 CELLS. HBV EXPRESSION CONSTRUCT, PHBV1.3 WERE TRANSFECTED INTO HEPG2, THE CHANGES OF APOA1 MRNA AND PROTEIN EXPRESSION WERE DETECTED BY RT-PCR AND WESTERN BLOT. TO FURTHER STUDY THE MECHANISM OF APOA1 DOWN REGULATION BY HBV, 11 CPG ISLANDS IN APOA1 PROMOTOR WERE TESTED FOR DNA METHYLATION STATUS BY MSP. HEPG2.2.15 CELL LINES WERE TREATED WITH DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE INHIBITOR 5-AZA-DEOXYCYTIDINE (5-AZA-DC), THEN, EXPRESSION OF APOA1 MRNA AND HBV PARTICLES IN THE SUPERNATANT, AS WELL AS APOA1 PROTEIN LEVELS WERE DETECTED BY RT-PCR AND WESTERN BLOT. SECRETION OF HBSAG AND HBEAG IN HEPG2 CELLS COTRANSFECTED WITH PAPOA1 AND PHBV1.3 CONSTRUCTS WAS TESTED BY ELISA. MEANWHILE, SECRETION OF HBSAG AND HBEAG IN THE SUPERNATANT WERE QUANTIFIED BY ELISA IN THE HEPG2.2.15 CELLS TREATED WITH 5-AZA-DC PLUS APOA1 SIRNA. RESULTS: EXPRESSION OF APOA1 MRNA AND PROTEIN LEVELS, AS WELL AS SERUM APOA1 LEVELS IN CHB PATIENTS WERE DECREASED CORRESPONDING HEALTHY CONTROLS IN VIVO. IN ADDITION, THE EXPRESSION OF APOA1 MRNA AND PROTEIN LEVELS WERE DOWN REGULATED IN HEPG2.2.15 CELLS CORREPONDING HEPG2 CELLS, 11 CPG ISLANDS IN APOA1 PROMOTER WERE TESTED FOR METHYLATION STATUS BY MSP IN HEPG2.2.15 CELLS COMPARED TO HEPG2 CELLS, WHILE TWO CPG ISLANDS WERE FOUND HYPERMETHYLATED. EXPRESSION OF APOA1 MRNA AND PROTEIN LEVELS WERE INCREASED IN HEPG2.2.15 CELLS TREATED WITH DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE INHIBITOR 5-AZA-DC. FURTHERMORE, OVEREXPRESSION OF APOA1 CAN ENHANCE HBV EXPRESSION IN HEPG2 CELLS WHILE THE INHIBITORY EFFECT OF 5-AZA-DC ON HBV EXPRESSION WAS COMPLETELY ABOLISHED BY BLOCKING 5-AZA-DC-INDUCED UP-REGULATION OF APOA1 USING RNAI. CONCLUSIONS: EPIGENETIC SILENCING OF APOA1 GENE EXPRESSION BY CPG ISLAND DNA HYPERMETHYLATION INDUCED BY HBV MAY CONTRIBUTE TO THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHB. 2016 12 2304 28 EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF CATHEPSIN L EXPRESSION IN CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKAEMIA. THE EXPRESSION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF CATHEPSIN L (CTSL) HAS BEEN EXTENSIVELY STUDIED IN SOLID TUMOURS. HOWEVER NO SUCH INFORMATION IN CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKAEMIA (CML) WAS AVAILABLE. WE INVESTIGATED THE ACTIVITY AND EXPRESSION OF THIS PROTEASE IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS (PBMCS) OF 47 ADULT CML PATIENTS. THIRTY ADULTS SUFFERING FROM SYSTEMIC DISEASES AND 50 HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS SERVED AS CONTROLS. THE MRNA LEVELS OF CTSL, ITS SPECIFIC ENDOGENOUS INHIBITOR CYSTATIN C AND TRANSCRIPTIONAL UP-REGULATOR VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR (VEGF) WERE QUANTITATED BY REAL-TIME QPCR. CTSL PROTEASE ACTIVITY AND ITS MRNA EXPRESSION WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN CML CHRONIC PHASE (CP) PATIENTS COMPARED TO CML ACCELERATED PHASE/BLAST CRISIS (AP/BC) PATIENTS AND CONTROLS (P/=10%. RESULTS: HIGHEST PERCENTAGES OF METHYLATION WERE OBSERVED FOR MLH3 AND XRCC1 GENES (11-20% METHYLATION) AND IN ONE CASE FOR MRE11A AND PMS2 (>50% METHYLATION). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS SHOWED SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN THE EXPRESSION OF THE GENES MRE11A (P = 0.0002), PMS2(P = 0.0068), XRCC1 (P = 0.0080) AND MLH3 (0.0057) BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS. CONCLUSION: THE EFFECTS OF CHRONIC SMOKING ON ORAL MUCOSA LED TO THE METHYLATION OF GENES MRE11A PMS2, XRCC1 AND MLH3, BUT RESULTED IN A REDUCTION OF GENE EXPRESSION OF MRE11A AND PMS2, WHICH SHOWED >/=50% METHYLATION. THESE RESULTS PROVIDE EVIDENCE THAT SMOKING CAUSE METHYLATION AND REDUCED EXPRESSION OF REPAIR GENES. 2018 19 511 42 ASSOCIATION OF RASSF1A HYPERMETHYLATION WITH RISK OF HBV/HCV-INDUCED HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA: A META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: RESEARCHERS HAVE DISCOVERED A LARGE NUMBER OF DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS IN HUMAN CANCER. THESE CANCER-SPECIFIC METHYLATION PATTERNS CAN PROVIDE INFORMATION FOR THE DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT, AND PROGNOSIS OF CANCER. METHYLATION STUDIES CAN FIND NEW BIOMARKERS BASED ON EPIGENETIC ANALYSIS AND APPLY THESE BIOMARKERS TO CLINICAL ONCOLOGY. MANY STUDIES ON THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN RAASF1A METHYLATION STATUS AND SUSCEPTIBILITY TO HEPATITIS B VIRUS (HBV)/HEPATITIS C VIRUS (HCV)-INDUCED HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC) HAVE REACHED CONTROVERSIAL CONCLUSIONS. HENCE, THE CURRENT REVIEW COMPREHENSIVELY ASSESSED THE CORRELATION BETWEEN RAS ASSOCIATION DOMAIN FAMILY 1A (RASSF1A) METHYLATION AND THE RISK OF THE HCV/HBV-INDUCED HCC. METHODS: THE APPROPRIATED PUBLICATIONS WERE EXTRACTED IN EMBASE, PUBMED, WEB OF SCIENCE, COCHRANE LIBRARY, AND CHINA NATIONAL KNOWLEDGE INFRASTRUCTURE DATABASES USING STATA 5.0 SOFTWARE. THE ODDS RATIOS (ORS) WITH 95 % CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (95 % CI) OF RASSF1A METHYLATION WERE COMPUTED. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 1015 HBV/HCV-RELATED HCC SAMPLES, 124 NON-HBV/HCV-RELATED HCC (NBNC-HCC) SAMPLES, AND 1225 NONTUMOROUS CONTROLS WERE EXTRACTED AND EXAMINED IN THIS RESEARCH. THE FREQUENCY OF THE METHYLATED RASSF1A IN THE HBV/HCV-RELATED TUMOR CASES DISPLAYED A SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED OR COMPARED WITH THE OVERALL NONTUMOR SAMPLES (OR = 19.372, 95 % CI = 11.060-33.931, P = 0.000). THE FREQUENCY OF THE METHYLATED RASSF1A IN HBV/HCV-RELATED NEOPLASM CASES DISPLAYED A SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED OR COMPARED WITH THE NON-HBV/HCV-RELATED NEOPLASM (NBNC-NEOPLASM) SAMPLES (OR = 2.150, 95 % CI = 1.398-3.308, P = 0.000). COMPARED WITH NORMAL, CHRONIC HEPATITIS B OR C, CIRRHOSIS, AND PARACANCEROUS SAMPLES, THE POOLED OR OF THE RASSF1A PROMOTER METHYLATION IN THE HBV/HCV-INDUCED HCC SAMPLES WAS 62.785(95 % CI = 35.224-111.909), 25.07 (95 % CI = 13.85-45.36), 6.89 (95 % CI = 3.33-14.264) AND 9.02 (95 % CI = 0.91-89.80), RESPECTIVELY. THE RATE OF RASSF1A HYPERMETHYLATION WAS ROBUSTLY CORRELATED WITH TUMOR SIZE AND VASCULAR INVASION, AND THE POOLED OR WAS 0.346 (95 % CI = 0.210 - 0.569) AND 0.081 (95 % CI = 0.022 - 0.303), RESPECTIVELY. CONCLUSION: RESULTS SHOWED ROBUST ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN RASSF1A GENE METHYLATION IN PROMOTER REGION AND ENHANCED HBV/HCV-RELATED HCC SUSCEPTIBILITY, THEREBY REVEALING THAT RASSF1A METHYLATION STATUS MAY SERVE AS AN IMPORTANT INDICATOR FOR HCC ONCOGENESIS. 2020 20 1991 33 EPIGENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE IFNLAMBDA3 GENE IDENTIFIES A NOVEL MARKER FOR RESPONSE TO THERAPY IN HCV-INFECTED SUBJECTS. CHRONIC HEPATITIS C VIRUS (HCV) INFECTION IS CHARACTERIZED BY HIGH INTERINDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY IN RESPONSE TO PEGYLATED INTERFERON AND RIBAVIRIN. A GENETIC POLYMORPHISM ON CHROMOSOME 19 (RS12979860) UPSTREAM OF INTERFERON-LAMBDA3 (IFNLAMBDA3) IS ASSOCIATED WITH A TWOFOLD CHANGE IN SUSTAINED VIROLOGIC RESPONSE RATE AFTER 48 WEEKS OF TREATMENT WITH PEGYLATED INTERFERON/RIBAVIRIN IN HCV GENOTYPE 1 (GT1) TREATMENT-NAIVE PATIENTS. WE CONDUCTED EPIGENETIC ANALYSIS ON THE IFNLAMBDA3 PROMOTER TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER DNA METHYLATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH RESPONSE TO HCV THERAPY. DNA SAMPLES FROM HCV GT1-INFECTED SUBJECTS RECEIVING AN INTERFERON-FREE PARITAPREVIR-CONTAINING COMBINATION REGIMEN (N=540) AND FROM HCV-UNINFECTED, HEALTHY CONTROLS (N=124) WERE ANALYSED FOR IFNLAMBDA3 METHYLATION LEVELS. METHYLATION WAS STRONGLY ASSOCIATED WITH RS12979860 ALLELE STATUS WHETHER ADJUSTING FOR HCV STATUS (R=65.0%, 95% CI: [60.2%, 69.5%]), OR NOT (R=64.4%), BOTH WITH P<2.2X10(-16) . IN HCV GT1-INFECTED SUBJECTS, C/C GENOTYPES HAD SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER METHYLATION LEVELS RELATIVE TO C/T OR T/T GENOTYPES (P<1X10(-14) ), WITH EACH T ALLELE RESULTING IN A NINE-UNIT INCREASE IN MEAN METHYLATION LEVEL. METHYLATION LEVELS DID NOT CORRELATE WITH RESPONSE IN SUBJECTS TREATED FOR 12 OR 24 WEEKS. HOWEVER, NON-C/C SUBJECTS WITH HIGHER METHYLATION LEVELS WERE MORE LIKELY TO RELAPSE WHEN TREATMENT DURATION WAS 8 WEEKS. THIS ANALYSIS SUGGESTS THAT METHYLATION STATUS OF THE IFNLAMBDA3 PROMOTER REGION MAY BE A USEFUL PARAMETER THAT IDENTIFIES PATIENTS MORE LIKELY TO RELAPSE FOLLOWING HCV THERAPY; HOWEVER, CONTINUING THERAPY FOR A SUFFICIENT DURATION CAN OVERCOME THIS DIFFERENCE. THESE FINDINGS MAY PROVIDE MECHANISTIC INSIGHT INTO THE ROLE OF IFNLAMBDA3 GENETIC VARIANTS IN HCV TREATMENT RESPONSE. 2017