1 3552 100 IMMUNOSUPPRESSION BY CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO N-NITROSODIMETHYLAMINE (NDMA) IN MICE. IMMUNOSUPPRESSION OF HUMORAL AND CELLULAR RESPONSES FOLLOWING CHRONIC ORAL EXPOSURE TO 1, 5, 10, AND 20 PPM N-NITROSODIMETHYLAMINE (NDMA) WAS EXAMINED IN CD-1 MICE. MONITORING OF CUMULATIVE MORTALITY AND THE INCIDENCE OF PERITONEAL ASCITES IN ANIMALS SHOWED AN NDMA DOSE-RELATED MORTALITY AND HEPATOTOXICITY. NO VISIBLE CHANGES IN IMMUNOLOGICAL PARAMETERS WERE NOTED AT THE 1 PPM NDMA DOSE. IMMUNOSUPPRESSION OF IMMUNOGLOBULIN M (IGM) ANTIBODY RESPONSE BY NDMA TO SHEEP RED BLOOD CELLS (SRBC) WAS TIME-RELATED, DOSE-RELATED, AND COULD BE REVERSED WITHIN 30 D BY REMOVAL OF THE CHEMICAL FROM THE DRINKING WATER. CELLULAR IMMUNE RESPONSE, MONITORED BY ALLOGENEIC STIMULATION OF CELLS IN MIXED LYMPHOCYTE REACTION (MLR), WAS MARKEDLY SUPPRESSED BY 10 AND 20 PPM NDMA. THUS, CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO NDMA, EXCEPT FOR THE LOW-HEPATOTOXIC DOSES OF NITROSAMINE, RESULTED IN A MARKED AND PERSISTENT IMMUNOSUPPRESSION OF CELLULAR AND HUMORAL RESPONSES IN CD-1 MICE. IN CONCLUSION, CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO THE HEPATOTOXIC (ASCITE-INDUCING) DOSES OF NDMA SUPPRESSED HUMORAL AND CELLULAR IMMUNITY. THE PERSISTENT IMMUNOSUPPRESSION COULD BE REVERSED AFTER THE REMOVAL OF NDMA FROM THE DRINKING WATER. ALTHOUGH NO DIRECT NDMA-RELATED CANCER WAS REPORTED IN HUMANS, OUR DATA POINT TO A POTENTIAL EPIGENETIC CARCINOGENICITY OF NITROSAMINES DUE TO CHRONIC IMMUNOSUPPRESSION.	1992	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
2 2761  27 EXPRESSION OF TESTIS-SPECIFIC GENES, TEX101 AND ODF4, IN CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA AND EVALUATION OF TEX101 IMMUNOGENICITY. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: CANCER-TESTIS (CT) ANTIGENS ARE A GROUP OF ANTIGENS WITH A RESTRICTED EXPRESSION IN NORMAL TISSUES, EXCEPT TESTIS, AND THEY HAVE ABERRANT EXPRESSION IN DIFFERENT TUMORS. THIS PATTERN OF EXPRESSION HAS MADE THEM PROMISING TARGETS FOR IMMUNOTHERAPY AND CANCER DETECTION. OUR AIM WAS TO FIND NEW MEMBERS OF THIS GROUP THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL AS MARKERS IN THE DETECTION OF CANCER AND IMMUNOTHERAPY. DESIGN AND SETTING: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY CONDUCTED IN REFERRAL CENTERS OF TEHRAN UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCE FROM JANUARY 2008 TO JANUARY 2009. PATIENTS AND METHODS: WE ANALYZED THE EXPRESSION OF TWO TESTIS-SPECIFIC GENES NAMED ODF4 (OUTER DENSE FIBER OF SPERM TAILS 4) AND TEX101 (TESTIS EXPRESSED 101) IN 20 CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA (CML) AND 20 NORMAL SAMPLES BY REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION-POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION AND SEQUENCING. IMMUNOGENICITY OF TEX101 WAS EVALUATED BY MEANS OF ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY. RESULTS: THESE TWO GENES WERE EXPRESSED IN 30% OF CML PATIENTS BUT NOT IN ANY OF THE HEALTHY DONORS. HUMORAL RESPONSE AGAINST TEX101 WAS NOT DETECTED IN ANY SAMPLES. CONCLUSIONS: TEX101 AND ODF4 ARE CT GENES USEFUL FOR DETECTION OF CML. UNLIKE MANY CT GENES, OVEREXPRESSION OF TEX101 WAS NOT SHOWN TO INDUCE IMMUNOLOGIC RESPONSES IN THESE SAMPLES. ACCORDING TO THE PREVIOUS STUDIES, OVEREXPRESSION OF TEX101 LEADS TO SUPPRESSION OF CANCER INVASION AND METASTASIS; THUS, THE INDUCTION OF THE EXPRESSION OF TEX101 IN CANCER BY EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS MAY BE A TREATMENT STRATEGY.	2012	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
3 2896  26 GASTRIC ENTEROCHROMAFFIN-LIKE CELL HYPERPLASIA AND NEOPLASIA IN THE RAT: AN INDIRECT EFFECT OF THE HISTAMINE H2-RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST, BL-6341. ORAL ADMINISTRATION OF BL-6341 HYDROCHLORIDE, A LONG-ACTING HISTAMINE H2-RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST, TO RATS FOR 2 YEARS AT DOSES OF 10, 55 OR 300 MG/KG/DAY RESULTED IN SEVERAL CHANGES IN THE FUNDIC (OXYNTIC) MUCOSA OF THE GLANDULAR STOMACH. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ALTERATION WAS A PROLIFERATION OF ARGYROPHIL ENDOCRINE CELLS THAT WAS DEMONSTRATED TO BE ENTEROCHROMAFFIN-LIKE (ECL) CELLS. THE ECL CELL PROLIFERATION CONSISTED OF A CONTINUUM OF CHANGES INVOLVING DIFFUSE HYPERPLASIA, FOCAL ADENOMATOUS HYPERPLASIA, AND CARCINOID TUMOR FORMATION AT THE HIGHEST DOSE LEVEL OF 300 MG/KG. AT 55 MG/KG ONLY ECL CELL HYPERPLASIA OCCURRED, AND AT THE LOW DOSE OF 10 MG/KG THERE WERE NO REMARKABLE PROLIFERATIVE CHANGES. THE REFERENCE COMPOUND, CIMETIDINE (950 MG/KG), PRODUCED A DEGREE OF ECL CELL PROLIFERATION THAT WAS SLIGHTLY LESS, BUT NOT SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT THAN, THAT OBSERVED WITH 55 MG/KG OF BL-6341. DOSE-RELATED ELEVATIONS OF SERUM GASTRIN WERE OBSERVED WITH BL-6341, WHILE CIMETIDINE PRODUCED HYPERGASTRINEMIA THAT WAS GENERALLY INTERMEDIATE BETWEEN THAT PRODUCED BY THE MIDDLE AND LOW DOSES OF BL-6341. THE HYPERGASTRINEMIA RESULTED FROM THE PHARMACOLOGIC INHIBITION OF ACID SECRETION, WHICH IS THE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK MECHANISM CONTROLLING THE PRODUCTION OF GASTRIN. ONLY THE 300 MG/KG DOSE OF BL-6341 PRODUCED A SIGNIFICANT, SUSTAINED (24 HOURS) HYPERGASTRINEMIA AND CARCINOID TUMORS. THE CHRONIC, SUSTAINED HYPERGASTRINEMIA WAS CONSIDERED TO BE THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF THE ECL CELL CARCINOID NEOPLASIA. ALL GENETIC TOXICOLOGY TESTS PERFORMED WITH BL-6341 WERE NEGATIVE. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT THE DEMONSTRATED HYPERGASTRINEMIA REPRESENTS AN INDIRECT, HORMONAL, EPIGENETIC MECHANISM OF TUMORIGENESIS.	1988	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
4 3049  17 GENOME-WIDE ANALYSIS REVEALS ZINC TRANSPORTER ZIP9 REGULATED BY DNA METHYLATION PROMOTES RADIATION-INDUCED SKIN FIBROSIS VIA THE TGF-BETA SIGNALING PATHWAY. RADIATION-INDUCED SKIN FIBROSIS IS A DETRIMENTAL AND CHRONIC DISORDER THAT OCCURS AFTER RADIATION EXPOSURE. DNA METHYLATION HAS BEEN CHARACTERIZED AS AN IMPORTANT REGULATORY MECHANISM OF MULTIPLE PATHOLOGICAL PROCESSES. IN THIS STUDY, WE COMPARED THE GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION STATUS IN RADIATION-INDUCED FIBROTIC SKIN AND ADJACENT NORMAL TISSUES OF RATS BY METHYLATED DNA IMMUNOPRECIPITATION SEQUENCING. RADIATION-INDUCED FIBROTIC SKIN SHOWED DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED REGIONS ASSOCIATED WITH 3,650 PROTEIN-CODING GENES, 72 MICRORNAS, 5,836 LONG NONCODING RNAS AND 3 PIWI-INTERACTING RNAS. BY INTEGRATING THE MRNA AND METHYLATION PROFILES, THE ZINC TRANSPORTER SLC39A9/ZIP9 WAS INVESTIGATED IN GREATER DETAIL. THE PROTEIN LEVEL OF ZIP9 WAS INCREASED IN IRRADIATED SKIN TISSUES OF HUMANS, MONKEYS, AND RATS, ESPECIALLY IN RADIOGENIC FIBROTIC SKIN TISSUES. RADIATION INDUCED THE DEMETHYLATION OF A CPG DINUCLEOTIDE IN EXON 1 OF ZIP9 THAT RESULTED IN RECRUITMENT OF THE TRANSCRIPTIONAL FACTOR SP1 AND INCREASED ZIP9 EXPRESSION. OVEREXPRESSION OF ZIP9 RESULTED IN ACTIVATION OF THE PROFIBROTIC TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR-BETA SIGNALING PATHWAY THROUGH PROTEIN KINASE B IN HUMAN FIBROBLASTS. IN ADDITION, RADIATION-INDUCED SKIN FIBROSIS WAS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED ZINC ACCUMULATION. THE ZINC CHELATOR N,N,N',N'-TETRAKIS(2-PYRIDYLMETHYL)-1,2-ETHYLENEDIAMINE ABROGATED ZIP9-INDUCED ACTIVATION OF THE TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR-BETA SIGNALING PATHWAY AND ATTENUATED RADIATION-INDUCED SKIN FIBROSIS IN A RAT MODEL. IN SUMMARY, OUR FINDINGS ILLUSTRATE EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF ZIP9 AND ITS CRITICAL ROLE IN PROMOTING RADIATION-INDUCED SKIN FIBROSIS.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
5 1121  16 COMPARISON OF EPIGENETIC PROFILES OF HUMAN ORAL EPITHELIAL CELLS FROM HIV-POSITIVE (ON HAART) AND HIV-NEGATIVE SUBJECTS. HIV-INFECTED SUBJECTS ON HIGHLY ACTIVE ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY (HAART) ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO COMORBID MICROBIAL INFECTIONS IN THE ORAL CAVITY. WE OBSERVED THAT PRIMARY ORAL EPITHELIAL CELLS (POECS) ISOLATED FROM HIV+ SUBJECTS ON HAART GROW MORE SLOWLY AND ARE LESS INNATE IMMUNE RESPONSIVE TO MICROBIAL CHALLENGE WHEN COMPARED WITH POECS FROM NORMAL SUBJECTS. THESE ABERRANT CELLS ALSO DEMONSTRATE EPIGENETIC DIFFERENCES THAT INCLUDE REDUCTION IN HISTONE DEACETYLASE 1 (HDAC-1) LEVELS AND REDUCED TOTAL DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE (DNMT) ACTIVITY SPECIFIC TO ENZYMES DNMT1 AND DNMT3A. THE DNMT ACTIVITY CORRELATES WELL WITH GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION, INDICATING THAT ABERRANT DNMT ACTIVITY IN HIV+ (ON HAART) POECS LEADS TO AN ABERRANTLY METHYLATED EPITHELIAL CELL PHENOTYPE. OVERALL, OUR RESULTS LEAD US TO HYPOTHESIZE THAT, IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HIV INFECTION ON HAART, EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN KEY GENES RESULT IN INCREASED VULNERABILITY TO MICROBIAL INFECTION IN THE ORAL CAVITY.	2013	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
6 6484  18 TOXICOLOGIC PROFILE OF ACRYLONITRILE. ACRYLONITRILE IS A MONOMER USED EXTENSIVELY AS A RAW MATERIAL IN THE MANUFACTURING OF ACRYLIC FIBERS, PLASTICS, SYNTHETIC RUBBERS, AND ACRYLAMIDE. IT HAS BEEN CLASSIFIED AS A PROBABLE HUMAN CARCINOGEN ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS OF NUMEROUS CHRONIC RAT BIOASSAYS. THE PRESENT REPORT SUMMARIZES THE TOXICITY DATA ON ACRYLONITRILE AND REVIEWS AVAILABLE DATA CONCERNING THE MECHANISM (GENETIC VERSUS EPIGENETIC) BY WHICH ACRYLONITRILE IS CARCINOGENIC IN RATS. FROM THE EVALUATION OF THE RELEVANT TOXICITY DATA, IT CAN BE CONCLUDED THAT ACRYLONITRILE IS INDEED CARCINOGENIC TO RATS AFTER EITHER ORAL OR INHALATIONAL EXPOSURE. HOWEVER, INFORMATION ON OTHER MAMMALIAN SPECIES IS LACKING, AND, MOREOVER, THE EXACT MECHANISM OF THE CARCINOGENIC PROCESS IS UNCLEAR. THEREFORE, IT IS RECOMMENDED TO CONDUCT AN ADDITIONAL LONG-TERM INHALATION CARCINOGENICITY STUDY WITH ACRYLONITRILE IN MICE, AS WELL AS STUDIES INTO THE MECHANISM BY WHICH ACRYLONITRILE INDUCES (BRAIN) TUMORS IN RATS (GENETIC VERSUS EPIGENETIC).	1998	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
7 3718  20 INHIBITION OF BCL6B PROMOTES GASTRIC CANCER BY AMPLIFYING INFLAMMATION IN MICE. BACKGROUND: CHRONIC GASTRITIS HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED TO BE A KEY CAUSE OF GASTRIC CANCER (GC), AND CONTROL OF GASTRIC INFLAMMATION IS REGARDED AS AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR THE CLINICAL PREVENTION OF GASTRIC CARCINOGENESIS. HOWEVER, THERE REMAINS AN UNMET NEED TO IDENTIFY THE DOMINANT REGULATORS OF GASTRIC ONCOGENESIS-ASSOCIATED INFLAMMATION IN VIVO. METHODS: THE MOUSE MODEL FOR THE STUDY OF INFLAMMATION-ASSOCIATED GC WAS INDUCED BY BENZO[A]PYRENE (BAP) INTRAGASTRIC ADMINISTRATION IN BCL6B(-/-) AND WILDTYPE MICE ON A C57BL/6 BACKGROUND. 5-AZA-2'-DEOXYCYTIDINE (5-AZA), THE DEMETHYLATION DRUG, WAS INTRAPERITONEALLY INJECTED TO RESTORE BCL6B EXPRESSION. HUMAN GC TISSUE ARRAY WAS USED TO ANALYSE PATIENT SURVIVAL BASED ON BCL6B AND CD3 PROTEIN EXPRESSION. RESULTS: BCL6B WAS GRADUALLY DOWNREGULATED BY ITS OWN PROMOTER HYPERMETHYLATION IN PARALLEL TO AN INCREASING INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE DURING THE PROGRESSION OF BAP-INDUCED GASTRIC CARCINOGENESIS IN MICE. MOREOVER, KNOCKOUT OF BCL6B DRAMATICALLY WORSENED THE SEVERITY OF GASTRIC CANCER AND AGGRAVATED THE INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE IN THE BAP-INDUCED MICE GC MODEL. RE-ACTIVATION OF BCL6B BY 5-AZA IMPEDED INFLAMMATORY AMPLIFICATION AND BAP-INDUCED GC DEVELOPMENT, PROLONGING SURVIVAL TIME IN WILDTYPE MICE, WHEREAS NO NOTABLE CURATIVE EFFECT OCCURRED IN BCL6B(-/-) MICE WITH 5-AZA TREATMENT. FINALLY, SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE CORRELATIONS WERE DETECTED BETWEEN THE MRNA LEVELS OF BCL6B AND INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES IN HUMAN GC TISSUES; PATIENTS HARBOURING BCL6B-NEGETIVE AND SEVERE-INFLAMMATION GC TUMOURS WERE FOUND TO EXHIBIT THE SHORTEST SURVIVAL TIME. CONCLUSIONS: EPIGENETIC INACTIVATION OF BCL6B PROMOTES GASTRIC CANCER THROUGH AMPLIFICATION OF THE GASTRIC INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE IN VIVO AND OFFERS A NEW APPROACH FOR GC TREATMENT AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE.	2019	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
8  272  25 AGE-DEPENDENT DECREASE IN THE INDUCTION OF REGULATORY T CELLS IS ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASED EXPRESSION OF RALDH2 IN MESENTERIC LYMPH NODE DENDRITIC CELLS. A DECLINE IN IMMUNE FUNCTION WITH AGING HAS BEEN REPORTED. REGULATORY T CELL (TREG) INDUCTION IS KNOWN TO DECREASE WITH AGE, AND ELUCIDATING THE UNDERLYING MECHANISM IS IMPORTANT FOR PREVENTING AGE-RELATED DISEASES DUE TO AGE-RELATED CHRONIC INFLAMMATION. IN THE INTESTINE, DENDRITIC CELLS (DCS) PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN INDUCING TREGS SPECIFIC TO ORAL ANTIGENS, AND THEY EFFICIENTLY INDUCE TREGS VIA PRODUCTION OF RETINOIC ACID (RA), A VITAMIN A METABOLITE, CATALYZED BY THE ENZYME RETINALDEHYDE DEHYDROGENASE 2 (RALDH2). WE HAVE PREVIOUSLY REPORTED THAT IN THE MESENTERIC LYMPH NODE (MLN), A SECONDARY LYMPHOID TISSUE IN WHICH IMMUNE RESPONSES TO ORAL ANTIGENS ARE INDUCED, FOUR DC SUBSETS EXPRESS DIFFERENT LEVELS OF CD11B, CD103, AND PD-L1, AND WE HAVE REPORTED THAT THE CD11B(-)CD103(+)PD-L1(HIGH) SUBSET EXPRESSES THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF THE RALDH2 GENE AND INDUCES TREGS IN VITRO. WE EXAMINED TREG INDUCTION IN YOUNG AND AGED MICE USING A TREG INDUCTION MODEL BY ADMINISTERING A FOOD ANTIGEN, AND WE FOUND THAT ANTIGEN-SPECIFIC TREG INDUCTION WAS DECREASED IN AGED MICE. WE FURTHER INVESTIGATED THE MLN DCS, AND A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN RALDH2 GENE EXPRESSION WAS OBSERVED IN MLN DCS FROM AGED MICE. AS FACTORS, WE FOUND THAT THE PROPORTION OF THE CD11B(-)CD103(+)PD-L1(HIGH) SUBSET WAS DECREASED IN AGED MICE COMPARED WITH THAT IN YOUNG MICE AND THAT RALDH ENZYME ACTIVITY WAS DECREASED IN THE CD11B(-)CD103(+)PD-L1(HIGH) AND CD11B(+)CD103(+)PD-L1(HIGH) SUBSETS. FURTHERMORE, ANALYSIS OF THE METHYLATION OF THE RALDH2 GENE PROMOTER REGION REVEALED THAT CPG MOTIFS WERE MORE METHYLATED IN THE MLN DCS OF AGED MICE, SUGGESTING THAT RALDH2 EXPRESSION WAS SUPPRESSED BY EPIGENETIC CHANGES. FINALLY, WE FOUND THAT RA TREATMENT TENDED TO INCREASE TREG INDUCTION. THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT THE REGULATION OF RA PRODUCTION MAY BE INVOLVED IN THE AGE-RELATED DECREASE IN ANTIGEN-SPECIFIC TREG INDUCTION.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
9  491  20 ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF POLYETHYLENE NANO/MICROPLASTIC EXPOSURE ON HUMAN VAGINAL KERATINOCYTES. THE GLOBAL RISE OF SINGLE-USE THROW-AWAY PLASTIC PRODUCTS HAS ELICITED A MASSIVE INCREASE IN THE NANO/MICROPLASTICS (N/MPLS) EXPOSURE BURDEN IN HUMANS. RECENTLY, IT HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED THAT DISPOSABLE PERIOD PRODUCTS MAY RELEASE N/MPLS WITH USAGE, WHICH REPRESENTS A POTENTIAL THREAT TO WOMEN'S HEALTH WHICH HAS NOT BEEN SCIENTIFICALLY ADDRESSED YET. BY USING POLYETHYL ENE (PE) PARTICLES (200 NM TO 9 MUM), WE SHOWED THAT ACUTE EXPOSURE TO A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF N/MPLS INDUCED CELL TOXICITY IN VAGINAL KERATINOCYTES AFTER EFFECTIVE CELLULAR UPTAKE, AS VIABILITY AND APOPTOSIS DATA SUGGEST, ALONG WITH TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (TEM) OBSERVATIONS. THE INTERNALISED N/MPLS ALTERED THE EXPRESSION OF JUNCTIONAL AND ADHERENCE PROTEINS AND THE ORGANISATION OF THE ACTIN CORTEX, INFLUENCING THE LEVEL OF GENES INVOLVED IN OXIDATIVE STRESS SIGNALLING PATHWAYS AND THAT OF MIRNAS RELATED TO EPITHELIAL BARRIER FUNCTION. WHEN THE EXPOSURE TO PE N/MPLS WAS DISCONTINUED OR BECAME CHRONIC, CELLS WERE ABLE TO RECOVER FROM THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON VIABILITY AND DIFFERENTIATION/PROLIFERATION GENE EXPRESSION IN A FEW DAYS. HOWEVER, IN ALL CASES, PE N/MPL EXPOSURE PROMPTED A SUSTAINED ALTERATION OF DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE AND DNA DEMETHYLASE EXPRESSION, WHICH MIGHT IMPACT EPIGENETIC REGULATION PROCESSES, LEADING TO ACCELERATED CELL AGEING AND INFLAMMATION, OR THE OCCURRENCE OF MALIGNANT TRANSFORMATION.	2023	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
10  136  19 ABERRANT DNA HYPERMETHYLATION PATTERNS LEAD TO TRANSCRIPTIONAL SILENCING OF TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENES IN UVB-EXPOSED SKIN AND UVB-INDUCED SKIN TUMORS OF MICE. OVEREXPOSURE OF THE HUMAN SKIN TO SOLAR ULTRAVIOLET (UV) RADIATION IS THE MAJOR ETIOLOGIC FACTOR FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SKIN CANCERS. HERE, WE REPORT THE RESULTS OF EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS IN UV-EXPOSED SKIN AND SKIN TUMORS IN A SYSTEMATIC MANNER. THE SKIN AND TUMOR SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED AFTER CHRONIC EXPOSURE OF THE SKIN OF SKH-1 HAIRLESS MICE TO UVB RADIATION USING A WELL-ESTABLISHED PHOTOCARCINOGENESIS PROTOCOL. WE FOUND A DISTINCT DNA HYPERMETHYLATION PATTERN IN THE UVB-EXPOSED EPIDERMAL SKIN AND UVB-INDUCED SKIN TUMORS THAT WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ELEVATED EXPRESSION AND ACTIVITY OF THE DNA METHYLTRANSFERASES (DNMT) 1, DNMT3A AND DNMT3B. TO EXPLORE THE ROLE OF HYPERMETHYLATION IN SKIN PHOTOCARCINOGENESIS, WE FOCUSED ON THE P16(INK4A) AND RASSF1A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENES, WHICH ARE TRANSCRIPTIONALLY SILENCED ON METHYLATION. WE ESTABLISHED THAT THE SILENCING OF THESE GENES IN UVB-EXPOSED EPIDERMIS AND UVB-INDUCED SKIN TUMORS IS ASSOCIATED WITH A NETWORK OF EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS, INCLUDING HYPOACETYLATION OF HISTONE H3 AND H4 AND INCREASED HISTONE DEACETYLATION, AS WELL AS RECRUITMENT OF METHYL-BINDING PROTEINS, INCLUDING MECP2 AND MBD1, TO THE METHYLATED CPGS. HIGHER LEVELS OF DNA METHYLATION AND DNMT ACTIVITY IN HUMAN SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA SPECIMENS THAN IN NORMAL HUMAN SKIN SUGGEST THAT THE DATA ARE RELEVANT CLINICALLY. OUR DATA INDICATE FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT UVB-INDUCED DNA HYPERMETHYLATION, ENHANCED DNMT ACTIVITY AND HISTONE MODIFICATIONS OCCUR IN UVB-EXPOSED SKIN AND UVB-INDUCED SKIN TUMORS AND SUGGEST THAT THESE EVENTS ARE INVOLVED IN THE SILENCING OF TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENES AND IN SKIN TUMOR DEVELOPMENT.	2011	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
11 6835  14 [INFLUENCE OF AGE OF PATIENTS WITH BRONCHOPULMONARY PATHOLOGY ON LOW-MOLECULAR DNA CONCENTRATION IN BLOOD PLASMA.]. THE AIM OF THE WORK WAS TO DETERMINE THE CONCENTRATION OF LOW-MOLECULAR-WEIGHT PLASMA DNA (LMDNA) IN PATIENTS WITH COPD AND CHRONIC NON-OBSTRUCTIVE BRONCHITIS (CNONB) OF TWO AGE GROUPS - 34-59 AND 60-80 YEARS. THE LEVELS OF LMDNA IN HEALTHY DONORS, PATIENTS WITH CNONB, HEALTHY RELATIVES OF PATIENTS WITH COPD DID NOT DIFFER, WHILE THE CONCENTRATION OF LMDNA IN PATIENTS WITH COPD WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER. IN COPD PATIENTS AGED 34-59 YEARS, THE LEVEL OF LMDNA WAS REDUCED BY MORE THAN 7 TIMES, AND IN COPD PATIENTS WHO SURVIVED TO 60-80 YEARS, IT WAS 3 TIMES LOWER COMPARED TO THE VALUE OF THIS BIOCHEMICAL INDICATOR IN HEALTHY DONORS OF THE SAME AGE. THE REDUCTION OF LMDNA REFLECTED A REDUCED SYSTEMIC APOPTOTIC ACTIVITY IN THE BODY OF PATIENTS WITH COPD. A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE CONCENTRATION OF LMDNA IN PATIENTS WITH COPD AND CNONB IN REMISSION CAN BE USED FOR DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE PATHOLOGICAL PROCESSES. AN INCREASE IN THE LOW LEVEL OF LMDNA IN COPD PATIENTS DURING AGING MAY INDICATE THE INVOLVEMENT OF EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS IN LIFE EXTENSION.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
12 1335  19 DERMAL FIBROBLASTS CULTURED FROM DONORS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS RETAIN AN EPIGENETIC MEMORY ASSOCIATED WITH POOR WOUND HEALING RESPONSES. THE PREVALENCE OF TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS (T2DM) IS ESCALATING GLOBALLY. PATIENTS SUFFER FROM MULTIPLE COMPLICATIONS INCLUDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHRONIC WOUNDS THAT CAN LEAD TO AMPUTATION. THESE WOUNDS ARE CHARACTERISED BY AN INFLAMMATORY ENVIRONMENT INCLUDING ELEVATED TUMOUR NECROSIS FACTOR ALPHA (TNF-ALPHA). DERMAL FIBROBLASTS (DF) ARE CRITICAL FOR EFFECTIVE WOUND HEALING, SO WE SOUGHT TO ESTABLISH WHETHER THERE WERE ANY DIFFERENCES IN DF CULTURED FROM T2DM DONORS OR THOSE WITHOUT DIABETES (ND-DF). ND- AND T2DM-DF WHEN CULTURED SIMILARLY IN VITRO SECRETED COMPARABLE CONCENTRATIONS OF TNF-ALPHA. FUNCTIONALLY, PRE-TREATMENT WITH TNF-ALPHA REDUCED THE PROLIFERATION OF ND-DF AND TRANSIENTLY ALTERED ND-DF MORPHOLOGY; HOWEVER, T2DM-DF WERE RESISTANT TO THESE TNF-ALPHA INDUCED CHANGES. IN CONTRAST, TNF-ALPHA INHIBITED ND- AND T2DM-DF MIGRATION AND MATRIX METALLOPROTEASE EXPRESSION TO THE SAME DEGREE, ALTHOUGH T2DM-DF EXPRESSED SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER LEVELS OF TISSUE INHIBITOR OF METALLOPROTEASES (TIMP)-2. FINALLY, TNF-ALPHA SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED THE SECRETION OF PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES (INCLUDING CCL2, CXCL1 AND SERPINE1) IN ND-DF, WHILST THIS EFFECT IN T2DM-DF WAS BLUNTED, PRESUMABLY DUE TO THE TENDENCY TO HIGHER BASELINE PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE EXPRESSION OBSERVED IN THIS CELL TYPE. COLLECTIVELY, THESE DATA DEMONSTRATE THAT T2DM-DF EXHIBIT A SELECTIVE LOSS OF RESPONSIVENESS TO TNF-ALPHA, PARTICULARLY REGARDING PROLIFERATIVE AND SECRETORY FUNCTIONS. THIS HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANT PHENOTYPIC CHANGES IN T2DM-DF THAT MAY EXPLAIN THE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO CHRONIC WOUNDS IN THESE PATIENTS.	2021	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
13 1622  19 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 3390  18 HOPX PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN ANTIRETROVIRAL DRUGS INDUCED EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION AND CARDIAC HYPERTROPHY. PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV (PLWH) HAVE TO TAKE AN ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY (ART) FOR LIFE AND SHOW NONCOMMUNICABLE ILLNESSES SUCH AS CHRONIC INFLAMMATION, IMMUNE ACTIVATION, AND MULTIORGAN DYSREGULATION. RECENT STUDIES SUGGEST THAT LONG-TERM USE OF ART INDUCES COMORBID CONDITIONS AND IS ONE OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF HEART FAILURE IN PLWH. HOWEVER, THE MOLECULAR MECHANISM OF ANTIRETROVIRAL DRUGS (ARVS) INDUCED HEART FAILURE IS UNCLEAR. TO DETERMINE THE MECHANISM OF ARVS INDUCED CARDIAC DYSFUNCTION, WE PERFORMED GLOBAL TRANSCRIPTOMIC PROFILING OF ARVS TREATED NEONATAL RAT VENTRICULAR CARDIOMYOCYTES IN CULTURE. DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES WERE IDENTIFIED BY RNA-SEQUENCING. OUR DATA SHOW THAT ARVS TREATMENT CAUSES UPREGULATION OF SEVERAL BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH CARDIOTOXICITY, HYPERTROPHY, AND HEART FAILURE. GLOBAL GENE EXPRESSION DATA WERE VALIDATED IN CARDIAC TISSUE ISOLATED FROM HIV PATIENTS HAVING A HISTORY OF ART. INTERESTINGLY, WE FOUND THAT HOMEODOMAIN-ONLY PROTEIN HOMEOBOX (HOPX) EXPRESSION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED IN CARDIOMYOCYTES TREATED WITH ARVS AND IN THE HEART TISSUE OF HIV PATIENTS. FURTHERMORE, WE FOUND THAT HOPX PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN ARVS MEDIATED CELLULAR HYPERTROPHY. MECHANISTICALLY, WE FOUND THAT HOPX PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN EPIGENETIC REGULATION, THROUGH DEACETYLATION OF HISTONE, WHILE THE HDAC INHIBITOR, TRICHOSTATIN A, CAN RESTORE THE ACETYLATION LEVEL OF HISTONE 3 IN THE PRESENCE OF ARVS.	2021	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
15 2758  18 EXPRESSION OF HORMONAL CARCINOGENESIS GENES AND RELATED REGULATORY MICRORNAS IN UTERUS AND OVARIES OF DDT-TREATED FEMALE RATS. THE INSECTICIDE DICHLORODIPHENYLTRICHLOROETHANE (DDT) IS A NONMUTAGENIC XENOBIOTIC COMPOUND ABLE TO EXERT ESTROGEN-LIKE EFFECTS RESULTING IN ACTIVATION OF ESTROGEN RECEPTOR-ALPHA (ERALPHA) FOLLOWED BY CHANGED EXPRESSION OF ITS DOWNSTREAM TARGET GENES. IN ADDITION, STUDIES PERFORMED OVER RECENT YEARS SUGGEST THAT DDT MAY ALSO INFLUENCE EXPRESSION OF MICRORNAS. HOWEVER, AN IMPACT OF DDT ON EXPRESSION OF ER, MICRORNAS, AND RELATED TARGET GENES HAS NOT BEEN FULLY ELUCIDATED. HERE, USING REAL-TIME PCR, WE ASSESSED CHANGES IN EXPRESSION OF KEY GENES INVOLVED IN HORMONAL CARCINOGENESIS AS WELL AS POTENTIALLY RELATED REGULATORY ONCOGENIC/TUMOR SUPPRESSOR MICRORNAS AND THEIR TARGET GENES IN THE UTERUS AND OVARIES OF FEMALE WISTAR RATS DURING SINGLE AND CHRONIC MULTIPLE-DOSE DDT EXPOSURE. WE FOUND THAT APPLYING DDT RESULTS IN ALTERED EXPRESSION OF MICRORNAS-221, -222, -205, -126A, AND -429, THEIR TARGET GENES (PTEN, DICER1), AS WELL AS GENES INVOLVED IN HORMONAL CARCINOGENESIS (ESR1, PGR, CCND1, CYP19A1). NOTABLY, CYP19A1 EXPRESSION SEEMS TO BE ALSO REGULATED BY MICRORNAS-221, -222, AND -205. THE DATA SUGGEST THAT EPIGENETIC EFFECTS INDUCED BY DDT AS A POTENTIAL CARCINOGEN MAY BE BASED ON AT LEAST TWO MECHANISMS: (I) ACTIVATION OF ERALPHA FOLLOWED BY ALTERED EXPRESSION OF THE TARGET GENES ENCODING RECEPTOR PGR AND CCND1 AS WELL AS IMPAIRED EXPRESSION OF CYP19A1, AFFECTING, THEREBY, CELL HORMONE BALANCE; AND (II) CHANGED EXPRESSION OF MICRORNAS RESULTING IN IMPAIRED EXPRESSION OF RELATED TARGET GENES INCLUDING REDUCED LEVEL OF CYP19A1 MRNA.	2017	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
16 2767  25 EXPRESSION, PROGNOSTIC VALUE, AND FUNCTIONAL MECHANISM OF THE KDM5 FAMILY IN PANCREATIC CANCER. BACKGROUND: THE HISTONE LYSINE DEMETHYLASE KDM5 FAMILY IS AN IMPORTANT EPIGENETIC STATE-MODIFYING ENZYME FAMILY. INCREASING EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THAT EPIGENETIC ABNORMALITIES IN THE KDM5 FAMILY ARE RELATED TO MULTIPLE CANCERS IN HUMANS. HOWEVER, THE ROLE OF THE KDM5 FAMILY IN PANCREATIC CANCER IS NOT CLEAR, AND RELATED RESEARCH IS VERY SCARCE. METHODS: R SOFTWARE, KAPLAN-MEIER PLOTTER, CBIOPORTAL, TIMER, LINKEDOMICS, STRING, METASCAPE, TISIDB, AND THE GSCA LITE ONLINE TOOL WERE UTILIZED FOR BIOINFORMATICS ANALYSIS. RESULTS: KDM5A/B/C WAS SIGNIFICANTLY OVEREXPRESSED IN MANY KINDS OF TUMOR TISSUES, INCLUDING PANCREATIC ADENOCARCINOMA (PAAD), WHILE THE EXPRESSION OF KDM5D WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DOWNREGULATED. THE HIGH EXPRESSION OF KDM5A/B/C WAS RELATED TO POOR CLINICAL FEATURES, SUCH AS WORSE TREATMENT EFFICACY, HIGHER TUMOR GRADE, AND MORE ADVANCED CLINICAL STAGE. PATIENTS WITH A FAMILY HISTORY OF BREAST CANCER AND MELANOMA, HISTORY OF DRINKING OR HISTORY CHRONIC PANCREATITIS WERE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE KDM5A/B/C GENE ABNORMALITIES, WHICH WERE RELATED TO A VARIETY OF ADVERSE CLINICAL FEATURES. THE RESULTS OF GENE ONTOLOGY (GO) AND KYOTO ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GENES AND GENOMES (KEGG) PATHWAY ANALYSES OF THE KDM5 FAMILY AND ITS 800 CO-EXPRESSED GENES SHOWED THAT MANY GENE TERMS RELATED TO CELL PROLIFERATION, MIGRATION AND MANY CARCINOGENIC PATHWAYS. NOTABLY, WE FOUND THAT THE EXPRESSION LEVEL OF KDM5A/B/C WAS POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH THE EXPRESSION OF MULTIPLE KEY DRIVER GENES SUCH AS KRAS, BRCA1, AND BRCA2 ETC. IN ADDITION, PPI NETWORK ANALYSIS SHOWED KDM5 FAMILY PROTEINS HAVE STRONG INTERACTIONS WITH HISTONE DEACETYLASE FAMILY 1 (HDAC1), WHICH COULD MODIFY THE LYSINES OF HISTONE H3, AND CO-ACT ON MANY PATHWAYS, INCLUDING THE "LONGEVITY-REGULATING PATHWAY" AND "NOTCH SIGNALING PATHWAY". MOREOVER, THE UPREGULATION OF KDM5A/B/C EXPRESSION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH AN INCREASE IN THE INFILTRATION OF B CELLS, CD8(+) T CELLS AND OTHER INFILTRATING IMMUNE LYMPHOCYTES AND THE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF IMMUNE MOLECULES SUCH AS NT5E AND CD274. INTERESTINGLY, THE OVEREXPRESSION OF KDM5A/C WAS ALSO CORELATED WITH REDUCED SENSITIVITY OF PANCREATIC CANCER CELLS TO MANY KINDS OF PANCREATIC CANCER-TARGETING OR CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC DRUGS, INCLUDING AXITINIB AND GEMCITABINE. CONCLUSION: KDM5 FAMILY MEMBERS MAY BE PROGNOSTIC MARKERS AND NEW THERAPEUTIC TARGETS FOR PATIENTS WITH PANCREATIC CANCER.	2022	

17 3468  27 HYPOXIA-INDUCED DNA HYPERMETHYLATION IN HUMAN PULMONARY FIBROBLASTS IS ASSOCIATED WITH THY-1 PROMOTER METHYLATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PRO-FIBROTIC PHENOTYPE. BACKGROUND: PULMONARY FIBROSIS IS A DEBILITATING AND LETHAL DISEASE WITH NO EFFECTIVE TREATMENT OPTIONS. UNDERSTANDING THE PATHOLOGICAL PROCESSES AT PLAY WILL DIRECT THE APPLICATION OF NOVEL THERAPEUTIC AVENUES. HYPOXIA HAS BEEN IMPLICATED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF PULMONARY FIBROSIS YET THE PRECISE MECHANISM BY WHICH IT CONTRIBUTES TO DISEASE PROGRESSION REMAINS TO BE FULLY ELUCIDATED. IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT CHRONIC HYPOXIA CAN ALTER DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS IN TUMOUR-DERIVED CELL LINES. THIS EPIGENETIC ALTERATION CAN INDUCE CHANGES IN CELLULAR PHENOTYPE WITH PROMOTER METHYLATION BEING ASSOCIATED WITH GENE SILENCING. OF PARTICULAR RELEVANCE TO IDIOPATHIC PULMONARY FIBROSIS (IPF) IS THE OBSERVATION THAT THY-1 PROMOTER METHYLATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH A MYOFIBROBLAST PHENOTYPE WHERE LOSS OF THY-1 OCCURS ALONGSIDE INCREASED ALPHA SMOOTH MUSCLE ACTIN (ALPHA-SMA) EXPRESSION. THE INITIAL AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE WHETHER HYPOXIA REGULATES DNA METHYLATION IN NORMAL HUMAN LUNG FIBROBLASTS (CCD19LU). AS IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT HYPOXIA SUPPRESSES THY-1 EXPRESSION DURING LUNG DEVELOPMENT WE ALSO STUDIED THE EFFECT OF HYPOXIA ON THY-1 PROMOTER METHYLATION AND GENE EXPRESSION. METHODS: CCD19LU WERE GROWN FOR UP TO 8 DAYS IN HYPOXIA AND ASSESSED FOR GLOBAL CHANGES IN DNA METHYLATION USING FLOW CYTOMETRY. REAL-TIME PCR WAS USED TO QUANTIFY EXPRESSION OF THY-1, ALPHA-SMA, COLLAGEN I AND III. GENOMIC DNA WAS BISULPHITE TREATED AND METHYLATION SPECIFIC PCR (MSPCR) WAS USED TO EXAMINE THE METHYLATION STATUS OF THE THY-1 PROMOTER. RESULTS: SIGNIFICANT GLOBAL HYPERMETHYLATION WAS DETECTED IN HYPOXIC FIBROBLASTS RELATIVE TO NORMOXIC CONTROLS AND WAS ACCOMPANIED BY INCREASED EXPRESSION OF MYOFIBROBLAST MARKERS. THY-1 MRNA EXPRESSION WAS SUPPRESSED IN HYPOXIC CELLS, WHICH WAS RESTORED WITH THE DEMETHYLATING AGENT 5-AZA-2'-DEOXYCYTIDINE. MSPCR REVEALED THAT THY-1 BECAME METHYLATED FOLLOWING FIBROBLAST EXPOSURE TO 1% O2. CONCLUSION: THESE DATA SUGGEST THAT GLOBAL AND GENE-SPECIFIC CHANGES IN DNA METHYLATION MAY PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN FIBROBLAST FUNCTION IN HYPOXIA.	2012	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
18 2032  20 EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN P21 EXPRESSION IN RENAL CELLS AFTER EXPOSURE TO BROMATE. THIS STUDY TESTED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT BROMATE (KBRO3)-INDUCED RENAL CELL DEATH IS MEDIATED BY EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS. GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION, AS ASSESSED BY 5-METHYLCYTOSINE STAINING, WAS NOT CHANGED IN NORMAL RAT KIDNEY CELLS TREATED WITH ACUTE CYTOTOXIC DOSES OF KBRO3 (100 AND 200 PPM), AS COMPARED WITH CONTROLS. HOWEVER, KBRO3 TREATMENT DID INCREASE P38, P53 AND HISTONE 2AX (H2AX) PHOSPHORYLATION, AND P21 EXPRESSION. TREATMENT OF CELLS WITH INHIBITORS OF DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE (5-AZACYTIDINE OR 5-AZA) AND HISTONE DEACETYLASE (TRICHOSTATIN A OR TSA) IN ADDITION TO KBRO3 INCREASED CYTOTOXICITY, AS COMPARED WITH CELLS EXPOSED TO KBRO3 ALONE. 5-AZA AND TSA CO-TREATMENT DID NOT ALTER P38 OR P53 PHOSPHORYLATION, BUT SLIGHTLY DECREASED H2AX PHOSPHORYLATION AND SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED P21 EXPRESSION. WE ALSO ASSESSED EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN CELLS TREATED UNDER SUB-CHRONIC CONDITIONS WITH ENVIRONMENTALLY RELEVANT CONCENTRATIONS OF KBRO3. UNDER THESE CONDITIONS (0-10PPM KBRO3 FOR UP TO 18 DAYS), WE DETECTED NO INCREASES IN CELL DEATH OR DNA DAMAGE. IN CONTRAST, SLIGHT ALTERATIONS WERE DETECTED IN THE PHOSPHORYLATION OF H2AX, P38, AND P53. SUB-CHRONIC LOW-DOSE KBRO3 TREATMENT ALSO INDUCED A BIPHASIC RESPONSE IN P21 EXPRESSION, WITH LOWER CONCENTRATIONS INCREASING EXPRESSION, BUT HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS DECREASING EXPRESSION. METHYLATION-SPECIFIC PCR DEMONSTRATED THAT SUB-CHRONIC KBRO3 TREATMENT ALTERED THE METHYLATION OF CYTOSINE BASES IN THE P21 GENE, AS COMPARED WITH CONTROLS, CORRELATING TO ALTERATIONS IN P21 PROTEIN EXPRESSION. COLLECTIVELY, THESE DATA SHOW THE NOVEL FINDING THAT KBRO3-INDUCED RENAL CELL DEATH IS ALTERED BY INHIBITORS OF EPIGENETIC MODIFYING ENZYMES AND THAT KBRO3 ITSELF INDUCES EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN THE P21 GENE.	2014	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
19 3198  21 HDAC-LINKED "PROLIFERATIVE" MIRNA EXPRESSION PATTERN IN PANCREATIC NEUROENDOCRINE TUMORS. EPIGENETIC FACTORS ARE ESSENTIALLY INVOLVED IN CARCINOGENESIS, TUMOR PROMOTION, AND CHEMORESISTANCE. TWO EPIGENETIC KEY PLAYERS ARE MIRNAS AND HISTONE DEACETYLASES (HDACS). AS PREVIOUSLY SHOWN BY OWN THEORETICAL DATABANK ANALYSIS, THE CROSSTALK BETWEEN MIRNAS AND HDACS IS RELEVANT IN DIFFERENT HUMAN CHRONIC DISEASES AND CANCEROGENIC PATHWAYS. WE AIMED TO INVESTIGATE A POTENTIAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THE EXPRESSION OF A WELL-DEFINED SUBSET OF "PROLIFERATION-ASSOCIATED" MIRNAS AND THE EXPRESSION OF HDACS AS WELL AS CLINICAL PARAMETERS IN PANCREATIC NEUROENDOCRINE TUMORS (PNETS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: EXPRESSION LEVELS OF MIRNA132-3P, MIRNA145-5P, MIRNA183-5P, MIRNA34A-5P, AND MIRNA449A IN 57 PNETS RESECTED BETWEEN 1997 AND 2015 WERE MEASURED AND LINKED TO THE IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL EXPRESSION PATTERN OF MEMBERS OF THE FOUR HDAC CLASSES ON HUMAN TISSUE MICROARRAYS. ALL PNET CASES WERE CLINICALLY AND PATHOLOGICALLY CHARACTERIZED ACCORDING TO PUBLISHED GUIDELINES. CORRELATION ANALYSIS REVEALED A SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EXPRESSION OF SPECIFIC MIRNAS AND TWO MEMBERS OF THE HDAC FAMILY (HDAC3 AND HDAC4). ADDITIONALLY, A LINKAGE BETWEEN MIRNA EXPRESSION AND CLINICO-PATHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS LIKE GRADING, TNM-STAGING, AND HORMONE ACTIVITY WAS FOUND. MOREOVER, OVERALL AND DISEASE-FREE SURVIVAL IS STATISTICALLY CORRELATED WITH THE EXPRESSION OF THE INVESTIGATED MIRNAS. OVERALL, WE DEMONSTRATED THAT SPECIFIC MIRNAS COULD BE LINKED TO HDAC EXPRESSION IN PNETS. ESPECIALLY MIRNA449A (ASSOCIATED WITH HDAC3/4) SEEMS TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN PNET PROLIFERATION AND COULD BE A POTENTIAL PROGNOSTIC FACTOR FOR POOR SURVIVAL. THESE FIRST DATA COULD HELP, TO IMPROVE OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE COMPLEX INTERACTIONS OF THE EPIGENETIC DRIVERS IN PNETS FOR FURTHER THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES.	2018	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
20 3128  24 GIPC-REGULATED IGFBP-3 PROMOTES HSC MIGRATION IN VITRO AND PORTAL HYPERTENSION IN VIVO THROUGH A BETA1-INTEGRIN PATHWAY. BACKGROUND & AIMS: TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR (TGF-BETA)-INDUCED ACTIVATION OF QUIESCENT HEPATIC STELLATE CELLS (HSCS) AND THEIR TRANSFORMATION TO MYOFIBROBLASTS IS A KEY EVENT IN LIVER FIBROSIS AND PORTAL HYPERTENSION. GIPC (ALSO REFERRED TO AS SYNECTIN) IS A DOWNSTREAM SIGNAL ACTIVATION MOLECULE OF TGF-BETA AND OTHER RECEPTORS. IN THIS STUDY, WE SOUGHT TO IDENTIFY NOVEL GENES TARGETED BY TGF-BETA AND GIPC AND ELUCIDATE IF AND HOW THEY MAY CONTRIBUTE TO LIVER FIBROSIS. METHODS: WE PERFORMED SEQUENTIAL MESSENGER RNA SEQUENCING ANALYSIS ON TGF-BETA-STIMULATED HSCS AND THEN ON TGF-BETA-STIMULATED HSCS IN THE PRESENCE AND ABSENCE OF GIPC ALSO REFERRED TO AS SYNECTIN (GIPC) KNOCKDOWN. INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH FACTOR BINDING PROTEIN-3 (IGFBP-3) TRANSPORT PROTEIN EMERGED AS A TOP ACTIVATION TARGET OF BOTH TGF-BETA AND GIPC. QUANTITATIVE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION, ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY, TARGETED CHROMATIN IMMUNOPRECIPITATION, AND WESTERN BLOT ANALYSIS WERE DONE FOR FURTHER CONFIRMATION. RESULTS: IGFBP-3, AN INSULIN GROWTH FACTOR TRANSPORT PROTEIN, EMERGED AS A TOP ACTIVATION TARGET OF BOTH TGF-BETA AND GIPC, WHICH WAS CONFIRMED BY QUANTITATIVE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION, ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY, AND WESTERN BLOT ANALYSIS. TARGETED CHROMATIN IMMUNOPRECIPITATION SHOWED THAT GIPC INCREASES THE HISTONE 3 LYSINE 27 (H3K27) ACETYLATION ACTIVATING MARK AND CONCURRENTLY DECREASES THE H3K27 INHIBITORY TRIMETHYLATION (H3K27M3) MARK, PROVIDING AN EPIGENETIC CORRELATE TO THE GENE REGULATION CHANGES. IN VIVO, GLOBAL KNOCKOUT OF IGFBP-3 MICE RESULTED IN ATTENUATION OF HSC ACTIVATION MARKERS AND ATTENUATION OF PORTAL PRESSURE IN RESPONSE TO CHRONIC LIVER INJURY MODELS. ANALYSIS OF SERUM LEVELS FROM CIRRHOTIC PATIENTS ALSO SHOWED AN IGFBP-3 INCREASE OF MORE THAN 2-FOLD COMPARED WITH HEALTHY CONTROLS. FINALLY, IN VITRO MECHANISM STUDIES SHOWED THAT IGFBP-3 PROMOTES HSC MIGRATION THROUGH INTEGRIN-DEPENDENT PHOSPHORYLATION OF PROTEIN KINASE B. CONCLUSIONS: TGF-BETA UP-REGULATES IGFBP-3 THROUGH GIPC, LEADING TO INCREASED HSC MIGRATION IN VITRO AND PROMOTES PORTAL HYPERTENSION IN VIVO. THESE STUDIES SUPPORT THE ROLE OF IGFBP-3 AS A POTENTIAL PATHOPHYSIOLOGIC TARGET OR BIOMARKER IN CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE.	2020