1 4356 120 MIR-30A-5P PROMOTES GLOMERULAR PODOCYTE APOPTOSIS VIA DNMT1-MEDIATED HYPERMETHYLATION UNDER HYPERHOMOCYSTEINEMIA. ABNORMAL ELEVATION OF HOMOCYSTEINE (HCY) LEVEL IS CLOSELY RELATED TO THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESSION OF CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE (CKD), WITH THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS THAT ARE NOT FULLY ELUCIDATED. GIVEN THE DEMONSTRATION THAT MIR-30A-5P IS SPECIFICALLY EXPRESSED IN GLOMERULAR PODOCYTES, IN THE PRESENT STUDY WE AIMED TO INVESTIGATE THE ROLE AND POTENTIAL UNDERLYING MECHANISM OF MIR-30A-5P IN GLOMERULAR PODOCYTE APOPTOSIS INDUCED BY HCY. WE FOUND THAT ELEVATED HCY DOWNREGULATES MIR-30A-5P EXPRESSION IN THE MICE AND HCY-TREATED PODOCYTES, AND MIR-30A-5P DIRECTLY TARGETS THE 3'-UNTRANSLATED REGION (3'-UTR) OF THE FORKHEAD BOX A1 (FOXA1) AND OVEREXPRESSION OF MIR-30A-5P INHIBITS FOXA1 EXPRESSION. BY NMS-PCR AND MASSARRAY QUANTITATIVE METHYLATION ANALYSIS, WE SHOWED THE INCREASED DNA METHYLATION LEVEL OF MIR-30A-5P PROMOTER BOTH AND . MEANWHILE, DUAL-LUCIFERASE REPORTER ASSAY SHOWED THAT THE REGION BETWEEN --1400 AND --921 BP OF MIR-30A-5P PROMOTER IS A POSSIBLE REGULATORY ELEMENT FOR ITS TRANSCRIPTION. MECHANISTIC STUDIES INDICATED THAT DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE ENZYME 1 (DNMT1) IS THE KEY REGULATOR OF MIR-30A-5P, WHICH IN TURN ENHANCES MIR-30A-5P PROMOTER METHYLATION LEVEL AND THEREBY INHIBITS ITS EXPRESSION. TAKEN TOGETHER, OUR RESULTS REVEALED THAT EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION OF MIR-30A-5P IS INVOLVED IN GLOMERULAR PODOCYTE INJURY INDUCED BY HCY, PROVIDING A DIAGNOSTIC MARKER CANDIDATE AND NOVEL THERAPEUTIC TARGET IN CKD INDUCED BY HCY. 2022 2 1494 40 DNA HYPERMETHYLATION IN HYPERHOMOCYSTEINEMIA CONTRIBUTES TO ABNORMAL EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX METABOLISM IN THE KIDNEY. HYPERHOMOCYSTEINEMIA (HHCY) IS PREVALENT IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE (CKD) AND END-STAGE RENAL DISEASE (ESRD). EMERGING STUDIES SUGGEST THAT EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESSION OF FIBROSIS IN CKD. HHCY AND ITS INTERMEDIATES ARE KNOWN TO ALTER THE DNA METHYLATION PATTERN, WHICH IS A CRITICAL REGULATOR OF EPIGENETIC INFORMATION. IN THIS STUDY, WE HYPOTHESIZED THAT HHCY CAUSES RENOVASCULAR REMODELING BY DNA HYPERMETHYLATION, LEADING TO GLOMERULOSCLEROSIS. WE ALSO EVALUATED WHETHER THE DNA METHYLATION INHIBITOR, 5-AZA-2'-DEOXYCYTIDINE (5-AZA) COULD MODULATE EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX (ECM) METABOLISM AND REDUCE RENOVASCULAR FIBROSIS. C57BL/6J (WILD-TYPE) AND CYSTATHIONINE-BETA-SYNTHASE (CBS(+/-)) MICE, TREATED WITHOUT OR WITH 5-AZA (0.5 MG/KG BODY WEIGHT, I.P.), WERE USED. CBS(+/-) MICE SHOWED HIGH PLASMA HCY LEVELS, HYPERTENSION, AND SIGNIFICANT GLOMERULAR AND ARTERIOLAR INJURY. 5-AZA TREATMENT NORMALIZED BLOOD PRESSURE AND REVERSED RENAL INJURY. CBS(+/-) MICE SHOWED GLOBAL HYPERMETHYLATION AND UP-REGULATION OF DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE-1 AND -3A. METHYLATION-SPECIFIC PCR SHOWED AN IMBALANCE BETWEEN MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASE (MMP)-9 AND TISSUE INHIBITOR OF METALLOPROTEINASE (TIMP)-1 AND -2 AND ALSO INCREASED COLLAGEN AND GALECTIN-3 EXPRESSION. 5-AZA REDUCED ABNORMAL DNA METHYLATION AND RESTORED THE MMP-9/TIMP-1, -2 BALANCE. IN CONCLUSION, OUR DATA SUGGEST THAT DURING HHCY, ABNORMAL DNA METHYLATION AND AN IMBALANCE BETWEEN MMP-9 AND TIMP-1 AND -2 LEAD TO ECM REMODELING AND RENAL FIBROSIS. 2015 3 3388 47 HOMOCYSTEINE INDUCES PODOCYTE APOPTOSIS BY REGULATING MIR-1929-5P EXPRESSION THROUGH C-MYC, DNMT1 AND EZH2. CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE (CKD) IS A COMMON AND COMPLEX DISEASE IN KIDNEYS WHICH HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH AN INCREASED RISK OF RENAL CELL CARCINOMA. ELEVATED HOMOCYSTEINE (HCY) LEVELS ARE KNOWN TO INFLUENCE THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESSION OF CKD BY REGULATING PODOCYTE INJURY AND APOPTOSIS. TO INVESTIGATE THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS TRIGGERED IN PODOCYTES BY HCY, WE USED CBS(+/-) MICE AND OBSERVED THAT HIGHER HCY LEVELS INCREASED THE APOPTOSIS RATE OF PODOCYTES WITH ACCOMPANYING GLOMERULAR DAMAGE. HCY-INDUCED PODOCYTE INJURY AND APOPTOSIS IN CBS(+/-) MICE WAS REGULATED BY INHIBITION OF MICRORNA (MIR)-1929-5P EXPRESSION. OVEREXPRESSION OF MIR-1929-5P IN PODOCYTES INHIBITED APOPTOSIS BY UPREGULATING BCL-2. FURTHERMORE, THE EXPRESSION OF MIR-1929-5P WAS REGULATED BY EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS OF ITS PROMOTER. HCY UPREGULATED DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE 1 (DNMT1) AND ENHANCER OF ZESTE HOMOLOG 2 (EZH2) LEVELS, RESULTING IN INCREASED DNA METHYLATION AND H3K27ME3 LEVELS ON THE MIR-1929-5P PROMOTER. ADDITIONALLY, WE OBSERVED THAT C-MYC RECRUITED DNMT1 AND EZH2 TO THE MIR-1929-5P PROMOTER AND SUPPRESSED THE EXPRESSION OF MIR-1929-5P. IN SUMMARY, WE DEMONSTRATED THAT HCY PROMOTES PODOCYTE APOPTOSIS THROUGH THE REGULATION OF THE EPIGENETIC MODIFIERS DNMT1 AND EZH2, WHICH ARE RECRUITED BY C-MYC TO THE PROMOTER OF MIR-1929-5P TO SILENCE MIR-1929-5P EXPRESSION. 2021 4 2710 34 EXERCISE MITIGATES ALCOHOL INDUCED ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM STRESS MEDIATED COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT THROUGH ATF6-HERP SIGNALING. CHRONIC ETHANOL/ALCOHOL (AL) DOSING CAUSES AN ELEVATION IN HOMOCYSTEINE (HCY) LEVELS, WHICH LEADS TO THE CONDITION KNOWN AS HYPERHOMOCYSTEINEMIA (HHCY). HHCY ENHANCES OXIDATIVE STRESS AND BLOOD-BRAIN-BARRIER (BBB) DISRUPTION THROUGH MODULATION OF ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM (ER) STRESS; IN PART BY EPIGENETIC ALTERNATION, LEADING TO COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT. CLINICIANS HAVE RECOMMENDED EXERCISE AS A THERAPY; HOWEVER, ITS PROTECTIVE EFFECT ON COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS HAS NOT BEEN FULLY EXPLORED. THE PRESENT STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO OBSERVE THE PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF EXERCISE (EX) AGAINST ALCOHOL-INDUCED EPIGENETIC AND MOLECULAR ALTERATIONS LEADING TO CEREBROVASCULAR DYSFUNCTION. WILD-TYPE MICE WERE SUBJECTED TO AL ADMINISTRATION (1.5 G/KG-BW) AND SUBSEQUENT TREADMILL EX FOR 12 WEEKS (5 DAY/WEEK@7-11 M/MIN). AL AFFECTED MOUSE BRAIN THROUGH INCREASES IN OXIDATIVE AND ER STRESS MARKERS, SAHH AND DNMTS ALTERNATION, WHILE DECREASES IN CBS, CSE, MTHFR, TIGHT-JUNCTION PROTEINS AND CELLULAR H(2)S LEVELS. MECHANISTIC STUDY REVEALED THAT AL INCREASED EPIGENETIC DNA HYPOMETHYLATION OF HERP PROMOTER. BBB DYSFUNCTION AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT WERE OBSERVED IN THE AL TREATED MICE. AL MEDIATED TRANSCRIPTIONAL CHANGES WERE ABOLISHED BY ADMINISTRATION OF ER STRESS INHIBITOR DTT. IN CONCLUSION, EXERCISE RESTORED HCY AND H(2)S TO BASAL LEVELS WHILE AMELIORATING AL-INDUCED ER STRESS, DIMINISHING BBB DYSFUNCTION AND IMPROVING COGNITIVE FUNCTION VIA ATF6-HERP-SIGNALING. EX SHOWED ITS PROTECTIVE EFFICACY AGAINST AL-INDUCED NEUROTOXICITY. 2018 5 1707 34 DYSBIOTIC 1-CARBON METABOLISM IN CARDIAC MUSCLE REMODELING. UNLESS THERE IS A GENETIC DEFECT/MUTATION/DELETION IN A GENE, THE CAUSATION OF A GIVEN DISEASE IS CHRONIC DYSREGULATION OF GUT METABOLISM. MOST OF THE TIME, IF NOT ALWAYS, STARTS WITHIN THE GUT; THAT IS WHAT WE EAT. RECENT RESEARCH SHOWS THAT THE IMBALANCE BETWEEN GOOD VERSUS BAD MICROBIAL POPULATION, ESPECIALLY IN THE GUT, CAUSES SYSTEMIC DISEASES. THUS, AN APPROPRIATE BALANCE OF THE GUT MICROBIOTA (EUBIOSIS OVER DYSBIOSIS) NEEDS TO BE MAINTAINED FOR NORMAL HEALTH (VEERANKI AND TYAGI, 2017, JOURNAL OF CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY, 232, 2929-2930). HOWEVER, DURING VARIOUS DISEASES SUCH AS METABOLIC SYNDROME, INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE, DIABETES, OBESITY, AND HYPERTENSION THE DYSBIOTIC GUT ENVIRONMENT TENDS TO PREVAIL. OUR RESEARCH FOCUSES ON HOMOCYSTEINE (HCY) METABOLISM THAT OCCUPIES A CENTER-STAGE IN MANY BIOCHEMICALLY RELEVANT EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS. FOR EXAMPLE, DYSBIOTIC BACTERIA METHYLATE PROMOTERS TO INHIBIT GENE ACTIVITIES. INTERESTINGLY, THE PRODUCT OF THE 1-CARBON METABOLISM IS HCY, UNEQUIVOCALLY. EMERGING STUDIES SHOW THAT HOST RESISTANCE TO VARIOUS ANTIBIOTICS OCCURS DUE TO INVERTON PROMOTER INHIBITION, PRESUMABLY BECAUSE OF PROMOTER METHYLATION. THIS RESULTS FROM MODIFICATION OF HOST PROMOTERS BY BACTERIAL PRODUCTS LEADING TO LOSS OF HOST'S ABILITY TO DRUG COMPATIBILITY AND SYSTEM SENSITIVITY. IN THIS STUDY, WE FOCUS ON THE ROLE OF HIGH METHIONINE DIET (HMD), AN INGREDIENT RICH IN RED MEAT AND MEASURE THE EFFECTS OF A PROBIOTIC ON CARDIAC MUSCLE REMODELING AND ITS FUNCTIONS. WE EMPLOYED WILD TYPE (WT) AND CYSTATHIONINE BETA-SYNTHASE HETEROZYGOTE KNOCKOUT (CBS(+/-) ) MICE WITH AND WITHOUT HMD AND WITH AND WITHOUT A PROBIOTIC; PB (LACTOBACILLUS) IN DRINKING WATER FOR 16 WEEKS. RESULTS INDICATE THAT MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASE-2 (MMP-2) ACTIVITY WAS ROBUST IN CBS(+/-) FED WITH HMD AND THAT IT WAS SUCCESSFULLY ATTENUATED BY THE PB TREATMENT. CARDIOMYOCYTE CONTRACTILITY AND ECHO DATA REVEALED MITIGATION OF THE CARDIAC DYSFUNCTION IN CBS(+/-) + HMD MICE TREATED WITH PB. IN CONCLUSION, OUR DATA SUGGEST THAT PROBIOTICS CAN POTENTIALLY REVERSE THE HCY-MEDITATED CARDIAC DYSFUNCTION. 2020 6 5268 34 PROMOTER DEMETHYLATION OF CYSTATHIONINE-BETA-SYNTHETASE GENE CONTRIBUTES TO INFLAMMATORY PAIN IN RATS. HYDROGEN SULFIDE (H(2)S), AN ENDOGENOUS GAS MOLECULE SYNTHESIZED BY CYSTATHIONINE-BETA-SYNTHETASE (CBS), IS INVOLVED IN INFLAMMATION AND NOCICEPTIVE SIGNALING. HOWEVER, THE MOLECULAR AND EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF CBS-H(2)S SIGNALING IN PERIPHERAL NOCICEPTIVE PROCESSING REMAIN UNKNOWN. WE DEMONSTRATED THAT PERIPHERAL INFLAMMATION INDUCED BY INTRAPLANTAR INJECTION OF COMPLETE FREUND ADJUVANT SIGNIFICANTLY UP-REGULATED EXPRESSION OF CBS AT BOTH PROTEIN AND MRNA LEVELS IN RAT DORSAL ROOT GANGLIA (DRG). THE CBS INHIBITORS HYDROXYLAMINE AND AMINOOXYACETIC ACID ATTENUATED MECHANICAL HYPERALGESIA IN A DOSE-DEPENDENT MANNER AND REVERSED HYPEREXCITABILITY OF DRG NEURONS IN INFLAMED RATS. INTRAPLANTAR ADMINISTRATION OF NAHS (ITS ADDITION MIMICS CBS PRODUCTION OF H(2)S) OR L-CYSTEINE IN HEALTHY RATS ELICITED MECHANICAL HYPERALGESIA. APPLICATION OF NAHS IN VITRO ENHANCED EXCITABILITY AND TETRODOTOXIN (TTX)-RESISTANT SODIUM CURRENT OF DRG NEURONS FROM HEALTHY RATS, WHICH WAS ATTENUATED BY PRETREATMENT OF PROTEIN KINASE A INHIBITOR H89. METHYLATION-SPECIFIC PCR AND BISULFITE SEQUENCING DEMONSTRATED THAT PROMOTER REGION OF CBS GENE WAS LESS METHYLATED IN DRG SAMPLES FROM INFLAMED RATS THAN THAT FROM CONTROLS. PERIPHERAL INFLAMMATION DID NOT ALTER EXPRESSION OF DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE 3A AND 3B, THE 2 MAJOR ENZYMES FOR DNA METHYLATION, BUT LED TO A SIGNIFICANT UP-REGULATION OF METHYL-BINDING DOMAIN PROTEIN 4 AND GROWTH ARREST AND DNA DAMAGE INDUCIBLE PROTEIN 45ALPHA, THE ENZYMES INVOLVED IN ACTIVE DNA DEMETHYLATION. OUR FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF CBS EXPRESSION MAY CONTRIBUTE TO INFLAMMATORY HYPERALGESIA. H(2)S SEEMS TO INCREASE TTX-RESISTANT SODIUM CHANNEL CURRENT, WHICH MAY BE MEDIATED BY PROTEIN KINASE A PATHWAY, THUS IDENTIFYING A POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC TARGET FOR THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC PAIN. 2013 7 165 24 ABNORMAL HOMOCYSTEINE METABOLISM: AN INSIGHT OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE FROM DNA METHYLATION. ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (AD) IS A CHRONIC NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE IN THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM THAT HAS COMPLEX PATHOGENESIS IN THE ELDERLY. THE CURRENT REVIEW FOCUSES ON THE EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF AD, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST FINDINGS. ONE OF THE BEST-CHARACTERIZED CHROMATIN MODIFICATIONS IN EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS IS DNA METHYLATION. HIGHLY REPLICABLE DATA SHOWS THAT AD OCCURRENCE IS OFTEN ACCOMPANIED BY METHYLATION LEVEL CHANGES OF THE AD-RELATED GENE. HOMOCYSTEINE (HCY) IS NOT ONLY AN INTERMEDIATE PRODUCT OF ONE-CARBON METABOLISM BUT ALSO AN IMPORTANT INDEPENDENT RISK FACTOR OF AD; IT CAN AFFECT THE COGNITIVE FUNCTION OF THE BRAIN BY CHANGING THE ONE-CARBON METABOLISM AND INTERFERING WITH THE DNA METHYLATION PROCESS, RESULTING IN CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASE. IN GENERAL, HCY MAY BE AN ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR THAT AFFECTS AD VIA THE DNA METHYLATION PATHWAY WITH A SERIES OF CHANGES IN AD-RELATED SUBSTANCE. THIS REVIEW WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE RELATION BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION AND HCY AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT THEIR RULE IN THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF AD. 2020 8 366 32 AMINO ACID-INDUCED GENE EXPRESSION PROFILING IN CLONAL BETA-CELL LINE INS-1E CELLS. BACKGROUND: THERE IS ABUNDANT EVIDENCE THAT GLUCOTOXICITY AND LIPOTOXICITY CONTRIBUTE TO IMPAIRED BETA-CELL FUNCTION IN TYPE 2 DIABETES. INTERESTINGLY, AMINO ACID (AA) DERANGEMENT IS ALSO A CHARACTERISTIC PART OF THE DIABETIC STATE. THE ACUTE EFFECTS OF AA ON PANCREATIC BETA-CELL FUNCTION HAVE BEEN WIDELY EXPLORED; HOWEVER, TO OUR KNOWLEDGE, THE CHRONIC EFFECTS OF AA, E.G. PROLINE (PRO), HOMOCYSTEINE (HCY), AND LEUCINE (LEU), ON PANCREATIC BETA-CELL FUNCTION AND INTEGRITY HAVE NOT YET BEEN STUDIED. WE AIMED TO INVESTIGATE GLOBAL ALTERATIONS IN BETA-CELL GENE EXPRESSION AFTER LONG-TERM EXPOSURE OF CLONAL INS-1E CELLS TO ELEVATED LEVEL OF SPECIFIC AA IN VITRO. METHODS: GLOBAL GENE EXPRESSION PROFILING WAS PERFORMED TO CHARACTERIZE GENES DIFFERENTLY MODIFIED BY PRO, HCY, AND LEU, RESPECTIVELY, IN INS-1E CELLS. RESULTS: GENE EXPRESSION PROFILING REVEALED SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN INS-1E CELL MRNAS INVOLVED IN THE CONTROL OF SEVERAL ASPECTS OF BETA-CELL FUNCTION, E.G. EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION, METABOLISM, INNATE AND ADAPTIVE IMMUNE RESPONSES, CELLULAR SIGNALLING, PROTEIN SYNTHESIS, APOPTOSIS, AND CELLULAR STRESS RESPONSE. AFTER 72 H, INS-1E CELLS WERE DIFFERENTIALLY REGULATED (>/=1.5- OR