1 6596 152 TUMOR-SUPPRESSIVE MIR-192-5P HAS PROGNOSTIC VALUE IN PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMA. PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMA (PDAC) IS CHARACTERIZED BY FAST TUMOR PROGRESSION AND DIAGNOSIS AT ADVANCED, INOPERABLE STAGES. PREVIOUS STUDIES COULD DEMONSTRATE AN INVOLVEMENT OF MIR-192-5P IN EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF VISCERAL CARCINOMAS. DUE TO CONTRADICTORY RESULTS, HOWEVER, THE CLINICAL UTILITY OF MIR-192-5P IN PDAC HAS YET TO BE DETERMINED. MIR-192-5P EXPRESSION WAS ANALYZED BY RT-QRT-PCR IN HUMAN PDAC AND BENIGN TISSUE (N = 78), BLOOD SERUM (N = 81) AND SERUM EXOSOMES (N = 74), AS WELL AS IN PDAC CELL LINES (N = 5), CHEMORESISTANT CELL CLONES (N = 2), AND PANCREATIC DUCT CELL LINE H6C7. ANALYSIS OF EMT-ASSOCIATED (EPITHELIAL-TO-MESENCHYMAL TRANSITION) PROTEINS WAS PERFORMED BY IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY AND WESTERN BLOT. MIR-192-5P WAS DEREGULATED IN PDAC AS COMPARED TO HEALTHY CONTROLS (HCS), WITH DOWNREGULATION IN MACRODISSECTED TISSUE (P < 0.001) AND UPREGULATION IN BLOOD SERUM OF PDAC UICC (UNION FOR INTERNATIONAL CANCER CONTROL) STAGE IV (P = 0.016) AND SERUM EXOSOMES OF PDAC UICC STAGES II TO IV (P < 0.001). MIR-192-5P EXPRESSION IN TUMOR TISSUE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER AS COMPARED TO CORRESPONDING PERITUMORAL TISSUE (PDAC UICC STAGE II: P < 0.001; PDAC UICC STAGE III: P = 0.024), WHILE EMT MARKERS ZEB1 AND ZEB2 WERE MORE FREQUENTLY EXPRESSED IN TUMOR TISSUE AS COMPARED TO PERITUMORAL TISSUE, HCS, AND CHRONIC PANCREATITIS. TISSUE-DERIVED (AUC OF 0.86; P < 0.0001) AND EXOSOMAL (AUC OF 0.83; P = 0.0004) MIR-192-5P COULD DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN PDAC AND HCS WITH GOOD ACCURACY. FURTHERMORE, HIGH EXPRESSION OF MIR-192-5P IN PDAC TISSUE OF CURATIVELY RESECTED PDAC PATIENTS CORRELATED WITH PROLONGED OVERALL AND RECURRENCE-FREE SURVIVAL IN MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS. IN VITRO, MIR-192-5P WAS DOWNREGULATED IN GEMCITABINE-RESISTANT CELL CLONES OF ASPC-1 (P = 0.029). TRANSIENT TRANSFECTION OF MIA PACA-2 CELLS WITH MIR-192-5P MIMIC RESULTED IN DOWNREGULATION OF ZEB2. MIR-192-5P SEEMS TO POSSESS A TUMOR-SUPPRESSIVE ROLE AND HIGH POTENTIAL AS A DIAGNOSTIC AND PROGNOSTIC MARKER IN PDAC. 2020 2 5837 21 STRESSED MITOCHONDRIA: A TARGET TO INTRUDE ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (AD) IS THE INOPERABLE, INCAPACITATING, NEUROPSYCHIATRIC, AND DEGENERATIVE MANIFESTATION THAT DRASTICALLY AFFECTS HUMAN LIFE QUALITY. THE CURRENT MEDICATIONS TARGET EXTRA-NEURONAL SENILE PLAQUES, OXIDATIVE STRESS, NEUROINFLAMMATION, INTRANEURONAL NEUROFIBRILLARY TANGLES, CHOLINERGIC DEFICITS, AND EXCITOTOXICITY. AMONG NOVEL PATHWAYS AND TARGETS, BIOENERGETIC AND RESULTANT MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED AS ESSENTIAL FACTORS THAT DECIDE THE NEURONAL FATE AND CONSEQUENT NEURODEGENERATION IN AD. THE CRUCIAL ATTRIBUTES OF MITOCHONDRIA, INCLUDING BIOENERGESIS, SIGNALING, SENSING, INTEGRATING, AND TRANSMITTING BIOLOGICAL SIGNALS CONTRIBUTE TO OPTIMUM NETWORKING OF NEURONAL DYNAMICS AND MAKE THEM INDISPENSABLE FOR CELL SURVIVAL. IN AD, MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION AND MITOPHAGY ARE A PRELIMINARY AND CRITICAL EVENT THAT AGGRAVATES THE PATHOLOGICAL CASCADE. STRESS IS KNOWN TO PROMOTE AND EXAGGERATE THE NEUROPATHOLOGICAL ALTERATION DURING NEURODEGENERATION AND METABOLIC IMPAIRMENTS, ESPECIALLY IN THE CORTICO-LIMBIC SYSTEM, BESIDES ADVERSELY AFFECTING THE NORMAL PHYSIOLOGY AND MITOCHONDRIAL DYNAMICS. STRESS INVOLVES THE ALLOCATION OF ENERGY RESOURCES FOR NEURONAL SURVIVAL. CHRONIC AND AGGRAVATED STRESS RESPONSE LEADS TO EXCESSIVE RELEASE OF GLUCOCORTICOIDS BY ACTIVATION OF THE HYPOTHALAMIC-PITUITARYADRENAL (HPA) AXIS. BY ACTING THROUGH THEIR RECEPTORS, GLUCOCORTICOIDS INFLUENCE ADVERSE MITOCHONDRIAL CHANGES AND ALTER MTDNA TRANSCRIPTION, MTRNA EXPRESSION, HIPPOCAMPAL MITOCHONDRIAL NETWORK, AND ULTIMATELY MITOCHONDRIAL PHYSIOLOGY. CHRONIC STRESS ALSO AFFECTS MITOCHONDRIAL DYNAMICS BY CHANGING METABOLIC AND NEURO-ENDOCRINAL SIGNALLING, AGGRAVATING OXIDATIVE STRESS, PROVOKING INFLAMMATORY MEDIATORS, ALTERING TROPIC FACTORS, INFLUENCING GENE EXPRESSION, AND MODIFYING EPIGENETIC PATHWAYS. THUS, EXPLORING CHRONIC STRESS-INDUCED GLUCOCORTICOID DYSREGULATION AND RESULTANT BIO-BEHAVIORAL AND PSYCHOSOMATIC MITOCHONDRIAL ALTERATIONS MAY BE A FEASIBLE NARRATIVE TO INVESTIGATE AND UNRAVEL THE MYSTERIOUS PATHOBIOLOGY OF AD. 2021 3 6539 35 TRANSCRIPTIONAL VARIATIONS IN THE WIDER PERITUMORAL TISSUE ENVIRONMENT OF PANCREATIC CANCER. TRANSCRIPTIONAL PROFILING WAS PERFORMED ON 452 RNA PREPARATIONS ISOLATED FROM VARIOUS TYPES OF PANCREATIC TISSUE FROM TUMOUR PATIENTS AND HEALTHY DONORS, WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON PERITUMORAL SAMPLES. PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMAS (PDAC) AND CYSTIC TUMOURS WERE MOST DIFFERENT IN THESE NON-TUMOROUS TISSUES SURROUNDING THEM, WHEREAS THE ACTUAL TUMOURS EXHIBITED RATHER SIMILAR TRANSCRIPT PATTERNS. THE ENVIRONMENT OF CYSTIC TUMOURS WAS TRANSCRIPTIONALLY NEARLY IDENTICAL TO NORMAL PANCREAS TISSUE. IN CONTRAST, THE TISSUE AROUND PDAC BEHAVED A LOT LIKE THE TUMOUR, INDICATING SOME KIND OF FIELD DEFECT, WHILE SHOWING FAR LESS MOLECULAR RESEMBLANCE TO BOTH CHRONIC PANCREATITIS AND HEALTHY TISSUE. THIS SUGGESTS THAT THE MAJOR PATHOGENIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CYSTIC AND DUCTAL TUMOURS MAY BE DUE TO THEIR CELLULAR ENVIRONMENT RATHER THAN THE FEW VARIATIONS BETWEEN THE TUMOURS. LACK OF CORRELATION BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION AND TRANSCRIPT LEVELS MAKES IT UNLIKELY THAT THE OBSERVED FIELD DEFECT IN THE PERITUMORAL TISSUE OF PDAC IS CONTROLLED TO A LARGE EXTENT BY SUCH EPIGENETIC REGULATION. FUNCTIONALLY, A STRIKINGLY LARGE NUMBER OF AUTOPHAGY-RELATED TRANSCRIPTS WAS CHANGED IN BOTH PDAC AND ITS PERITUMORAL TISSUE, BUT NOT IN OTHER PANCREATIC TUMOURS. A TRANSCRIPTION SIGNATURE OF 15 AUTOPHAGY-RELATED GENES WAS ESTABLISHED THAT PERMITS A PROGNOSIS OF SURVIVAL WITH HIGH ACCURACY AND INDICATES THE ROLE OF AUTOPHAGY IN TUMOUR BIOLOGY. 2018 4 3388 24 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 5 1393 36 DIAGNOSTIC VALUE OF THE HYPOMETHYLATION OF THE WISP1 PROMOTER IN PATIENTS WITH HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA ASSOCIATED WITH HEPATITIS B VIRUS. WNT1-INDUCIBLE SIGNALING PATHWAY PROTEIN 1 (WISP1) REGULATES CELL PROLIFERATION, DIFFERENTIATION, ADHESION, MIGRATION AND SURVIVAL. ABNORMAL WISP1 EXPRESSION IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CARCINOGENESIS OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC). ABERRANT DNA METHYLATION IS ONE OF THE MAJOR EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS IN HCC. HOWEVER, THE METHYLATION STATUS OF THE WISP1 PROMOTER IS STILL UNCLEAR. WE THEREFORE AIMED TO DETERMINE THE METHYLATION STATUS OF THE WISP1 PROMOTER AND EVALUATE ITS CLINICAL VALUE IN HCC. THE STUDY ENROLLED 251 PARTICIPANTS, INCLUDING 123 PARTICIPANTS WITH HCC, 90 PARTICIPANTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS B (CHB) AND 38 HEALTHY CONTROLS (HCS). WISP1 METHYLATION STATUS, MRNA LEVELS AND PLASMA SOLUBLE WISP1 WERE DETECTED BY METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (MSP), QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME PCR (RT-QPCR) AND ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY (ELISA), RESPECTIVELY. WE FOUND THAT THE METHYLATION FREQUENCY OF WISP1 IN PATIENTS WITH HCC WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THAT IN PATIENTS WITH CHB AND HCS, WHILE THE RELATIVE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF WISP1 MRNA WERE MARKEDLY HIGHER IN PATIENTS WITH HCC THAN IN PATIENTS WITH CHB AND HCS. FURTHERMORE, THE PLASMA SOLUBLE WISP1 IN PATIENTS WITH HCC WAS OBVIOUSLY LOWER THAN IN THAT IN PATIENTS WITH CHB AND HCS. ALPHA-FETOPROTEIN (AFP) IS A WIDELY RECOGNIZED BIOMARKER TO DIAGNOSE HCC WHICH LACKS ENOUGH SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY. WISP1 PROMOTER METHYLATION STATUS COMBINED WITH AFP SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED THE DIAGNOSTIC ABILITY IN DISCRIMINATING HCC FROM CHB COMPARED WITH AFP OR WISP1 METHYLATION STATUS ALONE. IN CONCLUSION, HYPOMETHYLATION OF THE WISP1 GENE PROMOTER MAY SERVE AS A NONINVASIVE BIOMARKER FOR DETECTING HBV-ASSOCIATED HCC. 2020 6 4303 28 MICRORNA-223 INHIBITS TISSUE FACTOR EXPRESSION IN VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL CELLS. OBJECTIVE: ATHEROSCLEROSIS IS A CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY PROCESS, IN WHICH VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL CELLS (ECS) BECOME DYSFUNCTIONAL OWING TO THE EFFECTS OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES, SUCH AS INFLAMMATORY FACTOR AND GROWTH FACTORS. TISSUE FACTOR (TF) EXPRESSION IS INDUCED BY THE ABOVE CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES IN ACTIVATED ECS. TF INITIATES THROMBOSIS ON DISRUPTED ATHEROSCLEROTIC PLAQUES WHICH PLAYS AN ESSENTIAL ROLE DURING THE ONSET OF ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROMES (ACS). INCREASING EVIDENCES SUGGEST THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF MICRORNAS AS EPIGENETIC REGULATORS OF ATHEROSCLEROTIC DISEASE. THE AIM OF OUR STUDY IS TO IDENTIFY IF MICRORNA-223 (MIR-223) TARGETS TF IN ECS. METHODS AND RESULTS: BIOINFORMATIC ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT TF IS A TARGET CANDIDATE OF MIR-223. WESTERN BLOTTING ANALYSIS REVEALED THAT TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR ALPHA (TNF-ALPHA) INCREASED TF EXPRESSION IN AORTA OF C57BL/6J MICE AND CULTURED ECS (EA.HY926 CELLS AND HUVEC) AFTER 4 H TREATMENT. IN TNF-ALPHA TREATED ECS, TF MRNA WAS ALSO INCREASED MEASURED BY REAL-TIME PCR. REAL-TIME PCR RESULTS SHOWED THAT MIR-223 LEVELS WERE DOWNREGULATED IN TNF-ALPHA-TREATED AORTA OF C57BL/6J MICE AND CULTURED ECS. TRANSFECTION OF ECS WITH MIR-223 MIMIC OR MIR-223 INHIBITOR MODIFIED TF EXPRESSION BOTH IN MRNA AND PROTEIN LEVELS. LUCIFERASE ASSAYS CONFIRMED THAT MIR-223 SUPPRESSED TF EXPRESSION BY BINDING TO THE SEQUENCE OF TF 3'-UNTRANSLATED REGIONS (3'UTR). TF PROCOAGULANT ACTIVITY WAS INHIBITED BY OVEREXPRESSING MIR-223 WITH OR WITHOUT TNF-ALPHA STIMULATION. CONCLUSIONS: MIR-223-MEDIATED SUPPRESSION OF TF EXPRESSION PROVIDES A NOVEL MOLECULAR MECHANISM FOR THE REGULATION OF COAGULATION CASCADE, AND SUGGESTS A CLUE AGAINST THROMBOGENESIS DURING THE PROCESS OF ATHEROSCLEROTIC PLAQUE RUPTURE. 2014 7 5868 34 SUPPRESSIVE EFFECTS OF METFORMIN ON T-HELPER 1-RELATED CHEMOKINES EXPRESSION IN THE HUMAN MONOCYTIC LEUKEMIA CELL LINE THP-1. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: TYPE 1 AND TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS (DM) ARE CHRONIC T-CELL-MEDIATED INFLAMMATORY DISEASES. METFORMIN IS A WIDELY USED DRUG FOR TYPE 2 DM THAT REDUCES THE NEED FOR INSULIN IN TYPE 1 DM. HOWEVER, WHETHER METFORMIN HAS AN ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECT FOR TREATING DM IS UNKNOWN. WE INVESTIGATED THE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY MECHANISM OF METFORMIN IN THE HUMAN MONOCYTIC LEUKEMIA CELL LINE THP-1. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THE HUMAN MONOCYTIC LEUKEMIA CELL LINE THP-1 WAS PRETREATED WITH METFORMIN AND STIMULATED WITH LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE (LPS). THE PRODUCTION OF T-HELPER (TH)-1-RELATED CHEMOKINES INCLUDING INTERFERON-GAMMA-INDUCED PROTEIN-10 (IP-10) AND MONOCYTE CHEMOATTRACTANT PROTEIN-1 (MCP-1), TH2-RELATED CHEMOKINE MACROPHAGE-DERIVED CHEMOKINE, AND THE PROINFLAMMATORY CHEMOKINE TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR-ALPHA WAS MEASURED USING ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY. INTRACELLULAR SIGNALING PATHWAYS WERE INVESTIGATED USING WESTERN BLOT ANALYSIS AND CHROMATIN IMMUNOPRECIPITATION ASSAY. RESULTS: METFORMIN SUPPRESSED LPS-INDUCED IP-10 AND MCP-1 PRODUCTION AS WELL AS LPS-INDUCED PHOSPHORYLATION OF C-JUN N-TERMINAL KINASE (JNK), P38, EXTRACELLULAR SIGNAL-REGULATED KINASE (ERK), AND NUCLEAR FACTOR-KAPPA B (NF-KAPPAB). MOREOVER, METFORMIN SUPPRESSED LPS-INDUCED ACETYLATION OF HISTONES H3 AND H4 AT THE IP-10 PROMOTER. CONCLUSIONS: METFORMIN SUPPRESSED THE PRODUCTION OF TH1-RELATED CHEMOKINES IP-10 AND MCP-1 IN THP-1 CELLS. SUPPRESSIVE EFFECTS OF METFORMIN ON IP-10 PRODUCTION MIGHT BE ATTRIBUTED AT LEAST PARTIALLY TO THE JNK, P38, ERK, AND NF-KAPPAB PATHWAYS AS WELL AS TO EPIGENETIC REGULATION THROUGH THE ACETYLATION OF HISTONES H3 AND H4. THESE RESULTS INDICATED THE THERAPEUTIC ANTI-INFLAMMATORY POTENTIAL OF METFORMIN. 2018 8 351 28 ALTERED ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION-RELATED MIRS IN PLASMA FROM ME/CFS PATIENTS. MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS/CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (ME/CFS) IS A COMPLEX DISEASE CHARACTERIZED BY UNEXPLAINED DEBILITATING FATIGUE. ALTHOUGH THE ETIOLOGY IS UNKNOWN, EVIDENCE SUPPORTS IMMUNOLOGICAL ABNORMALITIES, SUCH AS PERSISTENT INFLAMMATION AND IMMUNE-CELL ACTIVATION, IN A SUBSET OF PATIENTS. SINCE THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN INFLAMMATION AND VASCULAR ALTERATIONS IS WELL-ESTABLISHED IN OTHER DISEASES, ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION HAS EMERGED AS ANOTHER PLAYER IN ME/CFS PATHOGENESIS. ENDOTHELIAL NITRIC OXIDE SYNTHASE (ENOS) GENERATES NITRIC OXIDE (NO) THAT MAINTAINS ENDOTHELIAL HOMEOSTASIS. ENOS IS ACTIVATED BY SILENT INFORMATION REGULATOR 1 (SIRT1), AN ANTI-INFLAMMATORY PROTEIN. DESPITE ITS RELEVANCE, NO STUDY HAS ADDRESSED THE SIRT1/ENOS AXIS IN ME/CFS. THE INTEREST IN CIRCULATING MICRORNAS (MIRS) AS POTENTIAL BIOMARKERS IN ME/CFS HAS INCREASED IN RECENT YEARS. ACCORDINGLY, WE ANALYZE A SET OF MIRS REPORTED TO MODULATE THE SIRT1/ENOS AXIS USING PLASMA FROM ME/CFS PATIENTS. OUR RESULTS SHOW THAT MIR-21, MIR-34A, MIR-92A, MIR-126, AND MIR-200C ARE JOINTLY INCREASED IN ME/CFS PATIENTS COMPARED TO HEALTHY CONTROLS. A SIMILAR FINDING WAS OBTAINED WHEN ANALYZING PUBLIC MIR DATA ON PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS. BIOINFORMATICS ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT ENDOTHELIAL FUNCTION-RELATED SIGNALING PATHWAYS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THESE MIRS, INCLUDING OXIDATIVE STRESS AND OXYGEN REGULATION. INTERESTINGLY, HISTONE DEACETYLASE 1, A PROTEIN RESPONSIBLE FOR EPIGENETIC REGULATIONS, REPRESENTED THE MOST RELEVANT NODE WITHIN THE NETWORK. IN CONCLUSION, OUR STUDY PROVIDES A BASIS TO FIND ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION-RELATED BIOMARKERS AND EXPLORE NOVEL TARGETS IN ME/CFS. 2021 9 4334 27 MICRORNAS: NOVEL DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC TOOLS FOR PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMA? PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMA (PDAC) IS KNOWN FOR ITS VERY POOR OVERALL PROGNOSIS, MAKING TOOLS FOR EARLY DIAGNOSIS AND NEW THERAPEUTIC MODALITIES URGENTLY NEEDED. MICRORNAS (MIRNAS), ENDOGENOUS NONCODING RNA MOLECULES OF APPROXIMATELY 22 NT, HAVE GAINED ATTENTION AS AN EPIGENETIC COMPONENT INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANY CANCERS, INCLUDING PDAC. MIRNA EXPRESSION PROFILES OF VARYING PANCREATIC TISSUES HAVE IDENTIFIED A NUMBER OF DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED MIRNAS AND SEEM TO BE ABLE TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THREE TISSUES OF CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: NORMAL PANCREAS, CHRONIC PANCREATITIS, AND PDAC. THIS ARTICLE GATHERS OUR CURRENT KNOWLEDGE OF DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED MIRNAS IN PANCREATIC TISSUES WITH RELEVANCE TO PDAC AND PRESENTS POTENTIAL DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC OPPORTUNITIES. 2009 10 4371 31 MIRNAS POTENTIALLY INVOLVED IN POST LUNG TRANSPLANT-OBLITERATIVE BRONCHIOLITIS: THE ROLE OF MIR-21-5P. EPIGENETIC CHANGES, INCLUDING MIRNAS DEREGULATION, HAVE BEEN SUGGESTED TO PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN DEVELOPMENT OF OBLITERATIVE BRONCHIOLITIS (OB) IN TRANSPLANTED LUNGS. MANY STUDIES HAVE TRIED TO IDENTIFY IDEAL CANDIDATE MIRNAS AND THE DOWNSTREAM PATHWAYS IMPLICATED IN THE BRONCHIOLAR FIBRO-OBLITERATIVE PROCESS. SEVERAL CANDIDATE MIRNAS, PREVIOUSLY INDICATED AS POSSIBLY BEING ASSOCIATED WITH OB, WERE ANALYZED BY COMBINING THE QUANTITATIVE REAL TIME-POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (QRT-PCR) AND IN SITU HYBRIDIZATION (ISH) OF LUNG TISSUES OF OB AFFECTED PATIENTS. DISEASE AND OB-LESION-SPECIFIC EXPRESSION OF MIR-21-5P WAS CONFIRMED AND BY COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS WE WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE NETWORK OF GENES MOST PROBABLY ASSOCIATED MIR-21-5P IN THE CONTEXT OF OB FIBROGENESIS. AMONG ALL POTENTIALLY ASSOCIATED GENES, STAT3 HAD A VERY HIGH PROBABILITY SCORE. IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY SHOWED THAT STAT3/MIR-21-5P WERE CO-OVER EXPRESSED IN OB LESIONS, THUS, SUGGESTING MIR-21-5P COULD REGULATE STAT3 EXPRESSION. HOWEVER, MIR-21-5P INHIBITION IN CULTURES OF BRONCHIOLITIS OBLITERANS SYNDROME (BOS) DERIVED MYOFIBROBLASTS DID NOT SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT STAT3 MRNA AND PROTEIN EXPRESSION LEVELS. THIS STUDY DEMONSTRATES THE SPECIFICITY OF MIR-21-5P OVER-EXPRESSION IN OB LESIONS AND CONTRIBUTES TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE ON THE MIR-21-5P DOWNSTREAM PATHWAY. ACTIVATION OF STAT3 IS ASSOCIATED WITH MIR-21-5P UPREGULATION, HOWEVER, STAT-3 NETWORK ACTIVATION IS MOST LIKELY COMPLEX AND MIR-21-5P IS NOT THE SOLE REGULATOR OF STAT3. 2021 11 4349 34 MIR-155 AND MIR-122 EXPRESSION OF SPERMATOZOA IN OBESE SUBJECTS. OBESITY IS CHARACTERIZED BY MILD CHRONIC INFLAMMATION THAT IS LINKED WITH IMPAIRED IRON HOMEOSTASIS. STUDIES IN HUMAN AND MURINE SHOW THAT THERE IS A TRANSGENERATIONAL EPIGENETIC INHERITANCE VIA THE GAMETES IN OBESITY; HOWEVER, THERE IS LITTLE INFORMATION ON CHANGES IN THE EXPRESSION OF MICRORNAS RELATED TO INFLAMMATION AND IRON HOMEOSTASIS IN SPERMATOZOA FROM OBESE SUBJECTS. THE PRESENT STUDY INVESTIGATED THE EXPRESSION OF MICRORNAS RELATED TO INFLAMMATION (MIR-21 Y MIR-155) AND IRON NUTRITION (MIR-122 AND MIR-200B) IN PLASMA, PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS (PBMC) AND SPERMATOZOA FROM NORMOZOOSPERMIC CONTROLS (CN; N = 17; BMI: 24.6 +/- 2.0) AND OBESE (OB; N = 17; BMI: 32.6 +/- 4.4) MEN. TO DETERMINE THE INFLAMMATION LEVELS, WE MEASURED IL-6, TNF-ALPHA, AND MONOCYTE CHEMOATTRACTANT PROTEIN-1 (MCP1) BY MAGNETIC LUMINEX((R)) ASSAY. MRNA EXPRESSION OF IL6, TNF-ALPHA, AND HEPCIDIN (HAMP) IN PBMC WERE EVALUATED BY RT-QPCR. THE ANALYSIS OF MICRORNAS WAS PERFORMED USING THE TAQMAN((R)) ASSAYS. THE IRON CONTENT IN PBMC, SEMINAL PLASMA, AND SPERMATOZOA WAS DETERMINED BY INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA MASS SPECTROMETRY (ICP-MS). HIGH SERUM IL6, TNF-ALPHA, AND MCP1 LEVELS WERE OBSERVED IN OB GROUP (P < 0.05). GENE EXPRESSION ANALYSIS SHOWED AN INCREASED ABUNDANCE RELATIVE OF TNF-ALPHA (P = 0.018), HAMP (P = 0.03), AND IL6 (P = 0.02) IN PBMC FROM OBESE SUBJECTS. ALSO, WE OBSERVED HIGH LEVELS OF SERUM FERRITIN (P = 0.03), IRON CONTENT IN SEMINAL PLASMA (P = 0.04), AND SPERMATOZOA (P = 0.002), BUT LOWER SERUM FE (P = 0.007) IN OBESE SUBJECTS. IN THE OB GROUP, A HIGH EXPRESSION OF MIR-155 (P = 0.02) AND MIR-21 (P = 0.03) WAS OBSERVED IN PBMC AND MIR-122 (P = 0.03) IN PLASMA. IN SPERM, BOTH MIR-155 (P = 0.004) AND MIR-122 (P = 0.028) WERE HIGH IN THE OB GROUP. OUR RESULTS SHOWED THAT OBESE SUBJECTS HAVE INCREASED EXPRESSIONS OF MIR-155 AND MIR-122, TWO MICRORNAS THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY RELATED WITH INFLAMMATION AND IRON METABOLISM, RESPECTIVELY, AT BOTH THE SYSTEMIC AND SPERM LEVELS. 2018 12 4350 39 MIR-181A-5P IS A POTENTIAL CANDIDATE EPIGENETIC BIOMARKER IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS. MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS) IS A CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASE OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS) CHARACTERIZED BY DEMYELINATION AND AXONAL DEGENERATION. ABNORMAL EXPRESSION OF MICRORNAS (MIRNAS) PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MS PATHOLOGY. IN THIS COHORT STUDY, DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION OF THE FOUR MIRNAS (HSA-MIR-155-5P, HSA-MIR-9-5P, HSA-MIR-181A-5P, AND HSA-MIR-125B-5P) WAS INVESTIGATED IN 69 INDIVIDUALS, INCLUDING 39 MS PATIENTS (RELAPSING-REMITTING MS (RRMS), N = 27; SECONDARY PROGRESSIVE MS (SPMS), N = 12) AND 30 HEALTHY CONTROLS. IN SILICO ANALYSES REVEALED POSSIBLE GENES AND PATHWAYS SPECIFIC TO MIRNAS. PERIPHERAL BLOOD MIRNA EXPRESSIONS WERE DETECTED BY QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME PCR (QPCR). HSA-MIR-181A-5P WAS DOWNREGULATED AND ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED MS RISK (P = 0.012). THE OTHER THREE MIRNAS WERE UPREGULATED AND NOT ASSOCIATED WITH MS (P < 0.05). THE AREA UNDER THE CURVE (AUC) IS 0.779. IN SILICO ANALYSES SHOWED THAT HSA-MIR-181A-5P MAY PARTICIPATE IN MS PATHOLOGY BY TARGETING MAP2K1, CREB1, ATXN1, AND ATXN3 GENES IN INFLAMMATION AND NEURODEGENERATION PATHWAYS. THE CIRCULATORY HSA-MIR-181A-5P CAN REGULATE TARGET GENES, REVERSING THE MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN MS PATHOLOGIES SUCH AS PROTEIN UPTAKE AND PROCESSING, CELL PROLIFERATION AND SURVIVAL, INFLAMMATION, AND NEURODEGENERATION. THUS, THIS MIRNA COULD BE USED AS AN EPIGENOMIC-GUIDED DIAGNOSTIC TOOL AND FOR THERAPEUTIC PURPOSE. 2022 13 922 34 CHRONIC IL-1BETA-INDUCED INFLAMMATION REGULATES EPITHELIAL-TO-MESENCHYMAL TRANSITION MEMORY PHENOTYPES VIA EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS IN NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER. CHRONIC INFLAMMATION FACILITATES TUMOR PROGRESSION. WE DISCOVERED THAT A SUBSET OF NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER CELLS UNDERWENT A GRADUALLY PROGRESSING EPITHELIAL-TO-MESENCHYMAL (EMT) PHENOTYPE FOLLOWING A 21-DAY EXPOSURE TO IL-1BETA, AN ABUNDANT PROINFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE IN THE AT-RISK FOR LUNG CANCER PULMONARY AND THE LUNG TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENTS. PATHWAY ANALYSIS OF THE GENE EXPRESSION PROFILE AND IN VITRO FUNCTIONAL STUDIES REVEALED THAT THE EMT AND EMT-ASSOCIATED PHENOTYPES, INCLUDING ENHANCED CELL INVASION, PD-L1 UPREGULATION, AND CHEMORESISTANCE, WERE SUSTAINED IN THE ABSENCE OF CONTINUOUS IL-1BETA EXPOSURE. WE REFERRED TO THIS PHENOMENON AS EMT MEMORY. UTILIZING A DOXYCYCLINE-CONTROLLED SLUG EXPRESSION SYSTEM, WE FOUND THAT HIGH EXPRESSION OF THE TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR SLUG WAS INDISPENSABLE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF EMT MEMORY. HIGH SLUG EXPRESSION IN TUMORS OF LUNG CANCER PATIENTS WAS ASSOCIATED WITH POOR SURVIVAL. CHEMICAL OR GENETIC INHIBITION OF SLUG UPREGULATION PREVENTED EMT FOLLOWING THE ACUTE IL-1BETA EXPOSURE BUT DID NOT REVERSE EMT MEMORY. CHROMATIN IMMUNOPRECIPITATION AND METHYLATION-SPECIFIC PCR FURTHER REVEALED A SLUG-MEDIATED TEMPORAL REGULATION OF EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS, INCLUDING ACCUMULATION OF H3K27, H3K9, AND DNA METHYLATION, IN THE CDH1 (E-CADHERIN) PROMOTER FOLLOWING THE CHRONIC IL-1BETA EXPOSURE. CHEMICAL INHIBITION OF DNA METHYLATION NOT ONLY RESTORED E-CADHERIN EXPRESSION IN EMT MEMORY, BUT ALSO PRIMED CELLS FOR CHEMOTHERAPY-INDUCED APOPTOSIS. 2020 14 598 20 BETA-ADRENERGIC SIGNALING PROMOTES TUMOR ANGIOGENESIS AND PROSTATE CANCER PROGRESSION THROUGH HDAC2-MEDIATED SUPPRESSION OF THROMBOSPONDIN-1. CHRONIC BEHAVIORAL STRESS AND BETA-ADRENERGIC SIGNALING HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO PROMOTE CANCER PROGRESSION, WHOSE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS ARE LARGELY UNCLEAR, ESPECIALLY THE INVOLVEMENT OF EPIGENETIC REGULATION. HISTONE DEACETYLASE-2 (HDAC2), AN EPIGENETIC REGULATOR, IS CRITICAL FOR STRESS-INDUCED CARDIAC HYPERTROPHY. IT IS UNKNOWN WHETHER IT IS NECESSARY FOR BETA-ADRENERGIC SIGNALING-PROMOTED CANCER PROGRESSION. USING XENOGRAFT MODELS, WE SHOWED THAT CHRONIC BEHAVIORAL STRESS AND BETA-ADRENERGIC SIGNALING PROMOTE ANGIOGENESIS AND PROSTATE CANCER PROGRESSION. HDAC2 WAS INDUCED BY BETA-ADRENERGIC SIGNALING IN VITRO AND IN MOUSE XENOGRAFTS. WE NEXT UNCOVERED THAT HDAC2 IS A DIRECT TARGET OF CAMP RESPONSE ELEMENT-BINDING PROTEIN (CREB) THAT IS ACTIVATED BY BETA-ADRENERGIC SIGNALING. NOTABLY, HDAC2 IS NECESSARY FOR BETA-ADRENERGIC SIGNALING TO INDUCE ANGIOGENESIS. WE FURTHER DEMONSTRATED THAT, UPON CREB ACTIVATION, HDAC2 REPRESSES THROMBOSPONDIN-1 (TSP1), A POTENT ANGIOGENESIS INHIBITOR, THROUGH EPIGENETIC REGULATION. TOGETHER, THESE DATA ESTABLISH A NOVEL PATHWAY THAT HDAC2 AND TSP1 ACT DOWNSTREAM OF CREB ACTIVATION IN BETA-ADRENERGIC SIGNALING TO PROMOTE CANCER PROGRESSION. 2017 15 2326 30 EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF HOTAIR IN ADVANCED CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA. PURPOSE: CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA (CML) ACCOUNTS FOR ~10% OF LEUKEMIA CASES, AND ITS PROGRESSION INVOLVES EPIGENETIC GENE REGULATION. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF HOTAIR AND ITS TARGET MICRORNA, MIR-143, IN ADVANCED CML. PATIENTS AND METHODS: WE FIRST ISOLATED BONE MARROW MONONUCLEAR CELLS FROM 70 PATIENTS WITH DIFFERENT PHASES OF CML AND FROM HEALTHY DONORS AS NORMAL CONTROL; WE ALSO CULTURED K562 AND KCL22 CELLS, TREATED WITH DEMETHYLATION DRUG; MTT ASSAY, FLOW CYTOMETRY, QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (QPCR), METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (MSP), WESTERN BLOT, LUCIFERASE ASSAY, RNA PULL-DOWN ASSAY AND RNA-BINDING PROTEIN IMMUNOPRECIPITATION (RIP) ASSAY WERE PERFORMED. RESULT: AS MEASURED BY QPCR, HOTAIR EXPRESSION IN K562 CELLS, KCL22 CELLS, AND SAMPLES FROM CASES OF ADVANCED-STAGE CML INCREASED WITH LEVELS OF SEVERAL DNA METHYLTRANSFERASES AND HISTONE DEACETYLATES, INCLUDING DNMT1, DNMT3A, HDAC1, EZH2, AND LSD1, AND MIR-143 LEVELS WERE DECREASED AND HOTAIR LEVELS WERE INCREASED. TREATMENT WITH 5-AZACYTIDINE, A DNA METHYLATION INHIBITOR, DECREASED DNMT1, DNMT3A, HDAC1, EZH2, LSD1 MRNA, PROTEIN LEVELS, AND HOTAIR MRNA LEVELS BUT INCREASED MIR-143 LEVELS. HOTAIR KNOCKDOWN AND MIR-143 OVEREXPRESSION BOTH INHIBITED PROLIFERATION AND PROMOTED APOPTOSIS IN KCL22 AND K562 CELLS THROUGH THE PI3K/AKT PATHWAY. RNA PULL-DOWN, MASS SPECTROMETRY, AND RIP ASSAYS SHOWED THAT HOTAIR INTERACTED WITH EZH2 AND LSD1. A DUAL-LUCIFERASE ASSAY DEMONSTRATED THAT HOTAIR INTERACTED WITH MIR-143. CONCLUSION: OUR FINDINGS DEMONSTRATE THE KEY EPIGENETIC INTERACTIONS OF HOTAIR RELATED TO CML PROGRESSION AND SUGGEST HOTAIR AS A POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC TARGET FOR ADVANCED CML. FURTHERMORE, OUR RESULTS SUPPORT THE USE OF DEMETHYLATION DRUGS AS A CML TREATMENT STRATEGY. 2018 16 4354 28 MIR-21-5P DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTES TO REGULATING ENOS EXPRESSION IN HUMAN ARTERY ENDOTHELIAL CELLS UNDER NORMOXIA AND HYPOXIA. CLINICAL CONDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH HYPOXIA AND OXIDATIVE STRESS, SUCH AS FETAL GROWTH RESTRICTION (FGR), RESULTS IN ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION. PREVIOUS REPORTS SHOW THAT CHANGES IN ENOS EXPRESSION UNDER THESE CONDITIONS ARE TIGHTLY CONTROLLED BY DNA METHYLATION AND HISTONE POSTTRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS. HOWEVER, THE CONTRIBUTION OF AN ORCHESTRATING EPIGENETIC MECHANISM, SUCH AS MIRNAS, ON THE NO-RELATED GENES EXPRESSION HAS NOT BEEN ADDRESSED. WE AIMED TO DETERMINE THE LEVELS OF MIRNAS HIGHLY EXPRESSED IN NORMAL ENDOTHELIAL CELLS (EC), MIR-21 AND MIR-126, IN FGR HUMAN UMBILICAL ARTERY EC (HUAEC), AND THEIR EFFECTS ON HYPOXIA-DEPENDENT REGULATION OF BOTH, NO-RELATED AND OXIDATIVE STRESS-RELATED GENES. RESULTS WERE VALIDATED BY TRANSCRIPTOME ANALYSIS OF HUAEC CULTURED UNDER CHRONIC LOW OXYGEN CONDITIONS. CULTURED FGR-HUAEC SHOWED DECREASED HSA-MIR-21, DDAH1, SOD1, AND NRF2, BUT INCREASED MIR-126, NOX4, AND ENOS LEVELS, COMPARED WITH CONTROLS. MIR-21-5P LEVELS IN FGR WERE ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED HG-MIR-21 GENE PROMOTER METHYLATION, WITH NO CHANGES IN HG-MIR-126 GENE PROMOTER METHYLATION. HUAEC EXPOSED TO HYPOXIA SHOWED A TRANSIENT INCREASE IN ENOS AND DDAH11, PARALLELED BY DECREASE MIR-21-5P LEVELS, BUT NO CHANGES IN MIR-126-3P AND THE OTHER GENES UNDER STUDY. TRANSCRIPTOME PROFILING SHOWED AN INVERSE RELATIONSHIP AMONG MIR-21 AND SEVERAL TRANSCRIPTS TARGETED BY MIR-21 IN HUAEC EXPOSED TO HYPOXIA, MEANWHILE MIR-21-5P-MIMIC DECREASED ENOS AND DDAH1 TRANSCRIPTS STABILITY, BLOCKING THEIR INDUCTION BY HYPOXIA. CONSEQUENTLY, FGR PROGRAMS A HYPOXIA-RELATED MIRNA THAT CONTRIBUTES TO THE REGULATION OF THE NO PATHWAY, INVOLVING A DIRECT EFFECT OF MIR-21-5P ON ENOS TRANSCRIPT STABILITY, NOT PREVIOUSLY REPORTED. MOREOVER, HYPOXIA DOWNREGULATES MIR-21-5P, CONTRIBUTING TO INCREASING THE EXPRESSION OF NO-RELATED GENES IN ARTERIAL ENDOTHELIAL CELLS. 2020 17 4348 32 MIR-146A DYSREGULATES ENERGY METABOLISM DURING NEUROINFLAMMATION. ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (AD) AND OTHER NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES ARE CHARACTERIZED BY CHRONIC NEUROINFLAMMATION AND A REDUCTION IN BRAIN ENERGY METABOLISM. AN IMPORTANT ROLE HAS EMERGED FOR SMALL, NON-CODING RNA MOLECULES KNOWN AS MICRORNAS (MIRNAS) IN THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF MANY NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS. AS EPIGENETIC REGULATORS, MIRNAS POSSESS THE CAPACITY TO REGULATE AND FINE TUNE PROTEIN PRODUCTION BY INHIBITING TRANSLATION. SEVERAL MIRNAS, WHICH INCLUDE MIR-146A, ARE ELEVATED IN THE BRAIN, CSF, AND PLASMA OF AD PATIENTS. MIR-146A PARTICIPATES IN PATHWAYS THAT REGULATE IMMUNE ACTIVATION AND HAS SEVERAL MRNA TARGETS WHICH ENCODE FOR PROTEINS INVOLVED IN CELLULAR ENERGY METABOLISM. AN ADDITIONAL ROLE FOR EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES (EVS) HAS ALSO EMERGED IN THE PROGRESSION AD, AS EVS CAN TRANSFER FUNCTIONALLY ACTIVE PROTEINS AND RNAS FROM DISEASED TO HEALTHY CELLS. IN THE CURRENT STUDY, WE EXPOSED VARIOUS CELL TYPES PRESENT WITHIN THE CNS TO IMMUNOMODULATORY MOLECULES AND OBSERVED SIGNIFICANT UPREGULATION OF MIR-146A EXPRESSION, BOTH WITHIN CELLS AND WITHIN THEIR SECRETED EVS. FURTHER, WE ASSESSED THE EFFECTS OF MIR-146A OVEREXPRESSION ON BIOENERGETIC FUNCTION IN PRIMARY RAT GLIAL CELLS AND FOUND SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN OXIDATIVE PHOSPHORYLATION AND GLYCOLYSIS. LASTLY, WE CORRELATED MIR-146A EXPRESSION LEVELS WITHIN VARIOUS REGIONS OF THE AD BRAIN TO DISEASE STAGING AND FOUND SIGNIFICANT, POSITIVE CORRELATIONS. THESE NOVEL RESULTS DEMONSTRATE THAT THE MODULATION OF MIR-146A IN RESPONSE TO NEUROINFLAMMATORY STIMULI MAY MEDIATE THE LOSS OF MITOCHONDRIAL INTEGRITY AND FUNCTION IN CELLS, THEREBY CONTRIBUTING TO THE PROGRESSION OF BETA-AMYLOID AND TAU PATHOLOGY IN THE AD BRAIN. MULTIPLE INFLAMMATORY STIMULI CAN UPREGULATE MIRNA-146A EXPRESSION WITHIN NEURONS, MIXED GLIAL CELLS, AND BRAIN ENDOTHELIAL CELLS, WHICH IS EITHER RETAINED WITHIN THESE CELLS OR RELEASED FROM THEM AS EXTRACELLULAR VESICLE CARGO. THE UPREGULATION OF MIR-146A DISRUPTS CELLULAR BIOENERGETICS IN MIXED GLIAL CELLS. THIS MECHANISM MAY PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE IN THE NEUROINFLAMMATORY RESPONSE OBSERVED DURING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. 2022 18 1667 26 DOWNREGULATION OF PCAF BY MIR-181A/B PROVIDES FEEDBACK REGULATION TO TNF-ALPHA-INDUCED TRANSCRIPTION OF PROINFLAMMATORY GENES IN LIVER EPITHELIAL CELLS. ABERRANT CELLULAR RESPONSES TO PROINFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES, SUCH AS TNF-ALPHA, ARE PATHOGENIC FEATURES IN MOST CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASES. A VARIETY OF EXTRACELLULAR AND INTRACELLULAR FEEDBACK PATHWAYS HAS EVOLVED TO PREVENT AN INAPPROPRIATE CELLULAR REACTION TO THESE PROINFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES. IN THIS STUDY, WE REPORT THAT TNF-ALPHA TREATMENT OF HUMAN AND MOUSE CHOLANGIOCYTES AND HEPATOCYTES DOWNREGULATED EXPRESSION OF P300/CBP-ASSOCIATED FACTOR (PCAF), A COACTIVATOR AND AN ACETYLTRANSFERASE THAT PROMOTES HISTONE ACETYLATION AND GENE TRANSCRIPTION. OF THESE UPREGULATED MICRORNAS IN TNF-ALPHA-TREATED CELLS, MIR-181A/B (MIR-181A AND MIR-181B) SUPPRESSED TRANSLATION OF PCAF MRNA. FUNCTIONAL MANIPULATION OF MIR-181A/B CAUSED RECIPROCAL ALTERATIONS IN PCAF PROTEIN EXPRESSION IN CULTURED CHOLANGIOCYTES AND HEPATOCYTES. INHIBITION OF MIR-181A/B FUNCTION WITH ANTI-MIRS BLOCKED TNF-ALPHA-INDUCED SUPPRESSION OF PCAF EXPRESSION. PROMOTER RECRUITMENT OF PCAF WAS SHOWN TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH TNF-ALPHA-INDUCED TRANSCRIPTION OF INFLAMMATORY GENES. INTRIGUINGLY, PRETREATMENT OF CELLS WITH TNF-ALPHA INHIBITED TRANSCRIPTION OF INFLAMMATORY GENES IN RESPONSE TO SUBSEQUENT TNF-ALPHA STIMULATION. OVEREXPRESSION OF PCAF OR INHIBITION OF MIR-181A/B FUNCTION WITH ANTI-MIRS ATTENUATED THE INHIBITORY EFFECTS OF TNF-ALPHA PRETREATMENT ON EPITHELIAL INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE TO SUBSEQUENT TNF-ALPHA STIMULATION. DOWNREGULATION OF PCAF AND THE INHIBITORY EFFECTS OF TNF-ALPHA PRETREATMENT ON LIVER EPITHELIAL INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE WERE FURTHER CONFIRMED IN A MOUSE MODEL OF TNF-ALPHA I.P. INJECTION. THESE DATA SUGGEST THAT PCAF IS A TARGET FOR MIR-181A/B, AND DOWNREGULATION OF PCAF BY TNF-ALPHA PROVIDES NEGATIVE FEEDBACK REGULATION TO INFLAMMATORY REACTIONS IN LIVER EPITHELIAL CELLS, A PROCESS THAT MAY BE RELEVANT TO THE EPIGENETIC FINE-TUNING OF EPITHELIAL INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES IN GENERAL. 2012 19 1741 40 EARLY EPIGENETIC DOWNREGULATION OF MICRORNA-192 EXPRESSION PROMOTES PANCREATIC CANCER PROGRESSION. PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMA (PDAC) IS CHARACTERIZED BY VERY EARLY METASTASIS, SUGGESTING THE HYPOTHESIS THAT METASTASIS-ASSOCIATED CHANGES MAY OCCUR PRIOR TO ACTUAL TUMOR FORMATION. IN THIS STUDY, WE IDENTIFIED MIR-192 AS AN EPIGENETICALLY REGULATED SUPPRESSOR GENE WITH PREDICTIVE VALUE IN THIS DISEASE. MIR-192 WAS DOWNREGULATED BY PROMOTER METHYLATION IN BOTH PDAC AND CHRONIC PANCREATITIS, THE LATTER OF WHICH IS A MAJOR RISK FACTOR FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PDAC. FUNCTIONAL STUDIES IN VITRO AND IN VIVO IN MOUSE MODELS OF PDAC SHOWED THAT OVEREXPRESSION OF MIR-192 WAS SUFFICIENT TO REDUCE CELL PROLIFERATION AND INVASION. MECHANISTIC ANALYSES CORRELATED CHANGES IN MIR-192 PROMOTER METHYLATION AND EXPRESSION WITH EPITHELIAL-MESENCHYMAL TRANSITION. CELL PROLIFERATION AND INVASION WERE LINKED TO ALTERED EXPRESSION OF THE MIR-192 TARGET GENE SERPINE1 THAT IS ENCODING THE PROTEIN PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR INHIBITOR-1 (PAI-1), AN ESTABLISHED REGULATOR OF THESE PROPERTIES IN PDAC CELLS. NOTABLY, OUR DATA SUGGESTED THAT INVASIVE CAPACITY WAS ALTERED EVEN BEFORE NEOPLASTIC TRANSFORMATION OCCURRED, AS TRIGGERED BY MIR-192 DOWNREGULATION. OVERALL, OUR RESULTS HIGHLIGHTED A ROLE FOR MIR-192 IN EXPLAINING THE EARLY METASTATIC BEHAVIOR OF PDAC AND SUGGESTED ITS RELEVANCE AS A TARGET TO DEVELOP FOR EARLY DIAGNOSTICS AND THERAPY. CANCER RES; 76(14); 4149-59. (C)2016 AACR. 2016 20 507 44 ASSOCIATION OF INCREASED DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE EXPRESSION WITH CARCINOGENESIS AND POOR PROGNOSIS IN PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMA. INTRODUCTION: EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MULTISTAGE CARCINOGENESIS. THE ROLE OF THE THREE FUNCTIONAL DNA METHYLTRANSFERASES (DNMTS) IN PANCREATIC CARCINOGENESIS HAS NOT BEEN FULLY UNDERSTOOD. THE MAIN GOAL OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EXAMINE DNMT EXPRESSION IN DIFFERENT STAGES OF PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMA (PDAC), AND EVALUATE THEIR PROGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE IN PDAC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A LARGE NUMBER OF PREMALIGNANT AND MALIGNANT PANCREATIC LESIONS WERE OBTAINED BY MANUAL MICRODISSECTION. QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME RT-PCR WAS USED TO DETECT DNMTS MRNA EXPRESSION. NONPARAMETRIC TEST, LOGRANK TEST AND COX REGRESSION ANALYSIS WERE USED TO EVALUATE THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF DNMT EXPRESSION. RESULTS: THE MRNA EXPRESSION OF THE THREE DNMTS INCREASED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF PANCREATIC CANCER FROM NORMAL DUCT TO PANCREATIC INTRADUCTAL NEOPLASIA AND FURTHER TO PDAC, AND WERE STATISTICALLY CORRELATED WITH EACH OTHER. EXPRESSION OF THE THREE DNMTS WAS STATISTICALLY CORRELATED WITH TNM STAGING AND HISTORY OF CHRONIC PANCREATITIS. DNMT3A AND DNMT3B, BUT NOT DNMT1 EXPRESSION, WAS STATISTICALLY CORRELATED WITH TUMOUR SIZE. PATIENTS WITH HIGHER LEVELS OF DNMT1, DNMT3A AND/OR DNMT3B EXPRESSION HAD AN OVERALL LOWER SURVIVAL THAN THOSE WITH LOWER LEVELS OF EXPRESSION. UNIVARIATE ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT HIGH EXPRESSION LEVELS OF DNMTS, ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION, TUMOUR DIFFERENTIATION AND TNM STAGING WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT RISK FACTORS. MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT HIGH LEVEL OF DNMT3B EXPRESSION AND TUMOUR DIFFERENTIATION WERE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT INDEPENDENT POOR PROGNOSTIC FACTORS. CONCLUSIONS: THESE RESULTS SUGGESTED THAT PANCREATIC CARCINOGENESIS INVOLVES AN INCREASED MRNA EXPRESSION OF THREE DNMTS, AND THEY MAY BECOME VALUABLE DIAGNOSTIC AND PROGNOSTIC MARKERS AS WELL AS POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC TARGETS FOR PANCREATIC CANCER. 2012