1 5557 139 ROLE OF GENOMIC INSTABILITY IN ARSENIC-INDUCED CARCINOGENICITY. A REVIEW. EXPOSURE TO CHRONIC ARSENIC TOXICITY IS ASSOCIATED WITH CANCER. ALTHOUGH UNSTABLE GENOME IS A CHARACTERISTIC FEATURE OF CANCER CELLS, THE MECHANISMS LEADING TO GENOMIC INSTABILITY IN ARSENIC-INDUCED CARCINOGENESIS ARE POORLY UNDERSTOOD. WHILE THERE ARE EXCELLENT REVIEWS RELATING TO GENOMIC INSTABILITY IN GENERAL, THERE IS NO COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW PRESENTING THE MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN ARSENIC-INDUCED GENOMIC INSTABILITY. THIS REVIEW WAS UNDERTAKEN TO PRESENT THE CURRENT STATE OF RESEARCH IN THIS AREA AND TO HIGHLIGHT THE MAJOR MECHANISMS THAT MAY INVOLVED IN ARSENIC-INDUCED GENOMIC INSTABILITY LEADING TO CANCER. GENOMIC INSTABILITY IS BROADLY CLASSIFIED INTO CHROMOSOMAL INSTABILITY (CIN), PRIMARILY ASSOCIATED WITH MITOTIC ERRORS; AND MICROSATELLITE INSTABILITY (MIN), ASSOCIATED WITH DNA LEVEL INSTABILITY. ARSENIC-INDUCED GENOMIC INSTABILITY IS ESSENTIALLY MULTI-FACTORIAL IN NATURE AND INVOLVES MOLECULAR CROSS-TALK ACROSS SEVERAL CELLULAR PATHWAYS, AND IS MODULATED BY A NUMBER OF ENDOGENOUS AND EXOGENOUS FACTORS. ARSENIC AND ITS METABOLITES GENERATE OXIDATIVE STRESS, WHICH IN TURN INDUCES GENOMIC INSTABILITY THROUGH DNA DAMAGE, IRREVERSIBLE DNA REPAIR, TELOMERE DYSFUNCTION, MITOTIC ARREST AND APOPTOSIS. IN ADDITION TO GENETIC ALTERATION; EPIGENETIC REGULATION THROUGH PROMOTER METHYLATION AND MIRNA EXPRESSION ALTERS GENE EXPRESSION PROFILING LEADING TO GENOME MORE VULNERABLE AND UNSTABLE TOWARDS CANCER RISK. MOREOVER, MUTATIONS OR SILENCING OF PRO-APOPTOTIC GENES CAN LEAD TO GENOMIC INSTABILITY BY ALLOWING SURVIVAL OF DAMAGED CELLS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE DIE. ALTHOUGH A LARGE BODY OF INFORMATION IS NOW GENERATED REGARDING ARSENIC-INDUCED CARCINOGENESIS; FURTHER STUDIES EXPLORING GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION, ROLE OF ENVIRONMENT AND DIET ARE NEEDED FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ARSENIC-INDUCED GENOMIC INSTABILITY. 2013 2 3181 18 HALLMARKS OF AGING: AN EXPANDING UNIVERSE. AGING IS DRIVEN BY HALLMARKS FULFILLING THE FOLLOWING THREE PREMISES: (1) THEIR AGE-ASSOCIATED MANIFESTATION, (2) THE ACCELERATION OF AGING BY EXPERIMENTALLY ACCENTUATING THEM, AND (3) THE OPPORTUNITY TO DECELERATE, STOP, OR REVERSE AGING BY THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS ON THEM. WE PROPOSE THE FOLLOWING TWELVE HALLMARKS OF AGING: GENOMIC INSTABILITY, TELOMERE ATTRITION, EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS, LOSS OF PROTEOSTASIS, DISABLED MACROAUTOPHAGY, DEREGULATED NUTRIENT-SENSING, MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, CELLULAR SENESCENCE, STEM CELL EXHAUSTION, ALTERED INTERCELLULAR COMMUNICATION, CHRONIC INFLAMMATION, AND DYSBIOSIS. THESE HALLMARKS ARE INTERCONNECTED AMONG EACH OTHER, AS WELL AS TO THE RECENTLY PROPOSED HALLMARKS OF HEALTH, WHICH INCLUDE ORGANIZATIONAL FEATURES OF SPATIAL COMPARTMENTALIZATION, MAINTENANCE OF HOMEOSTASIS, AND ADEQUATE RESPONSES TO STRESS. 2023 3 4387 35 MITOTIC DYSFUNCTION ASSOCIATED WITH AGING HALLMARKS. AGING IS A BIOLOGICAL PROCESS CHARACTERIZED BY THE PROGRESSIVE DETERIORATION OF PHYSIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS KNOWN TO BE THE MAIN RISK FACTOR FOR CHRONIC DISEASES AND DECLINING HEALTH. THERE HAS BEEN AN EMERGING CONNECTION BETWEEN AGING AND ANEUPLOIDY, AN ABERRANT NUMBER OF CHROMOSOMES, EVEN THOUGH THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS BEHIND AGE-ASSOCIATED ANEUPLOIDY REMAIN LARGELY UNKNOWN. IN RECENT YEARS, SEVERAL GENETIC PATHWAYS AND BIOCHEMICAL PROCESSES CONTROLLING THE RATE OF AGING HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AND PROPOSED AS AGING HALLMARKS. PRIMARY HALLMARKS THAT CAUSE THE ACCUMULATION OF CELLULAR DAMAGE INCLUDE GENOMIC INSTABILITY, TELOMERE ATTRITION, EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS AND LOSS OF PROTEOSTASIS (LOPEZ-OTIN ET AL., CELL 153:1194-1217, 2013). HERE WE REVIEW THE PROVOCATIVE LINK BETWEEN THESE AGING HALLMARKS AND THE LOSS OF CHROMOSOME SEGREGATION FIDELITY DURING CELL DIVISION, WHICH COULD SUPPORT THE CORRELATION BETWEEN AGING AND ANEUPLOIDY SEEN OVER THE PAST DECADES. SECONDLY, WE REVIEW THE SYSTEMIC IMPACTS OF ANEUPLOIDY IN CELL PHYSIOLOGY AND EMPHASIZE HOW THESE INCLUDE SOME OF THE PRIMARY HALLMARKS OF AGING. BASED ON THE EVIDENCE, WE PROPOSE A MUTUAL CAUSALITY BETWEEN AGING AND ANEUPLOIDY, AND SUGGEST MODULATION OF MITOTIC FIDELITY AS A POTENTIAL MEANS TO AMELIORATE HEALTHY LIFESPAN. 2017 4 4477 37 MOLECULAR PATHOGENESIS OF HUMAN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA. HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS IS A SLOW PROCESS DURING WHICH GENOMIC CHANGES PROGRESSIVELY ALTER THE HEPATOCELLULAR PHENOTYPE TO PRODUCE CELLULAR INTERMEDIATES THAT EVOLVE INTO HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA. DURING THE LONG PRENEOPLASTIC STAGE, IN WHICH THE LIVER IS OFTEN THE SITE OF CHRONIC HEPATITIS, CIRRHOSIS, OR BOTH, HEPATOCYTE CYCLING IS ACCELERATED BY UPREGULATION OF MITOGENIC PATHWAYS, IN PART THROUGH EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS. THIS LEADS TO THE PRODUCTION OF MONOCLONAL POPULATIONS OF ABERRANT AND DYSPLASTIC HEPATOCYTES THAT HAVE TELOMERE EROSION AND TELOMERASE RE-EXPRESSION, SOMETIMES MICROSATELLITE INSTABILITY, AND OCCASIONALLY STRUCTURAL ABERRATIONS IN GENES AND CHROMOSOMES. DEVELOPMENT OF DYSPLASTIC HEPATOCYTES IN FOCI AND NODULES AND EMERGENCE OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE ACCUMULATION OF IRREVERSIBLE STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS IN GENES AND CHROMOSOMES, BUT THE GENOMIC BASIS OF THE MALIGNANT PHENOTYPE IS HETEROGENEOUS. THE MALIGNANT HEPATOCYTE PHENOTYPE MAY BE PRODUCED BY THE DISRUPTION OF A NUMBER OF GENES THAT FUNCTION IN DIFFERENT REGULATORY PATHWAYS, PRODUCING SEVERAL MOLECULAR VARIANTS OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA. NEW STRATEGIES SHOULD ENABLE THESE VARIANTS TO BE CHARACTERIZED. 2002 5 5632 35 SENESCENT CELLS: SASPECTED DRIVERS OF AGE-RELATED PATHOLOGIES. THE PROGRESSION OF PHYSIOLOGICAL AGEING IS DRIVEN BY INTRACELLULAR ABERRATIONS INCLUDING TELOMERE ATTRITION, GENOMIC INSTABILITY, EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS AND LOSS OF PROTEOSTASIS. THESE IN TURN DAMAGE CELLS AND COMPROMISE THEIR FUNCTIONALITY. CELLULAR SENESCENCE, A STABLE IRREVERSIBLE CELL-CYCLE ARREST, IS ELICITED IN DAMAGED CELLS AND PREVENTS THEIR PROPAGATION IN THE ORGANISM. UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS, SENESCENT CELLS RECRUIT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM WHICH FACILITATES THEIR REMOVAL FROM TISSUES. NEVERTHELESS, DURING AGEING, TISSUE-RESIDING SENESCENT CELLS TEND TO ACCUMULATE, AND MIGHT NEGATIVELY IMPACT THEIR MICROENVIRONMENT VIA PROFOUND SECRETORY PHENOTYPE WITH PRO-INFLAMMATORY CHARACTERISTICS, TERMED SENESCENCE-ASSOCIATED SECRETORY PHENOTYPE (SASP). INDEED, SENESCENT CELLS ARE MOSTLY ABUNDANT AT SITES OF AGE-RELATED PATHOLOGIES, INCLUDING DEGENERATIVE DISORDERS AND MALIGNANCIES. INTERESTINGLY, STUDIES ON PROGEROID MICE INDICATE THAT SELECTIVE ELIMINATION OF SENESCENT CELLS CAN DELAY AGE-RELATED DETERIORATION. THIS SUGGESTS THAT CHRONIC INFLAMMATION INDUCED BY SENESCENT CELLS MIGHT BE A MAIN DRIVER OF THESE PATHOLOGIES. IMPORTANTLY, SENESCENT CELLS ACCUMULATE AS A RESULT OF DEFICIENT IMMUNE SURVEILLANCE, AND THEIR REMOVAL IS INCREASED UPON THE USE OF IMMUNE STIMULATORY AGENTS. INSIGHTS INTO MECHANISMS OF SENESCENCE SURVEILLANCE COULD BE COMBINED WITH CURRENT APPROACHES FOR CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY TO PROPOSE NEW PREVENTIVE AND THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES FOR AGE-RELATED DISEASES. 2014 6 3596 35 IMPLICATIONS OF SPHINGOLIPIDS ON AGING AND AGE-RELATED DISEASES. AGING IS A PROCESS LEADING TO A PROGRESSIVE LOSS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY AND HOMEOSTASIS, AND A PRIMARY RISK FACTOR FOR MANY LATE-ONSET CHRONIC DISEASES. THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING AGING HAVE LONG PIQUED THE CURIOSITY OF SCIENTISTS. HOWEVER, THE IDEA THAT AGING IS A BIOLOGICAL PROCESS SUSCEPTIBLE TO GENETIC MANIPULATION WAS NOT WELL ESTABLISHED UNTIL THE DISCOVERY THAT THE INHIBITION OF INSULIN/IGF-1 SIGNALING EXTENDED THE LIFESPAN OF C. ELEGANS. ALTHOUGH AGING IS A COMPLEX MULTISYSTEM PROCESS, LOPEZ-OTIN ET AL. DESCRIBED AGING IN REFERENCE TO NINE HALLMARKS OF AGING. THESE NINE HALLMARKS INCLUDE: GENOMIC INSTABILITY, TELOMERE ATTRITION, EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS, LOSS OF PROTEOSTASIS, DEREGULATED NUTRIENT SENSING, MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, CELLULAR SENESCENCE, STEM CELL EXHAUSTION, AND ALTERED INTERCELLULAR COMMUNICATION. DUE TO RECENT ADVANCES IN LIPIDOMIC, INVESTIGATION INTO THE ROLE OF LIPIDS IN BIOLOGICAL AGING HAS INTENSIFIED, PARTICULARLY THE ROLE OF SPHINGOLIPIDS (SL). SLS ARE A DIVERSE GROUP OF LIPIDS ORIGINATING FROM THE ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM (ER) AND CAN BE MODIFIED TO CREATE A VASTLY DIVERSE GROUP OF BIOACTIVE METABOLITES THAT REGULATE ALMOST EVERY MAJOR CELLULAR PROCESS, INCLUDING CELL CYCLE REGULATION, SENESCENCE, PROLIFERATION, AND APOPTOSIS. ALTHOUGH SL BIOLOGY REACHES ALL NINE HALLMARKS OF AGING, ITS CONTRIBUTION TO EACH HALLMARK IS DISPROPORTIONATE. IN THIS REVIEW, WE WILL DISCUSS IN DETAIL THE MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS OF SLS TO THE HALLMARKS OF AGING AND AGE-RELATED DISEASES WHILE ALSO SUMMARIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF THEIR OTHER MINOR BUT INTEGRAL CONTRIBUTIONS. 2021 7 3221 28 HELICOBACTER PYLORI AND THE MOLECULAR PATHOGENESIS OF INTESTINAL-TYPE GASTRIC CARCINOMA. GASTRIC CARCINOMA IS AN INFLAMMATION-RELATED CANCER CAUSED BY LONG-TERM INFECTION WITH THE HUMAN BACTERIAL PATHOGEN, HELICOBACTER PYLORI. THE PATTERN OF ACUTE-ON-CHRONIC INFLAMMATION CAUSES PROGRESSIVE MUCOSAL DAMAGE WHICH MAY RESULT IN ATROPHY WITH METAPLASTIC EPITHELIA AND EVENTUALLY GASTRIC CANCER. RECENTLY, IT HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED THAT H. PYLORI CAN ALSO CAUSE GENETIC INSTABILITY SUCH AS DOUBLE-STRANDED DNA BREAKS AND CAN PRODUCE GENE ACTIVATION AND SILENCING VIA EPIGENETIC PATHWAYS. AS GENETIC INSTABILITY IS THE HALLMARK OF CANCER, WE HIGHLIGHT RECENT PROGRESS IN UNDERSTANDING THE GASTRIC CARCINOGENESIS IN RELATION TO H. PYLORI-RELATED INFLAMMATION, H. PYLORI-INDUCED DOUBLE-STRANDED DNA BREAKAGE AND ABERRANT GENE EXPRESSION AS WELL AS THE MECHANISMS AND ROLE OF H. PYLORI-ASSOCIATED EPIGENETIC CHANGE IN GENE EXPRESSION. 2014 8 182 27 ACCELERATED LUNG AGING AND CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE. THE PREVALENCE OF CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) INCREASES EXPONENTIALLY WITH AGING. ITS PATHOGENESIS, HOWEVER, IS NOT WELL KNOWN AND ASIDE FROM SMOKING CESSATION, THERE ARE NO DISEASE-MODIFYING TREATMENTS FOR THIS DISEASE. AREAS COVERED: COPD IS ASSOCIATED WITH ACCELERATING AGING AND AGING-RELATED DISEASES. IN THIS REVIEW, WE WILL DISCUSS THE HALLMARKS OF AGING INCLUDING GENOMIC INSTABILITY, TELOMERE ATTRITION, EPIGENETIC ALTERATION, LOSS OF PROTEOSTASIS, MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, DEREGULATED NUTRIENT SENSING, CELLULAR SENESCENCE, STEM CELL EXHAUSTION, AND ALTERED INTERCELLULAR COMMUNICATION, WHICH MAY BE INVOLVED IN COPD PATHOGENESIS. EXPERT COMMENTARY: COPD AND THE AGING PROCESS SHARE SIMILAR MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR CHANGES. AGING-RELATED MOLECULAR PATHWAYS MAY REPRESENT NOVEL THERAPEUTIC TARGETS AND BIOMARKERS FOR COPD. 2019 9 4183 25 META-HALLMARKS OF AGING AND CANCER. BOTH AGING AND CANCER ARE CHARACTERIZED BY A SERIES OF PARTIALLY OVERLAPPING "HALLMARKS" THAT WE SUBJECT HERE TO A META-ANALYSIS. SEVERAL HALLMARKS OF AGING (I.E., GENOMIC INSTABILITY, EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS, CHRONIC INFLAMMATION, AND DYSBIOSIS) ARE VERY SIMILAR TO SPECIFIC CANCER HALLMARKS AND HENCE CONSTITUTE COMMON "META-HALLMARKS," WHILE OTHER FEATURES OF AGING (I.E., TELOMERE ATTRITION AND STEM CELL EXHAUSTION) ACT LIKELY TO SUPPRESS ONCOGENESIS AND HENCE CAN BE VIEWED AS PREPONDERANTLY "ANTAGONISTIC HALLMARKS." DISABLED MACROAUTOPHAGY AND CELLULAR SENESCENCE ARE TWO HALLMARKS OF AGING THAT EXERT CONTEXT-DEPENDENT ONCOSUPPRESSIVE AND PRO-TUMORIGENIC EFFECTS. SIMILARLY, THE EQUIVALENCE OR ANTAGONISM BETWEEN AGING-ASSOCIATED DEREGULATED NUTRIENT-SENSING AND CANCER-RELEVANT ALTERATIONS OF CELLULAR METABOLISM IS COMPLEX. THE AGONISTIC AND ANTAGONISTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PROCESSES THAT DRIVE AGING AND CANCER HAS BEARINGS FOR THE AGE-RELATED INCREASE AND OLDEST AGE-RELATED DECREASE OF CANCER MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY, AS WELL AS FOR THE THERAPEUTIC MANAGEMENT OF MALIGNANT DISEASE IN THE ELDERLY. 2023 10 1478 31 DIVERSE ROLES OF HEPATITIS B VIRUS IN LIVER CANCER. HEPATITIS B VIRUS (HBV) IS A WIDESPREAD HUMAN PATHOGEN RESPONSIBLE FOR ACUTE AND CHRONIC LIVER DISEASES. THE HEPATITIS B BURDEN IS PARTICULARLY HEAVY IN ENDEMIC COUNTRIES, WHERE LIVER CIRRHOSIS AND HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA ARE LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH. HOWEVER, THE ONCOGENIC ROLE OF HBV REMAINS ENIGMATIC. AS THE VIRUS HAS NO CYTOPATHIC EFFECT, LIVER DAMAGE IS ATTRIBUTED TO IMMUNE RESPONSES THAT INDUCE INFLAMMATION, APOPTOSIS AND REGENERATION, FOSTERING THE ACCUMULATION OF GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS. IN A MORE DIRECT ACTION, FREQUENT INTEGRATION OF HBV DNA INTO HOST CHROMOSOMES MAY LEAD TO INSERTIONAL MUTAGENESIS OF CANCER-RELATED GENES AND CHROMOSOMAL INSTABILITY. HBV PROTEINS, NOTABLY THE HBX TRANSACTIVATOR, PARTICIPATE AS CO-FACTORS IN ONCOGENESIS. BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HEPATITIS B PATHOGENESIS IS MANDATORY FOR IMPROVING DISEASE MANAGEMENT. 2012 11 293 32 AGING HALLMARKS AND THE ROLE OF OXIDATIVE STRESS. AGING IS A COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL PROCESS ACCOMPANIED BY A PROGRESSIVE DECLINE IN THE PHYSICAL FUNCTION OF THE ORGANISM AND AN INCREASED RISK OF AGE-RELATED CHRONIC DISEASES SUCH AS CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES, CANCER, AND NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES. STUDIES HAVE ESTABLISHED THAT THERE EXIST NINE HALLMARKS OF THE AGING PROCESS, INCLUDING (I) TELOMERE SHORTENING, (II) GENOMIC INSTABILITY, (III) EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS, (IV) MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, (V) LOSS OF PROTEOSTASIS, (VI) DYSREGULATED NUTRIENT SENSING, (VII) STEM CELL EXHAUSTION, (VIII) CELLULAR SENESCENCE, AND (IX) ALTERED CELLULAR COMMUNICATION. ALL THESE ALTERATIONS HAVE BEEN LINKED TO SUSTAINED SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION, AND THESE MECHANISMS CONTRIBUTE TO THE AGING PROCESS IN TIMING NOT CLEARLY DETERMINED YET. NEVERTHELESS, MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MECHANISMS CONTRIBUTING TO THE AGING PROCESS. MITOCHONDRIA IS THE PRIMARY ENDOGENOUS SOURCE OF REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES (ROS). DURING THE AGING PROCESS, THERE IS A DECLINE IN ATP PRODUCTION AND ELEVATED ROS PRODUCTION TOGETHER WITH A DECLINE IN THE ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSE. ELEVATED ROS LEVELS CAN CAUSE OXIDATIVE STRESS AND SEVERE DAMAGE TO THE CELL, ORGANELLE MEMBRANES, DNA, LIPIDS, AND PROTEINS. THIS DAMAGE CONTRIBUTES TO THE AGING PHENOTYPE. IN THIS REVIEW, WE SUMMARIZE RECENT ADVANCES IN THE MECHANISMS OF AGING WITH AN EMPHASIS ON MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION AND ROS PRODUCTION. 2023 12 4134 41 MECHANISMS OF HUMAN HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS. THE MAJOR RISK FACTORS AND ETIOLOGICAL AGENTS RESPONSIBLE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA IN HUMANS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AND CHARACTERIZED. AMONG THESE ARE CHRONIC INFECTION WITH HEPATITIS B VIRUS OR HEPATITIS C VIRUS, EXPOSURE TO AFLATOXIN B1, AND CIRRHOSIS OF ANY ETIOLOGY (INCLUDING ALCOHOLIC CIRRHOSIS AND CIRRHOSIS ASSOCIATED WITH GENETIC LIVER DISEASES). BOTH CHRONIC HEPATITIS AND CIRRHOSIS REPRESENT MAJOR PRENEOPLASTIC CONDITIONS OF THE LIVER AS THE MAJORITY OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMAS ARISE IN THESE PATHOLOGICAL SETTINGS. HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS REPRESENTS A LINEAR AND PROGRESSIVE PROCESS IN WHICH SUCCESSIVELY MORE ABERRANT MONOCLONAL POPULATIONS OF HEPATOCYTES EVOLVE. REGENERATIVE HEPATOCYTES IN FOCAL LESIONS IN THE INFLAMED LIVER (CHRONIC HEPATITIS OR CIRRHOSIS) GIVE RISE TO HYPERPLASTIC HEPATOCYTE NODULES, AND THESE PROGRESS TO DYSPLASTIC NODULES, WHICH ARE THOUGHT TO BE THE DIRECT PRECURSOR OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA. IN MOST CASES, THE NEOPLASTIC TRANSFORMATION OF HEPATOCYTES RESULTS FROM ACCUMULATION OF GENETIC DAMAGE DURING THE REPETITIVE CELLULAR PROLIFERATION THAT OCCURS IN THE INJURED LIVER IN RESPONSE TO PARACRINE GROWTH FACTOR AND CYTOKINE STIMULATION. HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMAS EXHIBIT NUMEROUS GENETIC ABNORMALITIES (INCLUDING CHROMOSOMAL DELETIONS, REARRANGEMENTS, ANEUPLOIDY, GENE AMPLIFICATIONS, AND MUTATIONS), AS WELL AS EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS (INCLUDING MODULATION OF DNA METHYLATION). THESE GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS COMBINE TO ACTIVATE POSITIVE MEDIATORS OF CELLULAR PROLIFERATION (INCLUDING CELLULAR PROTO-ONCOGENES AND THEIR MITOGENIC SIGNALING PATHWAYS) AND INACTIVATE NEGATIVE MEDIATORS OF CELLULAR PROLIFERATION (INCLUDING TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENES), RESULTING IN CELLS WITH AUTONOMOUS GROWTH POTENTIAL. HOWEVER, HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMAS EXHIBIT A HIGH DEGREE OF GENETIC HETEROGENEITY, SUGGESTING THAT MULTIPLE MOLECULAR PATHWAYS MAY BE INVOLVED IN THE GENESIS OF SUBSETS OF HEPATOCELLULAR NEOPLASMS. CONTINUED INVESTIGATION OF THE MECHANISMS OF HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS WILL REFINE OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BASIS FOR NEOPLASTIC TRANSFORMATION IN LIVER, ENABLING THE DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR PREVENTION AND/OR MORE EFFECTIVE TREATMENT OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA. 2003 13 4462 38 MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF HBV-ASSOCIATED HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS. HEPATITIS B VIRUS (HBV) CONTRIBUTES TO HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC) DEVELOPMENT THROUGH DIRECT AND INDIRECT MECHANISMS. HBV-DNA INTEGRATION INTO THE HOST GENOME OCCURS AT EARLY STEPS OF CLONAL TUMOR EXPANSION AND INDUCES BOTH GENOMIC INSTABILITY AND DIRECT INSERTIONAL MUTAGENESIS OF DIVERSE CANCER-RELATED GENES. PROLONGED EXPRESSION OF THE VIRAL REGULATORY PROTEIN HBX AND THE LARGE ENVELOPE PROTEIN DEREGULATE THE CELLULAR TRANSCRIPTION PROGRAM AND PROLIFERATION CONTROL AND SENSITIZE LIVER CELLS TO CARCINOGENIC FACTORS. EPIGENETIC CHANGES TARGETING THE EXPRESSION OF TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENES OCCUR EARLY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HCC. A MAJOR ROLE IS PLAYED BY HBX THAT IS RECRUITED ON CELLULAR CHROMATIN AND MODULATES CHROMATIN DYNAMICS AT SPECIFIC GENE LOCI. COMPARED WITH TUMORS ASSOCIATED WITH OTHER RISK FACTORS, HBV-RELATED TUMORS HAVE A HIGHER RATE OF CHROMOSOMAL ALTERATIONS AND P53 INACTIVATION BY MUTATIONS, OVEREXPRESS FETAL LIVER/HEPATIC PROGENITOR CELLS GENES, AND SHOW A SPECIFIC ACTIVATION OF THE AKT PATHWAY. THE WNT/BETA-CATENIN PATHWAY IS ALSO OFTEN ACTIVATED, BUT HBV-RELATED TUMORS DISPLAY A LOW RATE OF ACTIVATING BETA-CATENIN MUTATIONS. ALL AVAILABLE EVIDENCE STRONGLY SUPPORTS THE NOTION THAT CHRONIC HBV INFECTION TRIGGERS BOTH COMMON AND ETIOLOGY-SPECIFIC ONCOGENIC PATHWAYS, THUS PLAYING A DIRECT ROLE BEYOND STIMULATION OF HOST IMMUNE RESPONSES AND CHRONIC NECROINFLAMMATORY LIVER DISEASE. 2013 14 290 29 AGING AND PULMONARY FIBROSIS. IDIOPATHIC PULMONARY FIBROSIS IS A CHRONIC, PROGRESSIVE, AND USUALLY FATAL LUNG DISORDER OF UNKNOWN ETIOLOGY. THE DISEASE LIKELY RESULTS FROM THE INTERACTION OF GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY ARCHITECTURE, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS SUCH AS SMOKING, AND AN ABNORMAL EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING THAT LEADS TO A COMPLEX PATHOGENESIS. IDIOPATHIC PULMONARY FIBROSIS OCCURS IN MIDDLE-AGED AND MAINLY ELDERLY ADULTS, AND IN THIS CONTEXT AGE HAS EMERGED AS ITS STRONGEST RISK FACTOR. HOWEVER, THE MECHANISMS LINKING IT TO AGING ARE UNCERTAIN. RECENTLY, NINE MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR HALLMARKS OF AGING HAVE BEEN PROPOSED: GENOMIC INSTABILITY, TELOMERE ATTRITION, EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS, LOSS OF PROTEOSTASIS, DEREGULATED NUTRIENT SENSING, MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, CELLULAR SENESCENCE, STEM CELL EXHAUSTION, AND ALTERED INTERCELLULAR COMMUNICATION. IN THIS REVIEW, WE PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF THESE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS AND THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF IDIOPATHIC PULMONARY FIBROSIS, WHILE EMPHASIZING THAT THE STUDIES ON THIS DISEASE ARE FEW AND THE FINDINGS ARE NOT DEFINITIVE. 2016 15 3232 29 HELICOBACTER PYLORI-INDUCED SIGNALING PATHWAYS CONTRIBUTE TO INTESTINAL METAPLASIA AND GASTRIC CARCINOGENESIS. HELICOBACTER PYLORI (H. PYLORI) INDUCES CHRONIC GASTRIC INFLAMMATION, ATROPHIC GASTRITIS, INTESTINAL METAPLASIA, AND CANCER. ALTHOUGH THE RISK OF GASTRIC CANCER INCREASES EXPONENTIALLY WITH THE EXTENT OF ATROPHIC GASTRITIS, THE PRECISE MECHANISMS OF GASTRIC CARCINOGENESIS HAVE NOT BEEN FULLY ELUCIDATED. H. PYLORI INDUCES GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN GASTRIC EPITHELIAL CELLS THROUGH ACTIVATING INTRACELLULAR SIGNALING PATHWAYS IN A CAGPAI-DEPENDENT MANNER. H. PYLORI EVENTUALLY INDUCES GASTRIC CANCER WITH CHROMOSOMAL INSTABILITY (CIN) OR MICROSATELLITE INSTABILITY (MSI), WHICH ARE CLASSIFIED AS TWO MAJOR SUBTYPES OF GASTRIC CANCER. ELUCIDATION OF THE PRECISE MECHANISMS OF GASTRIC CARCINOGENESIS WILL ALSO BE IMPORTANT FOR CANCER THERAPY. 2015 16 5630 35 SENESCENCE IN PULMONARY FIBROSIS: BETWEEN AGING AND EXPOSURE. TO DATE, CHRONIC PULMONARY PATHOLOGIES REPRESENT THE THIRD LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN THE ELDERLY POPULATION. EVIDENCE-BASED PROJECTIONS SUGGEST THAT >65 (YEARS OLD) INDIVIDUALS WILL ACCOUNT FOR APPROXIMATELY A QUARTER OF THE WORLD POPULATION BEFORE THE TURN OF THE CENTURY. GENOMIC INSTABILITY, TELOMERE ATTRITION, EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS, LOSS OF PROTEOSTASIS, DEREGULATED NUTRIENT SENSING, MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, CELLULAR SENESCENCE, STEM CELL EXHAUSTION, AND ALTERED INTERCELLULAR COMMUNICATION, ARE DESCRIBED AS THE NINE "HALLMARKS" THAT GOVERN CELLULAR FITNESS. ANY DEVIATION FROM THE NORMAL PATTERN INITIATES A COMPLEX CASCADE OF EVENTS CULMINATING TO A DISEASE STATE. THIS BLUEPRINT, ORIGINALLY EMPLOYED TO DESCRIBE ABERRANT CHANGES IN CANCER CELLS, CAN BE ALSO USED TO DESCRIBE AGING AND FIBROSIS. PULMONARY FIBROSIS (PF) IS THE RESULT OF A PROGRESSIVE DECLINE IN INJURY RESOLUTION PROCESSES STEMMING FROM ENDOGENOUS (PHYSIOLOGICAL DECLINE OR SOMATIC MUTATIONS) OR EXOGENOUS STRESS. ENVIRONMENTAL, DIETARY OR OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE ACCELERATES THE PATHOGENESIS OF A SENESCENT PHENOTYPE BASED ON (1) WINDOW OF EXPOSURE; (2) DOSE, DURATION, RECURRENCE; AND (3) CELLS TYPE BEING TARGETED. AS THE LUNG AGES, THE THRESHOLD TO GENERATE AN IRREVERSIBLY SENESCENT PHENOTYPE IS LOWERED. HOWEVER, WE DO NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE TO MAKE ACCURATE PREDICTIONS. IN THIS REVIEW, WE PROVIDE AN ASSESSMENT OF THE LITERATURE THAT INTERROGATES LUNG EPITHELIAL, MESENCHYMAL, AND IMMUNE SENESCENCE AT THE INTERSECTION OF AGING, ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE AND PULMONARY FIBROSIS. 2020 17 4476 28 MOLECULAR PATHOGENESIS OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA. HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC) IS THE FIFTH MOST COMMON CANCER AND THE THIRD LEADING CAUSE OF CANCER DEATH WORLDWIDE. HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS IS A MULTISTEP PROCESS EVOLVING FROM NORMAL THROUGH CHRONIC HEPATITIS/CIRRHOSIS AND DYSPLASTIC NODULES TO HCC. WITH ADVANCES IN MOLECULAR METHODS, THERE IS A GROWING UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS IN HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS. HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS IS STRONGLY LINKED TO INCREASES IN ALLELIC LOSSES, CHROMOSOMAL CHANGES, GENE MUTATIONS, EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS AND ALTERATIONS IN MOLECULAR CELLULAR PATHWAYS. SOME OF THESE ALTERATIONS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY A STEPWISE INCREASE IN THE DIFFERENT PATHOLOGICAL DISEASE STAGES IN HEPATOCARCINOGENESIS. OVERALL, A DETAILED UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNDERLYING MOLECULAR MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN THE PROGRESSION OF HCC IS OF FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT REGIMES FOR HCC. 2008 18 4379 29 MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION AND AGING: INSIGHTS FROM THE ANALYSIS OF EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES. THE PROGRESSIVE DECLINE OF CELL FUNCTION AND INTEGRITY, MANIFESTING CLINICALLY AS INCREASED VULNERABILITY TO ADVERSE OUTCOMES AND DEATH, IS CORE TO BIOLOGICAL AGING. MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, OXIDATIVE STRESS, ALTERED INTERCELLULAR COMMUNICATION (INCLUDING CHRONIC LOW-GRADE INFLAMMATION), GENOMIC INSTABILITY, TELOMERE ATTRITION, LOSS OF PROTEOSTASIS, ALTERED NUTRIENT SENSING, EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS, AND STEM CELL EXHAUSTION HAVE BEEN PROPOSED AS HALLMARKS OF AGING. THESE "AGING PILLARS" ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE, MAKING THE MATTER INTRICATE AND LEAVING NUMEROUS UNANSWERED QUESTIONS. THE CHARACTERIZATION OF CIRCULATING EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES (EVS) HAS RECENTLY ALLOWED SPECIFIC SECRETORY PHENOTYPES ASSOCIATED WITH AGING TO BE IDENTIFIED. AS SUCH, EVS MAY SERVE AS NOVEL BIOMARKERS FOR CAPTURING THE COMPLEXITY OF AGING. BESIDES THE MITOCHONDRIAL(-)LYSOSOMAL AXIS, EV TRAFFICKING HAS BEEN PROPOSED AS AN ADDITIONAL LAYER IN MITOCHONDRIAL QUALITY CONTROL. INDEED, DISRUPTION OF THE MITOCHONDRIAL(-)LYSOSOMAL AXIS COUPLED WITH ABNORMAL EV SECRETION MAY PLAY A ROLE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF AGING AND SEVERAL DISEASE CONDITIONS. HERE, WE DISCUSS (1) THE MECHANISMS OF EV GENERATION; (2) THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MITOCHONDRIAL(-)LYSOSOMAL AXIS AND EV TRAFFICKING IN THE SETTING OF MITOCHONDRIAL QUALITY CONTROL; AND (3) THE PROSPECT OF USING EVS AS AGING BIOMARKERS AND AS DELIVERY SYSTEMS FOR THERAPEUTICS AGAINST AGE-RELATED CONDITIONS. 2019 19 4475 34 MOLECULAR PATHOGENESIS OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS-ASSOCIATED HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA. CHRONIC INFECTION WITH HEPATITIS C VIRUS (HCV) IS CAUSALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA (HCC). HCV IS NOT CYTOLYTIC AND REPLICATES ENTIRELY IN THE CYTOPLASM. VIRAL INTERACTION WITH THE HOST LEADS TO SUBVERSION OF IMMUNE RESPONSE AND OTHER DEFENSE MECHANISMS. THE RECENT DEVELOPMENT OF ROBUST CELL CULTURE SYSTEMS FOR HCV INFECTION PROVIDES NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE STUDY OF VIRUS-CELL INTERACTION AND VIRAL PATHOGENESIS. HCV INFECTION CAUSES ACTIVE INFLAMMATION AND FIBROSIS, WHICH ULTIMATELY PROGRESSES TO CIRRHOSIS. THE ONSET OF CIRRHOSIS USUALLY PRECEDES THE MULTISTAGE PROCESS OF TUMOR DEVELOPMENT, IN WHICH COMMON THEMES OF VIRAL CARCINOGENESIS CAN BE IDENTIFIED. WHILE CHRONIC INFLAMMATION AND CIRRHOSIS ARE THOUGHT TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN TUMOR INITIATION, THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS ARE INCOMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD. RECENT STUDIES HAVE REVEALED THAT INFECTION WITH HCV INDUCES GENOME INSTABILITY, LEADING TO FURTHER GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO THE FULL DEVELOPMENT OF HCC TUMOR. THE EXPRESSION OF VIRAL ONCOPROTEINS SUCH AS C AND NS5A IS CRITICALLY INVOLVED BOTH IN THE INDUCTION OF GENOME INSTABILITY AND IN DYSREGULATING CELLULAR CONTROL OF GROWTH AND SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION. A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOLECULAR PATHOGENESIS OF HCV WILL REVEAL NOVEL STRATEGIES FOR THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF RELATED DISEASES INCLUDING HCC. 2007 20 4769 33 NUCLEAR MORPHOMETRY, NUCLEOMICS AND PROSTATE CANCER PROGRESSION. PROSTATE CANCER (PCA) RESULTS FROM A MULTISTEP PROCESS. THIS PROCESS INCLUDES INITIATION, WHICH OCCURS THROUGH VARIOUS AGING EVENTS AND MULTIPLE INSULTS (SUCH AS CHRONIC INFECTION, INFLAMMATION AND GENETIC INSTABILITY THROUGH REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES CAUSING DNA DOUBLE-STRAND BREAKS), FOLLOWED BY A MULTISTEP PROCESS OF PROGRESSION. THESE STEPS INCLUDE SEVERAL GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS, AS WELL AS ALTERATIONS TO THE CHROMATIN STRUCTURE, WHICH OCCUR IN RESPONSE TO THE CARCINOGENIC STRESS-RELATED EVENTS THAT SUSTAIN PROLIFERATIVE SIGNALING. EVENTS SUCH AS EVADING GROWTH SUPPRESSORS, RESISTING CELL DEATH, ENABLING REPLICATIVE IMMORTALITY, INDUCING ANGIOGENESIS, AND ACTIVATING INVASION AND METASTASIS ARE READILY OBSERVED. IN ADDITION, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THESE CRITICAL DRIVERS OF CARCINOGENESIS, OTHER FACTORS RELATED TO THE ETIOPATHOGENESIS OF PCA, INVOLVING ENERGY METABOLISM AND EVASION OF THE IMMUNE SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM, APPEAR TO BE INVOLVED. IN ADDITION, WHEN CANCER SPREAD AND METASTASIS OCCUR, THE 'TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT' IN THE BONE OF PCA PATIENTS MAY PROVIDE A WAY TO SUSTAIN DORMANCY OR SENESCENCE AND EVENTUALLY ESTABLISH A 'SEED AND SOIL' SITE WHERE PCA PROLIFERATION AND GROWTH MAY OCCUR OVER TIME. WHEN PCA IS INITIATED AND PROGRESSION ENSUES, SIGNIFICANT ALTERATIONS IN NUCLEAR SIZE, SHAPE AND HETEROCHROMATIN (DNA TRANSCRIPTION) ORGANIZATION ARE FOUND, AND KEY NUCLEAR TRANSCRIPTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL PROTEINS, AS WELL AS MULTIPLE NUCLEAR BODIES CAN LEAD TO PRECANCEROUS AND MALIGNANT CHANGES. THESE SERIES OF CELLULAR AND TISSUE-RELATED MALIGNANCY-ASSOCIATED EVENTS CAN BE QUANTIFIED TO ASSESS DISEASE PROGRESSION AND MANAGEMENT. 2012