1 2326 133 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 2 2426 38 EPIGENETIC SILENCING OF LONG NON-CODING RNA BM742401 IN MULTIPLE MYELOMA: IMPACT ON PROGNOSIS AND MYELOMA DISSEMINATION. BACKGROUND: LONG NON-CODING RNA (LNCRNA) BM742401 IS A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR IN GASTRIC CANCER AND CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA. AS THE PROMOTER AND CODING REGION OF BM742401 ARE FULLY EMBEDDED IN A CPG ISLAND, WE HYPOTHESIZED THAT BM742401 IS A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR LNCRNA EPIGENETICALLY SILENCED BY PROMOTER DNA METHYLATION IN MULTIPLE MYELOMA. METHODS: METHYLATION-SPECIFIC PCR AND QUANTITATIVE BISULFITE PYROSEQUENCING WERE PERFORMED TO DETECT THE METHYLATION OF BM742401 IN NORMAL PLASMA CELLS, MYELOMA CELL LINES AND PRIMARY MYELOMA SAMPLES. THE EXPRESSION OF BM742401 WAS MEASURED BY QRT-PCR. THE FUNCTION OF BM742401 IN MULTIPLE MYELOMA CELLS WAS ANALYZED BY LENTIVIRUS TRANSDUCTION FOLLOWED BY MIGRATION ASSAY. RESULTS: BM742401 METHYLATION WAS DETECTED IN 10 (66.7%) MYELOMA CELL LINES BUT NOT NORMAL PLASMA CELLS, AND INVERSELY CORRELATED WITH EXPRESSION OF BM742401. IN PRIMARY SAMPLES, BM742401 METHYLATION WAS DETECTED IN 3 (12.5%) MONOCLONAL GAMMOPATHY OF UNDETERMINED SIGNIFICANCE, 9 (15.8%) MYELOMA AT DIAGNOSIS AND 8 (17.0%) MYELOMA AT RELAPSE/PROGRESSION. MOREOVER, BM742401 METHYLATION AT DIAGNOSIS WAS ASSOCIATED WITH INFERIOR OVERALL SURVIVAL (MEDIAN OS: 25 VS. 39 MONTHS; P = 0.0496). IN MYELOMA CELL LINE JJN-3, STABLE OVEREXPRESSION OF BM742401 BY LENTIVIRUS TRANSDUCTION RESULTED IN REDUCED CELL MIGRATION (P = 0.0001) BUT NOT IMPACTING CELL DEATH OR PROLIFERATION. CONCLUSIONS: THIS IS THE FIRST REPORT OF TUMOR-SPECIFIC METHYLATION-MEDIATED SILENCING OF BM742401 IN MYELOMA, WHICH IS LIKELY AN EARLY EVENT IN MYELOMAGENESIS WITH ADVERSE IMPACT ON OVERALL SURVIVAL. MOREOVER, BM742401 IS A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR LNCRNA BY INHIBITING MYELOMA CELL MIGRATION, HENCE IMPLICATED IN MYELOMA PLASMA CELL HOMING, METASTASIS AND DISEASE PROGRESSION. 2020 3 1826 46 EFFECTS OF HISTONE DEACETYLASE INHIBITOR ON EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX PRODUCTION IN HUMAN NASAL POLYP ORGAN CULTURES. BACKGROUND: NASAL POLYPOSIS IS ASSOCIATED WITH A CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY CONDITION OF THE SINONASAL MUCOSA AND INVOLVES MYOFIBROBLAST DIFFERENTIATION AND EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX (ECM) ACCUMULATION. EPIGENETIC MODULATION BY HISTONE DEACETYLASE (HDAC) INHIBITORS INCLUDING TRICHOSTATIN A (TSA) HAS BEEN REPORTED TO HAVE INHIBITORY EFFECTS ON MYOFIBROBLAST DIFFERENTIATION IN LUNG AND RENAL FIBROBLASTS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE INHIBITORY EFFECT OF TSA ON MYOFIBROBLAST DIFFERENTIATION AND ECM PRODUCTION IN NASAL POLYP ORGAN CULTURES. METHODS: NASAL POLYP TISSUES FROM 18 PATIENTS WERE ACQUIRED DURING ENDOSCOPIC SINUS SURGERY. AFTER ORGAN CULTURE, NASAL POLYPS WERE STIMULATED WITH TGF-BETA1 AND THEN TREATED WITH TSA. ALPHA-SMOOTH MUSCLE ACTIN (ALPHA-SMA), FIBRONECTIN, AND COLLAGEN TYPE I EXPRESSION LEVELS WERE EXAMINED BY REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION-POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR), REAL-TIME PCR, WESTERN BLOT, AND IMMUNOFLUORESCENT STAINING. HDAC2, HDAC4, AND ACETYLATED H4 EXPRESSION LEVELS WERE ASSAYED BY WESTERN BLOT. CYTOTOXICITY WAS ANALYZED BY THE TERMINAL DEOXYNUCLEOTIDYL TRANSFERASE BIOTIN-DUTP NICK END LABELING ASSAY. RESULTS: THE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF ALPHA-SMA, FIBRONECTIN, AND COLLAGEN TYPE 1 WERE INCREASED IN NASAL POLYP AFTER TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR (TGF) BETA1 TREATMENT. TSA-INHIBITED TGF-BETA1 INDUCED THESE GENE AND PROTEIN EXPRESSION LEVELS. FURTHERMORE, TSA SUPPRESSED PROTEIN EXPRESSION LEVELS OF HDAC2 AND HDAC4. HOWEVER, TSA INDUCED HYPERACETYLATION OF HISTONES H4. TREATMENT WITH TGF-BETA1 WITH OR WITHOUT TSA DID NOT HAVE CYTOTOXIC EFFECT. CONCLUSION: THESE FINDINGS PROVIDE NOVEL INSIGHTS INTO THE EPIGENETIC REGULATION IN MYOFIBROBLAST DIFFERENTIATION AND ECM PRODUCTION OF NASAL POLYP. TSA COULD BE A CANDIDATE OF A THERAPEUTIC AGENT FOR REVERSING THE TGF-BETA1-INDUCED ECM SYNTHESIS THAT LEADS TO NASAL POLYP DEVELOPMENT. 2013 4 2132 28 EPIGENETIC INACTIVATION OF THE MIR-124-1 IN HAEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES. MIR-124-1 IS A TUMOUR SUPPRESSOR MICRORNA (MIR). EPIGENETIC DEREGULATION OF MIRS IS IMPLICATED IN CARCINOGENESIS. PROMOTER DNA METHYLATION AND HISTONE MODIFICATION OF MIR-124-1 WAS STUDIED IN 5 NORMAL MARROW CONTROLS, 4 LYMPHOMA, 8 MULTIPLE MYELOMA (MM) CELL LINES, 230 DIAGNOSTIC PRIMARY SAMPLES OF ACUTE MYELOID LEUKAEMIA (AML), ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKAEMIA (ALL), CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKAEMIA (CML), CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKAEMIA (CLL), MM, AND NON-HODGKIN'S LYMPHOMA (NHL), AND 53 MM SAMPLES AT STABLE DISEASE OR RELAPSE. PROMOTER OF MIR-124-1 WAS UNMETHYLATED IN NORMAL CONTROLS BUT HOMOZYGOUSLY METHYLATED IN 4 OF 4 LYMPHOMA AND 4 OF 8 MYELOMA CELL LINES. TREATMENT OF 5-AZA-2'-DEOXYCYTIDINE LED TO MIR-124-1 DEMETHYLATION AND RE-EXPRESSION OF MATURE MIR-124, WHICH ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH EMERGENCE OF EUCHROMATIC TRIMETHYL H3K4 AND CONSEQUENT DOWNREGULATION OF CDK6 IN MYELOMA CELLS HARBORING HOMOZYGOUS MIR-124-1 METHYLATION. IN PRIMARY SAMPLES AT DIAGNOSIS, MIR-124-1 METHYLATION WAS ABSENT IN CML BUT DETECTED IN 2% EACH OF MM AT DIAGNOSIS AND RELAPSE/PROGRESSION, 5% ALL, 15% AML, 14% CLL AND 58.1% OF NHL (P<0.001). AMONGST LYMPHOID MALIGNANCIES, MIR-124-1 WAS PREFERENTIALLY METHYLATED IN NHL THAN MM, CLL OR ALL. IN PRIMARY LYMPHOMA SAMPLES, MIR-124-1 WAS PREFERENTIALLY HYPERMETHYLATED IN B- OR NK/T-CELL LYMPHOMAS AND ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCED MIR-124 EXPRESSION. IN CONCLUSION, MIR-124-1 WAS HYPERMETHYLATED IN A TUMOUR-SPECIFIC MANNER, WITH A HETEROCHROMATIC HISTONE CONFIGURATION. HYPOMETHYLATION LED TO PARTIAL RESTORATION OF EUCHROMATIC HISTONE CODE AND MIR RE-EXPRESSION. INFREQUENT MIR-124-1 METHYLATION DETECTED IN DIAGNOSTIC AND RELAPSE MM SAMPLES SHOWED AN UNIMPORTANT ROLE IN MM PATHOGENESIS, DESPITE FREQUENT METHYLATION FOUND IN CELL LINES. AMONGST HAEMATOLOGICAL CANCERS, MIR-124-1 WAS MORE FREQUENTLY HYPERMETHYLATED IN NHL, AND HENCE WARRANTS FURTHER STUDY. 2011 5 4601 48 NDRG2 MRNA LEVELS AND MIR-28-5P AND MIR-650 ACTIVITY IN CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA. BACKGROUND: NDRG2 IS IDENTIFIED AS A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENE IN MANY TUMORS, AND FUNCTIONS IN CELL PROLIFERATION, DIFFERENTIATION AND APOPTOSIS. RECENT DATA INDICATE THAT NDRG2 EXPRESSION IS UP-REGULATED BY TP53. MOREOVER, PROPOSED MECHANISMS OF NDRG2 INACTIVATION INCLUDE EPIGENETIC SILENCING OF THE NDRG2 PROMOTER AND DOWN-REGULATION BY MICRORNAS (MIRNAS). HOWEVER, FEW STUDIES HAVE EVER BEEN DONE ON THE ROLE OF NDRG2 AND THE NDRG2-REGULATING MIRNAS INTERFERENCE IN CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (CLL). METHODS: NDRG2 AND MICRORNAS MRNA LEVELS IN CLL SUBJECTS WERE ASSESSED BY QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (QRT-PCR). THE DUAL-LUCIFERASE REPORTER ASSAY WAS PERFORMED TO DETERMINE NDRG2-RELATED MIRNAS. LOW EXPRESSION OF MATURE EXOGENOUS MIRNAS IN CLL CELLS WAS ESTABLISHED BY TRANSIENT TRANSFECTION. NDRG2 PROTEIN LEVELS IN CLL CELLS WERE DETECTED BY WESTERN BLOT. IN ADDITION, FLOW CYTOMETRY WAS CONDUCTED TO EXAMINE THE APOPTOSIS OF CLL CELLS. RESULTS: LOWER EXPRESSION OF NDRG2 WAS FOUND IN THE B-CELLS FROM 102 CLL PATIENTS COMPARED THE 40 NORMAL SUBJECTS (P < 0.001). PATIENTS WITH ADVANCED BINET STAGE (P = 0.001), HIGH LACTATE DEHYDROGENASE (LDH) LEVEL (P = 0.036), UN-MUTATED IMMUNOGLOBULIN HEAVY CHAIN VARIABLE REGION GENE (IGHV) (P = 0.004) AND THOSE WITH P53 ABERRATIONS (P < 0.001) HAD A MARKEDLY LOWER LEVELS OF NDRG2 MRNA. THIS DECREASE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH BRIEFER TIME-TO-TREATMENT (P = 0.001) AND POORER SURVIVAL (P < 0.001). HIGH EXPRESSION OF MIR-28-5P AND MIR-650 WAS ASSOCIATED WITH BINET B/C STAGE (P = 0.044) AND IGHV UN-MUTATED (P = 0.011), AS WELL AS BINET B/C STAGE (P = 0.013) AND P53 ABERRATIONS (P = 0.037), RESPECTIVELY. INHIBITION OF MIR-28-5P OR MIR-650 COULD INDUCE MORE APOPTOSIS IN CLL CELLS WITH GERMLINE TP53. CONCLUSIONS: NDRG2 MRNA LEVELS MIGHT BE A USEFUL PROGNOSTIC VARIABLE FOR PATIENTS OF CLL AND UP-REGULATING NDRG2 TRANSCRIPTION MAY BE A THERAPY APPROACH IN CLL WITHOUT P53 ABERRATIONS. 2018 6 2349 46 EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF MYOFIBROBLAST DIFFERENTIATION AND EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX PRODUCTION IN NASAL POLYP-DERIVED FIBROBLASTS. BACKGROUND: NASAL POLYPOSIS IS A MULTI-FACTORIAL DISEASE ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY CONDITION OF THE PARANASAL SINUSES. MYOFIBROBLAST DIFFERENTIATION AND EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX (ECM) ACCUMULATION ARE INVOLVED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF NASAL POLYPOSIS. OBJECTIVE: THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF TRICHOSTATIN A (TSA), A HISTONE DEACETYLASE (HDAC) INHIBITOR, ON TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR (TGF)-BETA1-INDUCED MYOFIBROBLAST DIFFERENTIATION AND ECM ACCUMULATION IN NASAL POLYP-DERIVED FIBROBLASTS (NPDFS). METHODS: NASAL POLYP-DERIVED FIBROBLASTS WERE ISOLATED FROM NASAL POLYPS OF PATIENTS WHO HAVE CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYP. TSA WAS TREATED IN TGF-BETA1-INDUCED NPDFS. EXPRESSION LEVELS OF HDAC2, ALPHA-SMOOTH MUSCLE ACTIN (SMA), TGF-BETA1, COLLAGEN TYPE I, ACETYLATED HISTONE H3, ACETYLATED HISTONE H4, PHOSPHORYLATED SMAD2/3 AND SMAD7 WERE DETERMINED BY RT-PCR, WESTERN BLOT AND/OR IMMUNOFLUORESCENT STAINING. THE TOTAL COLLAGEN AMOUNT PRODUCTION WAS ANALYSED BY SIRCOL SOLUBLE COLLAGEN ASSAY AND CONTRACTILE ACTIVITY WAS MEASURED BY COLLAGEN GEL CONTRACTION ASSAY. HDAC2 INHIBITION BY TSA OR HDAC2 SILENCING WAS ESTABLISHED BY RT-PCR AND WESTERN BLOT. THE EPIGENETIC EFFECT ON ALPHA-SMA GENE INACTIVATION WAS EXAMINED BY CHROMATIN IMMUNOPRECIPITATION ASSAY. PROLIFERATION WAS DETERMINED BY KI67-POSITIVE CELL STAINING AND CYTOTOXICITY WAS ASSESSED BY 3-(4,5- DIMETHYLTHIAZOL-2YL)-2,5-DIPHENYL-2H-TETRAZOLIUM BROMIDE (MTT) ASSAY. RESULTS: THE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF HDAC2, ALPHA-SMA AND TGF-BETA1 WERE INCREASED IN NASAL POLYP TISSUES COMPARED TO NORMAL INFERIOR TURBINATE TISSUES. TSA AND HDAC2 SILENCING INHIBITED EXPRESSION LEVELS ALPHA-SMA, COLLAGEN AND HDAC2. TSA INDUCED HYPERACETYLATION OF HISTONE AND SUPPRESSED OPENING OF ALPHA-SMA GENE PROMOTER IN TGF-BETA1-INDUCED NPDFS. TSA INHIBITED TGF-BETA1-INDUCED SMAD 2/3 AND RESCUED TGF-BETA1-SUPPRESSED SMAD7 SIGNALLING PATHWAY. FINALLY, TSA BLOCKED PROLIFERATION IN TGF-BETA1-INDUCED NPDFS AND HAS NO CYTOTOXIC EFFECT IN NPDFS. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT HDAC INHIBITION IS ASSOCIATED WITH MYOFIBROBLAST DIFFERENTIATION AND EXTRACELLUAR MATRIX ACCUMULATION IN NASAL POLYPOSIS. TSA MAY BE USEFUL AS AN INHIBITOR OF NASAL POLYP GROWTH, AND THUS HAS POTENTIAL TO BE USED AS A NOVEL TREATMENT OPTION FOR NASAL POLYPOSIS. 2012 7 4231 35 METHYLATION OF PROTOCADHERIN 10, A NOVEL TUMOR SUPPRESSOR, IS ASSOCIATED WITH POOR PROGNOSIS IN PATIENTS WITH GASTRIC CANCER. BACKGROUND & AIMS: BY USING METHYLATION-SENSITIVE REPRESENTATIONAL DIFFERENCE ANALYSIS, WE IDENTIFIED PROTOCADHERIN 10 (PCDH10), A GENE THAT ENCODES A PROTOCADHERIN AND IS SILENCED IN A TUMOR-SPECIFIC MANNER. WE ANALYZED ITS EPIGENETIC INACTIVATION, BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS, AND PROGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE IN GASTRIC CANCER. METHODS: METHYLATION STATUS WAS EVALUATED BY COMBINED BISULFITE RESTRICTION ANALYSIS AND BISULFITE SEQUENCING. THE EFFECTS OF PCDH10 RE-EXPRESSION WERE DETERMINED IN GROWTH, APOPTOSIS, PROLIFERATION, AND INVASION ASSAYS. PCDH10 TARGET GENES WERE IDENTIFIED BY COMPLEMENTARY DNA MICROARRAY ANALYSIS. RESULTS: PCDH10 WAS SILENCED OR DOWN-REGULATED IN 94% (16 OF 17) OF GASTRIC CANCER CELL LINES; EXPRESSION LEVELS WERE RESTORED BY EXPOSURE TO DEMETHYLATING AGENTS. RE-EXPRESSION OF PCDH10 IN MKN45 GASTRIC CANCER CELLS REDUCED COLONY FORMATION IN VITRO AND TUMOR GROWTH IN MICE; IT ALSO INHIBITED CELL PROLIFERATION (P < .01), INDUCED CELL APOPTOSIS (P < .001), AND REPRESSED CELL INVASION (P < .05), UP-REGULATING THE PRO-APOPTOSIS GENES FAS, CASPASE 8, JUN, AND CDKN1A; THE ANTIPROLIFERATION GENE FGFR; AND THE ANTI-INVASION GENE HTATIP2. PCDH10 METHYLATION WAS DETECTED IN 82% (85 OF 104) OF GASTRIC TUMORS COMPARED WITH 37% (38 OF 104) OF PAIRED NONTUMOR TISSUES (P < .0001). IN THE LATTER, PCDH10 METHYLATION WAS HIGHER IN PRECANCEROUS LESIONS (27 OF 45; 60%) THAN IN CHRONIC GASTRITIS SAMPLES (11 OF 59; 19%) (P < .0001). AFTER A MEDIAN FOLLOW-UP PERIOD OF 16.8 MONTHS, MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS REVEALED THAT PATIENTS WITH PCDH10 METHYLATION IN ADJACENT NONTUMOR AREAS HAD A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN OVERALL SURVIVAL. KAPLAN-MEIER SURVIVAL CURVES SHOWED THAT PCDH10 METHYLATION WAS ASSOCIATED SIGNIFICANTLY WITH SHORTENED SURVIVAL IN STAGE I-III GASTRIC CANCER PATIENTS. CONCLUSIONS: PCDH10 IS A GASTRIC TUMOR SUPPRESSOR; ITS METHYLATION AT EARLY STAGES OF GASTRIC CARCINOGENESIS IS AN INDEPENDENT PROGNOSTIC FACTOR. 2009 8 5459 61 RESEARCH ON THE EPIGENETIC REGULATION MECHANISM OF THE PTPN6 GENE IN ADVANCED CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKAEMIA. PTPN6, A TYROSINE PHOSPHATASE PROTEIN, PLAYS A NEGATIVE ROLE IN CELL SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION AND IS NEGATIVELY CORRELATED WITH TUMOUR FORMATION AND GROWTH. HOWEVER, EPIGENETIC REGULATION MECHANISM OF THE PTPN6 GENE IN ADVANCED CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKAEMIA (CML) REMAINS UNCLEAR. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED BONE MARROW OR BLOOD SAMPLES FROM 44 CML PATIENTS AND 10 HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS. KCL22 AND K562 CELLS WERE CULTURED AND TREATED WITH DEMETHYLATION DRUGS AND HISTONE DEACETYLASE INHIBITORS. REAL TIME QUANTITATIVE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (QPCR), METHYLATION-SPECIFIC PCR, BISULFITE SEQUENCING PCR, WESTERN BLOTTING, CO-IMMUNOPRECIPITATION AND CHROMATIN IMMUNOPRECIPITATION (CHIP) WAS PERFORMED. PTPN6 WAS DOWN-REGULATED IN CELL LINES AND PATIENTS WITH ADVANCED PHASE CML, WHEREAS DNMT1, DNMT3A, MECP2, MBD2 AND HDAC1 WERE UP-REGULATED. TREATMENT WITH 5-AZACYTIDINE, DECITABINE, SODIUM VALPROATE AND LBH589 INCREASED PTPN6 EXPRESSION, BUT DECREASED THAT OF DNMT1, DNMT3A, MECP2, MBD2 AND HDAC1. IMMUNOPRECIPITATION AND MASS SPECTROMETRY SHOWED THAT HDAC1 COMBINED DIRECTLY WITH PTPN6. CHIP-SEQ SHOWED THAT HDAC1 DID NOT COMBINE WITH THE PROMOTER REGION OF PTPN6, WHILE MAPK, AKT, STAT5, JAK2 AND MYC PROMOTER REGIONS ALL COMBINED WITH HDAC1. PTPN6 IS ASSOCIATED WITH PROGRESSION OF CML. LOW EXPRESSION LEVEL OF PTPN6 WAS ASSOCIATED WITH DNA METHYLATION AND REGULATED BY HISTONE ACETYLATION. HDAC1 PARTICIPATES IN THE REGULATION OF PTPN6. 2017 9 1056 35 CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS AND EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF GASTRIC MUCOSA ASSOCIATED LYMPHOID TISSUE LYMPHOMA AND LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP FOLLOWING HELICOBACTER PYLORI ERADICATION. THE CURRENT STUDY AIMED TO SUMMARIZE THE CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS AND IDENTIFY THE EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF GASTRIC MUCOSA ASSOCIATED LYMPHOID TISSUE (MALT) LYMPHOMA, AS WELL AS EVALUATE THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI (H. PYLORI) ERADICATION. A TOTAL OF 122 PATIENTS WITH MARGINAL ZONE B-CELL LYMPHOMA OF PRIMARY GASTRIC MALT LYMPHOMA WERE ENROLLED IN THE PRESENT STUDY. THE CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF GASTRIC MALT LYMPHOMA, INCLUDING SYMPTOMS, H. PYLORI STATE AND ENDOSCOPIC TYPE, WERE SUMMARIZED. THE RESPONSE TO THERAPY WAS EVALUATED IN PATIENTS THAT UNDERWENT H. PYLORI ERADICATION. SURVIVAL ANALYSIS WAS ESTIMATED USING THE KAPLAN-MEIER METHOD. THE EXPRESSION OF MICRORNA-383 (MIR-383) IN TUMOR TISSUES AND CELL LINES WAS DETERMINED USING REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION QUANTITATIVE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION. FURTHERMORE, BIOINFORMATIC ANALYSES, LUCIFERASE REPORTER ASSAYS. AND WESTERN BLOT ANALYSIS IDENTIFIED ZINC FINGER E-BOX BINDING HOMEOBOX 2 (ZEB2) AS A DIRECT TARGET GENE OF MIR-383. AN MTT ASSAY WAS USED TO EXAMINE THE FUNCTION OF MIR-383 AND ZEB2 IN MALT LYMPHOMA. THE CLINICAL SYMPTOMS OF PATIENTS WITH GASTRIC MALT LYMPHOMA WERE NON-SPECIFIC AND INCLUDED EPIGASTRIC PAIN, ABDOMINAL DISCOMFORT AND BLEEDING. THE MAJORITY OF ENDOSCOPIC TYPES WERE CLASSIFIED AS ULCER, EROSION AND MUCOSA EDEMA. THE H. PYLORI INFECTION RATE WAS 79.5% (97/122) AND A TOTAL OF 47 PATIENTS UNDERWENT ERADICATION THERAPY. LYMPHOMA REMISSION WAS ACHIEVED IN 93.6% (44/47) OF PATIENTS AND COMPLETE REMISSION (CR) WAS ACHIEVED IN 74.4% (35/47). THE MEDIAN FOLLOW-UP TIME WAS 38 MONTHS (RANGE, 10-132 MONTHS) AND THE MEDIAN TIME TAKEN TO ACHIEVE CR WAS 4 MONTHS (RANGE, 3-7 MONTHS). THE ESTIMATED 3-YEAR SURVIVAL RATE WAS 90.3% AND THE 5-YEAR SURVIVAL RATE WAS 76.2%. THEREFORE, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT PATIENTS WITH STAGE I OR II GASTRIC MALT LYMPHOMA ARE ABLE TO UNDERGO H. PYLORI ERADICATION AS A FIRST-LINE TREATMENT AND THAT THE SURVIVAL RATE OF PATIENTS UNDERGOING THIS TREATMENT IS HIGH. FURTHERMORE, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE MECHANISM BY WHICH MIR-383 AND ZEB2 CONTRIBUTE TO MALT LYMPHOMA PROGRESSION IS BY THE TARGETING OF ZEB2 BY MIR-383, WHICH INHIBITS THE PROLIFERATION OF CANCER CELLS. 2018 10 2133 30 EPIGENETIC INACTIVATION OF THE MIR-34A IN HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES. MIR-34A IS A TRANSCRIPTIONAL TARGET OF P53 AND IMPLICATED IN CARCINOGENESIS. WE STUDIED THE ROLE OF MIR-34A METHYLATION IN A PANEL OF HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES INCLUDING ACUTE LEUKEMIA [ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA (AML) AND ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA (ALL)], CHRONIC LEUKEMIA [CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (CLL) AND CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA (CML)], MULTIPLE MYELOMA (MM) AND NON-HODGKIN'S LYMPHOMA (NHL). THE METHYLATION STATUS OF MIR-34A PROMOTER WAS STUDIED IN 12 CELL LINES AND 188 DIAGNOSTIC SAMPLES BY METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION. MIR-34A PROMOTER WAS UNMETHYLATED IN NORMAL CONTROLS BUT METHYLATED IN 75% LYMPHOMA AND 37% MYELOMA CELL LINES. HYPOMETHYLATING TREATMENT LED TO RE-EXPRESSION OF PRI-MIR-34A TRANSCRIPT IN LYMPHOMA CELLS WITH HOMOZYGOUS MIR-34A METHYLATION. IN PRIMARY SAMPLES AT DIAGNOSIS, MIR-34A METHYLATION WAS DETECTED IN 4% CLL, 5.5% MM SAMPLES AND 18.8% OF NHL AT DIAGNOSIS BUT NONE OF ALL, AML AND CML (P = 0.011). IN MM PATIENTS WITH PAIRED SAMPLES, MIR-34A METHYLATION STATUS REMAINED UNCHANGED AT PROGRESSION. AMONGST LYMPHOID MALIGNANCIES, MIR-34A WAS PREFERENTIALLY METHYLATED IN NHL (P = 0.018), IN PARTICULAR NATURAL KILLER (NK)/T-CELL LYMPHOMA. IN CONCLUSION, AMONGST HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES, MIR-34A METHYLATION IS PREFERENTIALLY HYPERMETHYLATED IN NHL, IN PARTICULAR NK/T-CELL LYMPHOMA, IN A TUMOR-SPECIFIC MANNER, THEREFORE THE ROLE OF MIR-34A IN LYMPHOMAGENESIS WARRANTS FURTHER STUDY. 2010 11 5568 35 ROLE OF MARIJUANA COMPONENTS ON THE REGENERATIVE ABILITY OF STEM CELLS. STEM CELL THERAPY PROMOTES TISSUE REGENERATION AND WOUND HEALING. EFFORTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO PRIME STEM CELLS TO ENHANCE THEIR REGENERATIVE ABILITIES. CERTAIN MARIJUANA COMPONENTS, NAMELY THE NON-PSYCHOACTIVE CANNABIDIOL (CBD) AND PSYCHOACTIVE TETRAHYDROCANNABINOL (THC), ARE DEFINED AS IMMUNOMODULATORS.(9) WE TEST WHETHER TWO SOURCES OF STEM CELLS, PRIMED WITH CBD OR THC, WOULD DEMONSTRATE IMPROVED REGENERATIVE ABILITIES. HUMAN ADIPOSE-DERIVED STEM CELLS (ASCS) AND BONE MARROW-DERIVED STEM CELLS (BMDSCS), NOT OBTAINED FROM THE SAME INDIVIDUAL, WERE TREATED WITH LOW (300 NM) OR HIGH (3 MUM) CONCENTRATION CBD. PORCINE ASCS AND BMDSCS WERE ISOLATED FROM A SINGLE PIG, AND TREATED WITH EITHER LOW OR HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF CBD OR THC. TRANSWELL MIGRATION AND MTT PROLIFERATION ASSAYS WERE PERFORMED ON THE HUMAN ASCS AND BMDSCS. ALSO, TRANSWELL MIGRATION ASSAY WAS PERFORMED ON THE PORCINE ASCS AND BMDSCS. FINALLY, A WOUND HEALING SCRATCH ASSAY IN PORCINE PRIMARY FIBROBLASTS (PFS) WAS PERFORMED, CO-CULTURED WITH THE CANNABINOID-TREATED ASCS. CBD PRIMING AT LOW CONCENTRATION INDUCES MIGRATION BY 180% (P < .01) IN PORCINE ASCS, AND BY ONLY 93% (P < .02) IN PORCINE BMDSCS. IN PORCINE STEM CELLS, THC PRIMING AT LOW CONCENTRATION INDUCES MIGRATION BY 91.6% (P < .01) IN ASCS BUT BY ONLY 44.3% (P < .03) IN BMDSCS. COMPARED TO PFS CO-CULTURED WITH UNTREATED ASCS, PFS CO-CULTURED WITH LOW CBD-PRIMED ASCS HAD 75% FASTER WOUND CLOSURE AT 18 HOURS (P < .01). CBD AND THC PRIMING OF ASCS AND BMDSCS, PARTICULARLY AT LOWER DOSES, ENHANCES A NUMBER OF REGENERATIVE PARAMETERS, SUGGESTING THAT THESE MAJOR MARIJUANA COMPONENTS MAY IMPROVE STEM CELL-BASED THERAPIES. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY: OUR STUDY DEMONSTRATES THAT CANNABINOIDS CAN ENHANCE THE REGENERATIVE CAPACITY OF TWO MAJOR SOURCES OF STEM CELLS, ADIPOSE- AND BONE MARROW-DERIVED, FROM HUMAN AND PORCINE DONORS. STEM CELL ISOLATION AND EXPANSION IS INVASIVE, COSTLY AND TIME CONSUMING. STEM CELLS WITH IMPROVED REGENERATIVE PROPERTIES MAY BE EFFECTIVE IN THE TREATMENT OF ACUTE OR CHRONIC WOUNDS. THIS IS THE FIRST STUDY TO COMPARE THE PRIMING POTENTIAL OF TWO SOURCES OF STEM CELLS FROM THE SAME ANIMAL, WITH THE SAME GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC PROFILE, AS WELL AS THE FIRST TO PRIME WITH THC. 2021 12 2440 37 EPIGENETIC SILENCING OF TUMOR SUPPRESSOR LONG NON-CODING RNA BM742401 IN CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA. BM742401 IS A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR LNCRNA DOWNREGULATED IN GASTRIC CANCER. AS THE PROMOTER REGION AND THE ENTIRE TRANSCRIPT ARE EMBEDDED IN A CPG ISLAND, WE POSTULATED THAT BM742401 IS A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR LNCRNA INACTIVATED BY DNA METHYLATION IN CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (CLL). THE PROMOTER OF BM742401 WAS UNMETHYLATED IN NORMAL CONTROLS INCLUDING THREE EACH OF NORMAL BONE MARROW, PERIPHERAL BLOOD BUFFY COATS, AND CD19-SORTED PERIPHERAL B-CELLS, BUT METHYLATED IN FOUR (57.1%) CLL CELL LINES. METHYLATION OF BM742401 CORRELATED INVERSELY WITH EXPRESSION. IN THE COMPLETELY METHYLATED WAC3CD5+ CLL CELLS, 5-AZA-2'-DEOXYCYTIDINE TREATMENT LED TO PROMOTER DEMETHYLATION AND RE-EXPRESSION OF BM742401 TRANSCRIPT. FUNCTIONALLY, STABLE OVEREXPRESSION OF BM742401 RESULTED IN INHIBITION OF CELLULAR PROLIFERATION AND ENHANCED APOPTOSIS THROUGH CASPASE-9-DEPENDENT INTRINSIC BUT NOT CASPASE-8-DEPENDENT EXTRINSIC APOPTOSIS PATHWAY, SUGGESTING A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR ROLE OF BM742401 IN CLL. IN PRIMARY CLL SAMPLES, METHYLATION OF BM742401 WAS DETECTED IN 43/98 (43.9%) OF PATIENTS. MOREOVER, AMONG CLL PATIENTS WITH STANDARD-RISK CYTOGENETIC ABERRATIONS, METHYLATION OF BM742401 CORRELATED WITH ADVANCED RAI STAGE (>/= STAGE 2)(P = 0.002). FURTHERMORE, BM742401 METHYLATION WAS ASSOCIATED WITH MIR-129-2 METHYLATION (P = 0.05). BM742401 IS A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR LNCRNA FREQUENTLY METHYLATED IN CLL. THE MECHANISM OF BM742401 AS A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR WARRANTS FURTHER STUDIES. 2016 13 5479 40 RESVERATROL ATTENUATES CIGARETTE SMOKE EXTRACT INDUCED CELLULAR SENESCENCE IN HUMAN AIRWAY EPITHELIAL CELLS BY REGULATING THE MIR-34A/SIRT1/NF-KAPPAB PATHWAY. CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) IS CHARACTERIZED BY ACCELERATED LUNG AGING. SMOKING IS THE CRITICAL RISK FACTOR FOR COPD. CELLULAR SENESCENCE OF AIRWAY EPITHELIAL CELLS IS THE CYTOLOGICAL BASIS OF ACCELERATED LUNG AGING IN COPD, AND THE REGULATION OF MICRORNAS (MIRNAS) IS THE CENTRAL EPIGENETIC MECHANISM OF CELLULAR SENESCENCE. RESVERATROL (RES) IS A POLYPHENOL WITH ANTI-AGING PROPERTIES. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED WHETHER RES ATTENUATES CIGARETTE SMOKE EXTRACT (CSE)-INDUCED CELLULAR SENESCENCE IN HUMAN AIRWAY EPITHELIAL CELLS (BEAS-2B) THROUGH THE MIR-34A/SIRT1/NUCLEAR FACTOR-KAPPAB (NF-KAPPAB) PATHWAY. BEAS-2B CELLS WERE TREATED WITH RES, CSE AND TRANSFECTED WITH MIR-34A-5P MIMICS. CELLULAR SENESCENCE WAS EVALUATED BY SENESCENCE -RELATED BETA-GALACTOSIDASE (SA-BETA-GAL) STAINING AND EXPRESSION OF SENESCENCE-RELATED GENES (P16, P21, AND P53). THE EXPRESSIONS OF MIR-34A-5P, SIRT1, AND NF-KAPPAB P65 WERE EXAMINED USING QUANTITATIVE REAL TIME POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION AND WESTERN BLOTTING. THE SENESCENCE-ASSOCIATED SECRETORY PHENOTYPE (SASP) CYTOKINES (IL-1BETA, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-ALPHA) WERE ASSESSED BY ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY. THE BINDING BETWEEN MIR-34A-5P AND SIRT1 WAS CONFIRMED BY DUAL-LUCIFERASE REPORTER ASSAY. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT CSE DOSE-DEPENDENTLY DECREASED CELL VIABILITY AND ELEVATED CELLULAR SENESCENCE, CHARACTERIZED BY INCREASED SA-BETA-GAL STAINING AND SENESCENCE-RELATED GENE EXPRESSIONS (P16, P21, AND P53). FURTHER, CSE DOSE-DEPENDENTLY INCREASED THE EXPRESSION OF MIR-34A-5P AND SASP CYTOKINES (IL-1BETA, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-ALPHA) IN BEAS-2B CELLS. PRETREATMENT WITH RES INHIBITED CSE-INDUCED CELLULAR SENESCENCE AND SECRETION OF SASP CYTOKINES (IL-1BETA, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-ALPHA) IN A DOSE-DEPENDENT MANNER. MOREOVER, RES REVERSED THE CSE-INDUCED DOWN-REGULATION OF SIRT1 AND UP-REGULATION OF MIR-34A-5P AND NF-KAPPAB P65. SIRT1 IS A TARGET OF MIR-34A-5P. OVEREXPRESSION OF MIR-34A-5P VIA TRANSFECTION WITH MIR-34A-5P MIMIC IN BEAS-2B CELLS ATTENUATED THE INHIBITORY EFFECT OF RES ON CELLULAR SENESCENCE, ACCOMPANIED BY REVERSING THE EXPRESSION OF SIRT1 AND NF-KAPPAB P65. IN CONCLUSION, RES ATTENUATED CSE-INDUCED CELLULAR SENESCENCE IN BEAS-2B CELLS BY REGULATING THE MIR-34A/SIRT1/NF-KAPPAB PATHWAY, WHICH MAY PROVIDE A NEW APPROACH FOR COPD TREATMENT. 2022 14 878 48 CHRONIC CADMIUM EXPOSURE AGGRAVATES MALIGNANT PHENOTYPES OF NASOPHARYNGEAL CARCINOMA BY ACTIVATING THE WNT/BETA-CATENIN SIGNALING PATHWAY VIA HYPERMETHYLATION OF THE CASEIN KINASE 1ALPHA PROMOTER. BACKGROUND: OUR PREVIOUS STUDY HAS SHOWN THAT CADMIUM (CD) EXPOSURE IS NOT ONLY A RISK FACTOR FOR NASOPHARYNGEAL CARCINOMA (NPC), BUT ALSO CORRELATED WITH THE CLINICAL STAGE AND LYMPH NODE METASTASIS. HOWEVER, THE UNDERLYING MOLECULAR EVENTS OF CD INVOLVED IN NPC PROGRESSION REMAIN TO BE ELUCIDATED. PURPOSE: THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DECIPHER HOW CD IMPACTS THE MALIGNANT PHENOTYPES OF NPC CELLS. METHODS: NPC CELL LINES CNE-1 AND CNE-2 WERE CONTINUOUSLY EXPOSED WITH 1 MUM CD CHLORIDE FOR 10 WEEKS, DESIGNATING AS CHRONIC CD TREATED NPC CELLS (CCT-NPC). MTT ASSAY, COLONY FORMATION ASSAY AND XENOGRAFT TUMOR GROWTH WERE USED TO ASSESS CELL VIABILITY IN VITRO AND IN VIVO. TRANSWELL ASSAYS WERE PERFORMED TO DETECT CELL INVASION AND MIGRATION. THE PROTEIN LEVELS OF E-CADHERIN, N-CADHERIN, VIMENTIN AS WELL AS BETA-CATENIN AND CASEIN KINASE 1ALPHA(CK1ALPHA) WERE MEASURED BY WESTERN BLOT. IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE STAINING WAS USED TO OBSERVE THE DISTRIBUTION OF FILAMENT ACTIN (F-ACTIN), BETA-CATENIN AND CK1ALPHA. THE MRNA LEVELS OF DOWNSTREAM TARGET GENES OF BETA-CATENIN WERE DETECTED BY RT-PCR. WNT/BETA-CATENIN SIGNALING ACTIVITY WAS ASSESSED BY TOPFLASH/FOPFLASH DUAL LUCIFERASE REPORT SYSTEM. MS-PCR WAS USED TO DETECT THE METHYLATION STATUS OF CK1ALPHA. FINALLY, THE ACTIVATION OF WNT/BETA-CATENIN PATHWAY AND CELL BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES WERE EXAMINED FOLLOWING TREATMENT OF CCT-NPC CELLS WITH 5-AZA-2-DEOXY-CYTIDINE(5-AZA-CDR). RESULTS: CCT-NPC CELLS SHOWED AN INCREASE IN CELL PROLIFERATION, COLONY FORMATION, INVASION AND MIGRATION COMPARED TO THE PARENTAL CELLS. CD ALSO INDUCED CYTOSKELETON REORGANIZATION AND EPITHELIAL-TO-MESENCHYMAL TRANSITION. UPREGULATION AND NUCLEAR TRANSLOCATION OF BETA-CATENIN AND INCREASED LUCIFERASE ACTIVITY ACCOMPANIED WITH TRANSCRIPTION OF DOWNSTREAM TARGET GENES WERE FOUND IN CCT-NPC CELLS. TREATMENT OF CCT-CNE1 CELLS WITH 5-AZA-CDR COULD REVERSE THE HYPERMETHYLATION OF CK1ALPHA AND ATTENUATE THE CELL MALIGNANCY. CONCLUSION: THESE RESULTS SUPPORT A ROLE FOR CHRONIC CD EXPOSURE AS A DRIVING FORCE FOR THE MALIGNANT PROGRESSION OF NPC VIA EPIGENETIC ACTIVATION OF THE WNT/BETA-CATENIN PATHWAY. 2019 15 6238 45 THE MALIGNANCY SUPPRESSION ROLE OF MIR-23A BY TARGETING THE BCR/ABL ONCOGENE IN CHROMIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE ROLE AND MECHANISM OF MIR-23A IN THE REGULATION OF BCR/ABL AND TO PROVIDE A NEW PROGNOSTIC BIOMARKER FOR CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA (CML). THE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF MIR-23A AND BCR/ABL WERE ASSESSED IN 42 NEWLY DIAGNOSED CML PATIENTS, 37 CML PATIENTS IN FIRST COMPLETE REMISSION AND 25 HEALTHY CONTROLS. QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME PCR, WESTERN BLOT ANALYSIS AND COLONY FORMATION ASSAY WERE USED TO EVALUATE CHANGES INDUCED BY OVEREXPRESSION OR INHIBITION OF MIR-23A OR BCR/ABL. MIR-23A MIMIC OR NEGATIVE CONTROL MIMIC WAS TRANSFECTED INTO A CML CELL LINE (K562) AND TWO LUNG CANCER CELL LINES (H157 AND SKMES1) USING LIPOFECTAMINE 2000, AND THE CELLS WERE USED FOR REAL-TIME REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION-PCR (RT-PCR) AND WESTERN BLOT ANALYSIS. WE FOUND THAT THE DOWNREGULATION OF MIR-23A EXPRESSION WAS A FREQUENT EVENT IN BOTH LEUKEMIA CELL LINES AND PRIMARY LEUKEMIC CELLS FROM PATIENTS WITH DE NOVO CML. THE MICROARRAY RESULTS SHOWED THAT MOST OF THE CML PATIENTS EXPRESSED HIGH LEVELS OF BCR/ABL AND LOW LEVELS OF MIR-23A. REAL-TIME RT-PCR AND WESTERN BLOT ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT THE BCR/ABL LEVELS IN MIR-23A-TRANSFECTED CELLS WERE LOWER THAN THOSE IN THE CONTROL GROUPS. ECTOPIC EXPRESSION OF MIR-23A IN K562 CELLS LED TO CELLULAR SENESCENCE. MOREOVER, WHEN K562 CELLS WERE TREATED WITH 5-AZA-2'-DEOXYCYTIDINE, A DNA METHYLATION INHIBITOR, BCR/ABL EXPRESSION WAS UPREGULATED, WHICH INDICATES EPIGENETIC SILENCING OF MIR-23A IN LEUKEMIC CELLS. BCR/ABL AND MIR-23A EXPRESSIONS WERE INVERSELY RELATED TO CML, AND BCR/ABL EXPRESSION WAS REGULATED BY MIR-23A IN LEUKEMIC CELLS. THE EPIGENETIC SILENCING OF MIR-23A LED TO DEREPRESSION OF BCR/ABL EXPRESSION, AND CONSEQUENTLY CONTRIBUTES TO CML DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESSION. 2014 16 5850 41 SUBEROYLANILIDE HYDROXAMIC ACID (SAHA) REDUCES FIBROSIS MARKERS AND DEACTIVATES HUMAN STELLATE CELLS VIA THE EPITHELIAL-MESENCHYMAL TRANSITION (EMT). HEPATIC FIBROSIS IS KNOWN AS THE ACCUMULATION OF CONNECTIVE TISSUE SECONDARY TO CHRONIC DAMAGE TO THE LIVER. EPITHELIAL-MESENCHYMAL TRANSITION (EMT) CORRESPONDING INCREASE IN LIVER FIBROGENESIS WAS SHOWN WITH IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY AND PCR-BASED STUDIES. SUBEROYLANILIDE HYDROXAMIC ACID (SAHA), A SYNTHETIC COMPOUND APPROVED AS A HISTONE DEACETYLASE INHIBITOR (HDAC) BY THE FDA TO TREAT CUTANEOUS T-CELL LYMPHOMA IS UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR THE TREATMENT OF LUNG AND RENAL FIBROSIS. EXPERIMENTAL MODELING FOR HEPATIC FIBROSIS CAN BE CONSTRUCTED WITH AN LX2 CELL LINE ISOLATED FROM HUMAN HEPATIC STELLATE CELLS (HSCS). IN THIS STUDY, WE AIMED TO INVESTIGATE THE MODULATION OF SAHA IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF LIVER FIBROSIS BY DETECTING THE LEVELS OF PROTEINS; (E-CADHERIN (E-CAD), N-CADHERIN (N-CAD), VIMENTIN (VIM), AND GENES; E-CAD, N-CAD, VIM, TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR-BETA (TGF-BETA), ALPHA-SMOOTH MUSCLE ACTIN (ALPHA-SMA), TYPE 1 COLLAGEN (COL1A1), TYPE 3 COLLAGEN (COL3A1)) THAT PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN EMT WITH THE LX2 CELL LINE. WE ALSO EVALUATED THE ACTION OF SAHA WITH CELL PROLIFERATION, CLONOGENIC, AND MIGRATION ASSAY. CELL PROLIFERATION WAS PERFORMED BY FLOW CYTOMETRY. ALL THE PROTEIN LEVELS WERE DETERMINED BY WESTERN BLOT ANALYSIS, AND GENE EXPRESSION LEVELS WERE MEASURED BY REAL-TIME PCR. OUR STUDY OBSERVED THAT SAHA TREATMENT DECREASED CELL VIABILITY, COLONY FORMATION AND MIGRATION IN LX2 CELLS. WE FOUND THAT SAHA INCREASED E-CAD EXPRESSION LEVEL, WHILE IT DECREASED N-CAD, VIM, COL1A1, COL3A1, ALPHA-SMA TGF-BETA GENES EXPRESSION LEVELS. SAHA DECREASED THE LEVEL OF E-CAD, N-CAD, AND VIM PROTEIN LEVELS. WE THOUGHT THAT SAHA POSSESSES POTENT ANTIFIBROTIC AND ANTI-EMT PROPERTIES IN LX2. 2021 17 3877 43 KDM6A PROMOTES IMATINIB RESISTANCE THROUGH YY1-MEDIATED TRANSCRIPTIONAL UPREGULATION OF TRKA INDEPENDENTLY OF ITS DEMETHYLASE ACTIVITY IN CHRONIC MYELOGENOUS LEUKEMIA. RATIONALE: DESPITE LANDMARK THERAPY OF CHRONIC MYELOGENOUS LEUKEMIA (CML) WITH TYROSINE KINASE INHIBITORS (TKIS), DRUG RESISTANCE REMAINS PROBLEMATIC. CANCER PATHOGENESIS INVOLVES EPIGENETIC DYSREGULATION AND IN PARTICULAR, HISTONE LYSINE DEMETHYLASES (KDMS) HAVE BEEN IMPLICATED IN TKI RESISTANCE. WE SOUGHT TO IDENTIFY KDMS WITH ALTERED EXPRESSION IN CML AND DEFINE THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO IMATINIB RESISTANCE. METHODS: BIOINFORMATICS SCREENING COMPARED KDM EXPRESSION IN CML VERSUS NORMAL BONE MARROW WITH SHRNA KNOCKDOWN AND FLOW CYTOMETRY USED TO MEASURE EFFECTS ON IMATINIB-INDUCED APOPTOSIS IN K562 CELLS. TRANSCRIPTOMIC ANALYSES WERE PERFORMED AGAINST KDM6A CRISPR KNOCKOUT/SHRNA KNOCKDOWN K562 CELLS ALONG WITH GENE RESCUE EXPERIMENTS USING WILDTYPE AND MUTANT DEMETHYLASE-DEAD KDM6A CONSTRUCTS. CO-IMMUNOPRECIPITATION, LUCIFERASE REPORTER AND CHIP WERE EMPLOYED TO ELUCIDATE MECHANISMS OF KDM6A-DEPENDENT RESISTANCE. RESULTS: AMONGST FIVE KDMS UPREGULATED IN CML, ONLY KDM6A DEPLETION SENSITIZED CML CELLS TO IMATINIB-INDUCED APOPTOSIS. RE-INTRODUCTION OF DEMETHYLASE-DEAD KDM6A AS WELL AS WILD-TYPE KDM6A RESTORED IMATINIB RESISTANCE. RNA-SEQ IDENTIFIED NTRK1 GENE DOWNREGULATION AFTER DEPLETION OF KDM6A. MOREOVER, NTRK1 EXPRESSION POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH KDM6A IN A SUBSET OF CLINICAL CML SAMPLES AND KDM6A KNOCKDOWN IN FRESH CML ISOLATES DECREASED NTRK1 ENCODED PROTEIN (TRKA) EXPRESSION. MECHANISTICALLY, KDM6A WAS RECRUITED TO THE NTRK1 PROMOTER BY THE TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR YY1 WITH SUBSEQUENT TRKA UPREGULATION ACTIVATING DOWN-STREAM SURVIVAL PATHWAYS TO INVOKE IMATINIB RESISTANCE. CONCLUSION: CONTRARY TO ITS REPORTED ROLE AS A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR AND INDEPENDENT OF ITS DEMETHYLASE FUNCTION, KDM6A PROMOTES IMATINIB-RESISTANCE IN CML CELLS. THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE KDM6A/YY1/TRKA AXIS AS A NOVEL IMATINIB-RESISTANCE MECHANISM REPRESENTS AN UNEXPLORED AVENUE TO OVERCOME TKI RESISTANCE IN CML. 2021 18 5458 70 RESEARCH ON EPIGENETIC MECHANISM OF SFRP2 IN ADVANCED CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA. SECRETED FRIZZLED-RELATED PROTEIN 2 (SFRP2) HAS BEEN REPORTED TO ACT AS A TUMOR SUPPRESSORS. THIS STUDY AIMS TO DETECT THE BIOLOGICAL ROLE OF SFRP2 IN ADVANCED CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA (CML). IN THIS STUDY WE EXAMINED BONE MARROW SAMPLES FROM 45 CML PATIENTS AND 10 HEALTHY DONORS. K562 AND KCL22 CELLS WERE CULTURED AND TREATED WITH DEMETHYLATION DRUG AND HISTONE DEACETYLASE INHIBITOR (HDACI). KCL22 AND K562 CELLS WERE TRANSFECTED WITH LENTIVIRAL VECTOR (LV)-SFRP2, LV-CONTROL. THE CELLS WERE THEN SUBJECTED TO PROLIFERATION AND APOPTOSIS ASSAYS, REAL TIME POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR), METHYLATION-SPECIFIC PCR (MSP), WESTERN BLOTTING, CO-IMMUNOPRECIPITATION (COIP) AND CHROMATIN IMMUNOPRECIPITATION (CHIP), WE FOUND THAT SFRP2 WAS DOWN-REGULATED IN THE ACCELERATED AND BLAST PHASE OF CML, WHEREAS, THE LEVELS OF WNT1, WNT3 AND WNT5A WERE UP-REGULATED IN THE ACCELERATED AND BLAST PHASE OF CML. OVEREXPRESSION SFRP2 INHIBITED PROLIFERATION, PROMOTED APOPTOSIS AND ACTIVATED THE WNT PATHWAY. COIP-MS RESULTS SHOWED THAT SFRP2 INTERACTED WITH WNT1 AND WNT5A. CHIP-SEQ RESULT INDICATED THAT THE PROMOTER OF H3K4ME3 AND H3K27ME3 WERE ABLE TO INTERACT WITH SFRP2. IN CONCLUSION, OUR FINDINGS DEMONSTRATED THE SFRP2 ACT AS A POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC TARGET FOR ADVANCED CML. FURTHERMORE, OUR RESULTS SUPPORT THE USE OF DEMETHYLATION DRUGS AND HDACI AS A POTENTIAL CML TREATMENT STRATEGY. 2018 19 1393 42 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 20 6231 54 THE LONG NONCODING RNA MEG3 AND ITS TARGET MIR-147 REGULATE JAK/STAT PATHWAY IN ADVANCED CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA. BACKGROUND: LONG NON-CODING (LNC) RNAS PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA (CML). IN THIS STUDY, WE AIMED TO UNCOVER THE MECHANISM OF THE LNCRNA MATERNALLY EXPRESSED 3 (MEG3) AND ITS TARGET MICRORNA-147 (MIR-147) IN CML. METHODS: SIXTY CML PATIENTS AND 10 HEALTHY DONORS WERE INCLUDED IN THE STUDY. THE METHYLATION OF MEG3 AND MIR-147 PROMOTER WAS DETERMINED BY METHYLATION-SPECIFIC PCR. THE RELATIONSHIP OF MEG3 AND MIR-147 WAS EXPLORED BY LUCIFERASE ASSAY. THE INTERACTIONS OF PROTEINS WERE STUDIED BY RNA PULL-DOWN ASSAY, RNA IMMUNOPRECIPITATION AND CO-IMMUNOPRECIPITATION. FINDINGS: PATIENTS IN ACCELERATED PHASE CML (CML-AP) AND BLAST PHASE CML (CML-BP) SHOWED LOWER EXPRESSIONS OF MEG3 AND MIR-147 AND HIGHER EXPRESSIONS OF DNMT1, DNMT3B, MBD2, MECP2 AND HDAC1 COMPARED TO THE CONTROLS. THESE PATIENTS ALSO SHOWED A HIGHER DEGREE OF METHYLATION OF MEG3 AND MIR-147 WHILE THERE WAS A REDUCTION AFTER CHIDAMIDE TREATMENT. FURTHERMORE, THE OVEREXPRESSION OF MEG3 AND MIR-147 INHIBITED CELL PROLIFERATION BOTH IN VIVO AND IN VITRO, PROMOTED APOPTOSIS AND DECREASED THE EXPRESSIONS OF DNMT1, DNMT3A, DNMT3B, MBD2, HDAC1 AND MECP2. WE ALSO FOUND MEG3 INTERACTED WITH DNMT1, JAK2, STAT3, HDAC1, AND TYK2, AND JAK2 WAS BOUND TO STAT3, STAT5 AND MYC. MORE INTERESTINGLY, JAK2 WAS BOUND TO TYK2 BY THE BRIDGE OF MEG3. INTERPRETATION: LNCRNA MEG3 AND ITS TARGET MIR-147 MAY SERVE AS A NOVEL THERAPEUTIC TARGET FOR CML BLAST CRISIS, AND CHIDAMIDE MIGHT HAVE A POTENTIAL CLINICAL APPLICATION IN TREATING CML BLAST CRISIS. 2018