1 1564 127 DNA METHYLATION OF PROXIMAL PLAT PROMOTER IN CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS. BACKGROUND NASAL POLYPS (NP) ARE CHARACTERIZED BY PSEUDOCYSTS DERIVED FROM STROMAL TISSUE EDEMA AND CAUSE PERSISTENT INFECTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS). A LOW LEVEL OF TISSUE-TYPE PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR (GENE NAME PLAT) IS CONSIDERED A CAUSE OF STROMAL TISSUE EDEMA BECAUSE OF INSUFFICIENT PLASMIN ACTIVATION IN NP; HOWEVER, THE MECHANISM REGULATING PLAT GENE EXPRESSION LEVELS IS STILL UNCLEAR. THE EPIGENETIC MECHANISM REGULATING THE PLAT GENE EXPRESSION HAS BEEN STUDIED IN OTHER TISSUES. OBJECTIVE WE AIMED TO INVESTIGATE THE METHYLATION LEVELS IN THE PROXIMAL PLAT PROMOTER AND THEIR EFFECTS ON GENE EXPRESSION IN NP TISSUE. METHODS WE INVESTIGATED THE METHYLATION LEVELS AT 3 CPG SITES IN THE PROXIMAL PLAT PROMOTER REGIONS (-618, -121, AND -105 WITH RESPECT TO THE TRANSCRIPTION INITIATION SITE) BY BISULFITE PYROSEQUENCING AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE GENE EXPRESSION BY QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (QPCR) IN 20 PAIRED SAMPLES OF NP AND INFERIOR TURBINATE TISSUE (IT) FROM PATIENTS WITH CRS. RESULTS THE DNA METHYLATION LEVELS AT ALL CPG SITES WERE HIGHER ( P < .01), AND THE PLAT EXPRESSION WAS LOWER ( P < .001) IN NP COMPARED WITH IT. THE METHYLATION CHANGES AT THE -618 SITE SHOWED A NEGATIVE CORRELATION WITH THE GENE EXPRESSION CHANGES BETWEEN NP AND IT ( R = -.65, P < .01). CONCLUSIONS HYPERMETHYLATION OF PLAT PROMOTER MAY DOWNREGULATE THE GENE EXPRESSION IN NP, LEADING TO EXCESSIVE FIBRIN DEPOSITION BY ABERRANT COAGULATION CASCADE. DNA METHYLATION OF PROXIMAL PLAT PROMOTER MAY CONTRIBUTE TO NP GROWTH AND HAVE A POTENTIAL AS A NEW THERAPEUTIC TARGET. 2018 2 6349 34 THE ROLE OF EPIGENETICS IN THE CHRONIC SINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYP. PURPOSE OF REVIEW: CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS (CRSWNP) IS A COMMON AND HETEROGENEOUS INFLAMMATORY DISEASE. THE UNDERLYING EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS AND TREATMENT OF CRSWNP ARE PARTIALLY UNDERSTOOD. OF THE DIFFERENT EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN CRSWNP, HISTONE DEACETYLASES (HDACS), METHYLATION OF DNA, AND THE LEVELS OF MIRNA ARE WIDELY STUDIED. HERE, WE REVIEW THE HUMAN STUDIES OF EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS IN CRSWNP. RECENT FINDINGS: THE PROMOTERS OF COL18A1, PTGES, PLAT, AND TSLP GENES ARE HYPERMETHYLATED IN CRSWNP COMPARED WITH THOSE OF CONTROLS, WHILE THE PROMOTERS OF PGDS, ALOX5AP, LTB4R, IL-8, AND FZD5 GENES ARE HYPOMETHYLATED IN CRSWNP. PROMOTER HYPERMETHYLATION SUPPRESSES THE GENE EXPRESSION, WHILE PROMOTER HYPOMETHYLATION INCREASES THE GENE EXPRESSION. STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THE ELEVATION IN THE LEVELS OF HDAC2, HDAC4, AND H3K4ME3 IN CRSWNP. IN CRSWNP PATIENTS, THERE IS ALSO AN UPREGULATION OF CERTAIN MIRNAS INCLUDING MIR-125B, MIR-155, MIR-19A, MIR-142-3P, AND MIR-21 AND DOWNREGULATION OF MIR-4492. EPIGENETICS TAKES PART IN THE IMMUNOLOGY OF CRSWNP AND MAY GIVE RISE TO ENDOTYPES OF CRSWNP. BOTH HDAC2 AND THE MIRNA INCLUDING MIR-18A, MIR-124A, AND MIR-142-3P MAY TAKE FUNCTION IN THE REGULATION OF GLUCOCORTICOID RESISTANCE. HDAC INHIBITORS AND KDM2B HAVE SHOWN EFFECTIVENESS IN DECREASING NASAL POLYP, AND DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE (DNMT) OR HDAC INHIBITORS MAY HAVE A POTENTIAL EFFICACY FOR THE TREATMENT OF CRSWNP. RECENT ADVANCES IN THE EPIGENETICS OF CRSWNP HAVE LED TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF SEVERAL POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC TARGETS FOR THIS DISEASE. THE USE OF EPIGENETICS MAY PROVIDE NOVEL AND EFFECTIVE BIOMARKERS AND THERAPIES FOR THE TREATMENT OF NASAL POLYP. 2020 3 6662 36 UPREGULATION OF FZD5 IN EOSINOPHILIC CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS BY EPIGENETIC MODIFICATION. EOSINOPHILIC CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS (CRSWNP) IS ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING PROBLEMS IN CLINICAL RHINOLOGY. FZD5 IS A RECEPTOR FOR WNT5A, AND ITS COMPLEX WITH WNT5A CONTRIBUTES TO ACTIVATING INFLAMMATION AND TISSUE MODIFICATION. NASAL POLYPS AND EOSINOPHIL/NON-EOSINOPHIL COUNTS ARE REPORTED TO BE DIRECTLY CORRELATED. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED THE EXPRESSION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FZD5, AND THE ROLE OF EOSINOPHIL INFILTRATION AND FZD5 IN EOSINOPHILIC CRSWNP PATHOGENESIS. THE PROGNOSTIC ROLE OF EOSINOPHIL LEVELS WAS EVALUATED IN SEVEN PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP. FIFTEEN PATIENTS WITH CRS WERE CLASSIFIED BASED ON THE PERCENTAGE OF EOSINOPHILS IN NASAL POLYP TISSUE. METHYLATED GENES WERE DETECTED USING METHYL-CPG-BINDING DOMAIN SEQUENCING, AND QRT-PCR AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY WERE USED TO DETECT FZD5 EXPRESSION IN NASAL POLYP TISSUE SAMPLES. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT MRNA EXPRESSION OF FZD5 WAS UPREGULATED IN NASAL POLYPS. FZD5 EXPRESSION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN NASAL POLYP SAMPLES FROM PATIENTS WITH EOSINOPHILIC CRSWNP THAN IN THOSE FROM PATIENTS WITH NON-EOSINOPHILIC CRSWNP, AS INDICATED BY IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY. FURTHERMORE, INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE LEVELS WERE HIGHER IN EOSINOPHILIC CRSWNP-DERIVED EPITHELIAL CELLS THAN IN NORMAL TISSUES. IN CONCLUSION, FZD5 EXPRESSION IN NASAL MUCOSAL EPITHELIAL CELLS IS CORRELATED WITH INFLAMMATORY CELLS AND MIGHT PLAY A ROLE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF EOSINOPHILIC CRSWNP. 2019 4 3460 50 HYPOMETHYLATION OF THE IL8 PROMOTER IN NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS. BACKGROUND: IL-8 IS AN IMPORTANT CHEMOKINE IMPLICATED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS), BUT LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF IL8 IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CRS. OBJECTIVE: WE SOUGHT TO INVESTIGATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DNA METHYLATION LEVEL IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER AND CRS IN HAN CHINESE SUBJECTS. METHODS: PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS (CRSWNP; N = 187), PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITHOUT NASAL POLYPS (CRSSNP; N = 89), AND CONTROL SUBJECTS (N = 57) WERE ENROLLED IN 2 INDEPENDENT COHORTS. PURIFIED HUMAN NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS FROM EACH PARTICIPANT WERE ASSESSED FOR PERCENTAGE DNA METHYLATION OF CPG SITES IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER BY USING BISULFITE PYROSEQUENCING AND FOR FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF METHYLATION STATUS BY USING IN VITRO ASSAYS. RESULTS: DNA METHYLATION OF CPG SITES 1, 2, AND 3, RESPECTIVELY, IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED IN HUMAN NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS OF PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP COMPARED WITH THAT IN PATIENTS WITH CRSSNP (P < .001) AND CONTROL SUBJECTS (P < .001). PERCENTAGE OF DNA METHYLATION OF THE CPG3 SITE WAS CORRELATED NEGATIVELY WITH BOTH TISSUE EOSINOPHILIC CATIONIC PROTEIN (P < .01) AND MYELOPEROXIDASE (P < .05) LEVELS. IL-1BETA (P < .001) AND TNF-ALPHA (P < .01) SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED IL8 EXPRESSION ACCOMPANIED BY A REDUCTION IN METHYLATION AT THE CPG3 SITE (P < .001). ELECTROPHORETIC MOBILITY SHIFT ASSAYS DEMONSTRATED THAT METHYLATION STATUS OF CPG3 CHANGED THE BINDING OF OCTAMER-BINDING TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR 1 AND NUCLEAR FACTOR KAPPAB. CONCLUSION: DECREASED DNA METHYLATION OF PARTICULARLY CPG SITES IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER MIGHT PLAY A ROLE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CRSWNP. 2019 5 3075 45 GENOME-WIDE EPIGENETIC STUDY OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS TISSUES REVEALS DYSREGULATED INFLAMMATORY, IMMUNOLOGIC AND REMODELING PATHWAYS. BACKGROUND: EPIGENETICS STUDIES MECHANISMS SUCH AS DNA METHYLATION, HISTONE MODIFICATIONS, NON-CODING RNAS, AND ALTERNATIVE POLYADENYLATION THAT CAN MODIFY GENE ACTIVITY WITHOUT CHANGING THE UNDERLYING DNA NUCLEOTIDE BASE-PAIR STRUCTURE. BECAUSE THESE CHANGES ARE REVERSIBLE, THEY HAVE POTENTIAL IN DEVELOPING NOVEL THERAPEUTICS. CURRENTLY, SEVEN PHARMACEUTICAL AGENTS TARGETING EPIGENETIC CHANGES ARE FDA APPROVED AND COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE FOR TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCERS. HOWEVER, STUDIES INVESTIGATING EPIGENETICS IN CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS) HAVE NOT BEEN UNDERTAKEN PREVIOUSLY IN THE UNITED STATES. OBJECTIVES: THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE SINONASAL DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS IN CRS VERSUS CONTROLS, TO DISCERN ENVIRONMENTALLY-INDUCED EPIGENETIC CHANGES IMPACTING CRS SUBJECTS. METHODS AND RESULTS: ETHMOIDAL SAMPLES FROM CRS AND INFERIOR TURBINATE MUCOSAL TISSUE SAMPLES FROM CONTROLS WITHOUT CRS WERE STUDIED. DNA METHYLATION WAS STUDIED BY REDUCED REPRESENTATION BISULFITE SEQUENCING. RADMETH(R) BIOSTATISTICAL PACKAGE WAS USED TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED REGIONS (DMRS) BETWEEN CRS AND CONTROLS. INGENUITY PATHWAY ANALYSIS OF DMRS WAS PERFORMED TO IDENTIFY TOP UPSTREAM REGULATORS AND CANONICAL PATHWAYS. NINETY-THREE SAMPLES FROM 64 CRS SUBJECTS (36 CRSWNP; 28 CRSSNP) AND 29 CONTROLS WERE STUDIED. CRS AND CONTROL SAMPLES DIFFERED IN 13 662 CPGS SITES AND 1381 DMRS. TOP UPSTREAM REGULATORS IDENTIFIED INCLUDED: 1. CRS VERSUS CONTROLS: TGFB1, TNF, TP53, DGCR8, AND BETA-ESTRADIOL. 2. CRSWNP VERSUS CONTROLS: TGFB1, CTNNB1, LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE, ID2, AND TCF7L2. 3. CRSSNP VERSUS CONTROLS: MYOD1, ACETONE, ID2, ST8SIA4, AND LEPR. CONCLUSIONS: DIFFERENTIAL PATTERNS OF METHYLATION WERE IDENTIFIED BETWEEN CONTROLS AND CRS, CRSWNP, AND CRSSNP. EPIGENETIC, ENVIRONMENTALLY-INDUCED CHANGES RELATED TO NOVEL, INFLAMMATORY, IMMUNOLOGIC, AND REMODELING PATHWAYS APPEAR TO AFFECT EPITHELIAL INTEGRITY, CELL PROLIFERATION, HOMEOSTASIS, VASCULAR PERMEABILITY, AND OTHER YET UNCHARACTERIZED PATHWAYS AND GENES. 2023 6 3746 49 INSIGHTS INTO THE EPIGENETICS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH AND WITHOUT NASAL POLYPS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. BACKGROUND: EPIGENETICS FACILITATES INSIGHTS ON THE IMPACT OF HOST ENVIRONMENT ON THE GENESIS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS) THROUGH MODULATIONS OF HOST GENE EXPRESSION AND ACTIVITY. EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS SUCH AS DNA METHYLATION CAUSE REVERSIBLE BUT HERITABLE CHANGES IN GENE EXPRESSION OVER GENERATIONS OF PROGENY, WITHOUT ALTERING THE DNA BASE-PAIR SEQUENCES. THESE STUDIES OFFER A CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENVIRONMENT-INDUCED CHANGES THAT RESULT IN HOST PREDISPOSITION TO DISEASE AND MAY HELP IN DEVELOPING NOVEL BIOMARKERS AND THERAPEUTICS. THE GOAL OF THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW IS TO SUMMARIZE THE CURRENT EVIDENCE ON EPIGENETICS OF CRS WITH A FOCUS ON CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS (CRSWNP) AND HIGHLIGHT GAPS THAT MERIT FURTHER RESEARCH. METHODS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LITERATURE WAS PERFORMED TO IDENTIFY INVESTIGATIONS RELATED TO EPIGENETIC STUDIES IN SUBJECTS WITH CRS. RESULTS: THE REVIEW IDENTIFIED 65 STUDIES. THESE HAVE FOCUSED ON DNA METHYLATION AND NON-CODING RNAS, WITH ONLY A FEW ON HISTONE DEACETYLATION, ALTERNATIVE POLYADENYLATION, AND CHROMATIN ACCESSIBILITY. STUDIES INCLUDE THOSE INVESTIGATING IN VIVO AND IN VITRO CHANGES OR BOTH. STUDIES ALSO INCLUDE ANIMAL MODELS OF CRS. ALMOST ALL HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED IN ASIA. THE GENOME-WIDE STUDIES OF DNA METHYLATION FOUND DIFFERENCES IN GLOBAL METHYLATION BETWEEN CRSWNP AND CONTROLS, WHILE OTHERS SPECIFICALLY FOUND SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN METHYLATION OF THE CPG SITES OF THE THYMIC STROMAL LYMPHOPOIETIN (TSLP), IL-8, AND PLAT. IN ADDITION, DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE INHIBITORS AND HISTONE DEACETYLASE INHIBITORS WERE STUDIED AS POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC AGENTS. MAJORITY OF THE STUDIES INVESTIGATING NON-CODING RNAS FOCUSED ON MICRO-RNAS (MIRNA) AND FOUND DIFFERENCES IN GLOBAL EXPRESSION OF MIRNA LEVELS. THESE STUDIES ALSO REVEALED SOME PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS WELL AS NOVEL TARGETS AND PATHWAYS SUCH AS TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR ALPHA, TGF BETA-1, IL-10, EGR2, ARYL HYDROCARBON RECEPTOR, PI3K/AKT PATHWAY, MUCIN SECRETION, AND VASCULAR PERMEABILITY. OVERALL, THE STUDIES HAVE FOUND A DYSREGULATION IN PATHWAYS/GENES INVOLVING INFLAMMATION, IMMUNE REGULATION, TISSUE REMODELING, STRUCTURAL PROTEINS, MUCIN SECRETION, ARACHIDONIC ACID METABOLISM, AND TRANSCRIPTION. CONCLUSIONS: EPIGENETIC STUDIES IN CRS SUBJECTS SUGGEST THAT THERE IS LIKELY A MAJOR IMPACT OF THE ENVIRONMENT. HOWEVER, THESE ARE ASSOCIATION STUDIES AND DO NOT DIRECTLY IMPLY PATHOGENESIS. LONGITUDINAL STUDIES IN GEOGRAPHICALLY AND RACIALLY DIVERSE POPULATION COHORTS ARE NECESSARY TO QUANTIFY GENETIC VS. ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS FOR CRSWNP AND CRS WITHOUT NASAL POLYPS AND ASSESS HERITABILITY RISK, AS WELL AS DEVELOP NOVEL BIOMARKERS AND THERAPEUTIC AGENTS. 2023 7 5553 47 ROLE OF EPIGENETICS IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS. CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS) IS A HIGHLY PREVALENT DISEASE CHARACTERIZED BY MUCOSAL INFLAMMATION OF THE NOSE AND PARANASAL SINUSES. CRS CAN BE DIVIDED INTO TWO MAIN CATEGORIES, CRS WITH NASAL POLYPS (NPS; CRSWNP) AND CRS WITHOUT NPS (CRSSNP). ALTHOUGH THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF CRS REMAINS UNCLEAR, DNA METHYLATION HAS BEEN IMPLICATED IN THE ETIOLOGY OF CRSWNP. THE AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO ELUCIDATE WHETHER DNA METHYLATION OF SPECIFIC GENES IS INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NPS. IN TOTAL, 18 INDIVIDUALS WERE INCLUDED IN THE PRESENT STUDY, AND WERE DIVIDED INTO THREE GROUPS: CRSWNP (N=7), CRSSNP (N=7) AND HEALTHY CONTROLS (N=4). NP TISSUES WERE OBTAINED FROM THE SEVEN PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP AND BIOPSIES OF THE INFERIOR TURBINATE MUCOSA FROM ALL THREE GROUPS WERE USED AS CONTROLS. METHYLATED GENES DETECTED BY METHYL?CPG?BINDING DOMAIN SEQUENCING WERE VALIDATED BY METHYLATION?SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR), BISULFITE SEQUENCING, AND REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION?QUANTITATIVE PCR (RT?QPCR). METHYL?CPG?BINDING DOMAIN SEQUENCING IDENTIFIED 43,674 CPG ISLANDS IN 518 GENES. THE PROMOTOR REGIONS OF 10 AND 30 GENES WERE HYPERMETHYLATED AND HYPOMETHYLATED, RESPECTIVELY, IN NP SAMPLES COMPARED WITH CONTROLS. THE TOP FOUR GENES WITH ALTERED HYPOMETHYLATION IN NP TISSUES WERE, KERATIN 19 (KRT19), NUCLEAR RECEPTOR SUBFAMILY 2 GROUP F MEMBER 2 (NR2F2), A DISINTEGRIN?LIKE AND METALLOPEPTIDASE (REPROLYSIN TYPE) WITH THROMBOSPONDIN TYPE 1 MOTIF 1 (ADAMTS1) AND ZINC FINGER PROTEIN 222 (ZNF222). RT?QPCR DEMONSTRATED THAT THE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF KRT19, NR2F2 AND ADAMTS1 WERE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED IN NP TISSUES; HOWEVER, THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE IN THE LEVELS OF ZNF222 BETWEEN NP AND CONTROL TISSUES. FURTHER STUDIES ARE REQUIRED TO CONFIRM THE RELEVANCE OF THESE EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS IN THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING NP FORMATION. 2018 8 5086 42 PILOT STUDY OF DNA METHYLATION IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS. BACKGROUND: DNA METHYLATION HAS BEEN IMPLICATED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF ALLERGY AND ATOPY. THIS STUDY AIMED TO IDENTIFY WHETHER DNA METHYLATION ALSO PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF NASAL POLYPS (NP). METHODOLOGY: NP TISSUES WERE OBTAINED FROM 32 PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH BILATERAL NP. BIOPSIES OF INFERIOR TURBINATE MUCOSA (ITM) WERE TAKEN FROM 18 PATIENTS WHO UNDERWENT RHINOSEPTOPLASTY (CONTROL GROUP). THE METHYLATED GENES, WHICH WERE DETECTED BY DNA METHYLATION MICROARRAY, WERE VALIDATED BY METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION, BISULPHITE SEQUENCING, REAL-TIME POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY. RESULTS: DNA METHYLATION MICROARRAY IDENTIFIED 8,008 CPG ISLANDS IN 2,848 GENES. ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-EIGHT GENES WERE FOUND TO HAVE A METHYLATED SIGNAL IN THE PROMOTER REGION IN NP SAMPLES COMPARED WITH ITM SAMPLES. THE FOUR TOP GENES THAT CHANGED, COL18A1, EP300, GNAS AND SMURF1, WERE SELECTED FOR FURTHER STUDY. THE METHYLATION FREQUENCY OF COL18A1 WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN NP SAMPLES THAN IN ITM SAMPLES. CONCLUSIONS: DNA METHYLATION MIGHT PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF NP. PROMOTER METHYLATION OF COL18A1 WAS FOUND TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED IN NP TISSUES, FURTHER STUDIES ARE NECESSARY TO CONFIRM THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE EPIGENETIC FACTORS IN THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE DEVELOPMENT OR PERSISTENCE OF NP. 2015 9 2406 39 EPIGENETIC RESPONSES TO RHINOVIRUS EXPOSURE IN AIRWAY EPITHELIAL CELLS ARE CORRELATED WITH KEY TRANSCRIPTIONAL PATHWAYS IN CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS. BACKGROUND: VIRUSES MAY DRIVE IMMUNE MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPOSIS (CRSWNP), BUT LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE UNDERLYING MOLECULAR MECHANISMS. OBJECTIVES: TO IDENTIFY EPIGENETIC AND TRANSCRIPTIONAL RESPONSES TO A COMMON UPPER RESPIRATORY PATHOGEN, RHINOVIRUS (RV), THAT ARE SPECIFIC TO PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP USING A PRIMARY SINONASAL EPITHELIAL CELL CULTURE MODEL. METHODS: AIRWAY EPITHELIAL CELLS WERE COLLECTED AT SURGERY FROM PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP (CASES) AND FROM CONTROLS WITHOUT SINUS DISEASE, CULTURED, AND THEN EXPOSED TO RV OR VEHICLE FOR 48 H. DIFFERENTIAL GENE EXPRESSION AND DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) BETWEEN CASES AND CONTROLS IN RESPONSE TO RV WERE DETERMINED USING LINEAR MIXED MODELS. WEIGHTED GENE CO-EXPRESSION ANALYSIS (WGCNA) WAS USED TO IDENTIFY (A) CO-REGULATED GENE EXPRESSION AND DNAM SIGNATURES, AND (B) GENES, PATHWAYS, AND REGULATORY MECHANISMS SPECIFIC TO CRSWNP. RESULTS: WE IDENTIFIED 5585 DIFFERENTIAL TRANSCRIPTIONAL AND 261 DNAM RESPONSES (FDR <0.10) TO RV BETWEEN CRSWNP CASES AND CONTROLS. THESE DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSES FORMED THREE CO-EXPRESSION/CO-METHYLATION MODULES THAT WERE RELATED TO CRSWNP AND THREE THAT WERE RELATED TO RV (BONFERRONI CORRECTED P < .01). MOST (95%) OF THE DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED CPGS (DMCS) WERE IN MODULES RELATED TO CRSWNP, WHEREAS THE DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES (DEGS) WERE MORE EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED BETWEEN THE CRSWNP- AND RV-RELATED MODULES. GENES IN THE CRSWNP-RELATED MODULES WERE ENRICHED IN KNOWN CRS AND/OR VIRAL RESPONSE IMMUNE PATHWAYS. CONCLUSION: RV ACTIVATES SPECIFIC EPIGENETIC PROGRAMS AND CORRELATED TRANSCRIPTIONAL NETWORKS IN THE SINONASAL EPITHELIUM OF INDIVIDUALS WITH CRSWNP. THESE NOVEL OBSERVATIONS SUGGEST EPIGENETIC SIGNATURES SPECIFIC TO PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP MODULATE RESPONSE TO VIRAL PATHOGENS AT THE MUCOSAL ENVIRONMENTAL INTERFACE. DETERMINING HOW VIRAL RESPONSE PATHWAYS ARE INVOLVED IN EPITHELIAL INFLAMMATION IN CRSWNP COULD LEAD TO THERAPEUTIC TARGETS FOR THIS BURDENSOME AIRWAY DISORDER. 2023 10 1826 39 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 11 3758 32 INTEGRATED MRNA AND MICRORNA TRANSCRIPTOME PROFILING DURING DIFFERENTIATION OF HUMAN NASAL POLYP EPITHELIUM REVEALS AN ALTERED CILIOGENESIS. BACKGROUND: HUMAN ADULT BASAL STEM/PROGENITOR CELLS (BSCS) OBTAINED FROM CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS (CRSWNP) WHEN DIFFERENTIATED IN AN AIR-LIQUID INTERFACE (ALI) USUALLY PROVIDE A PSEUDOSTRATIFIED AIRWAY EPITHELIUM WITH SIMILAR ABNORMALITIES THAN ORIGINAL IN VIVO PHENOTYPE. HOWEVER, THE INTRINSIC MECHANISMS REGULATING THIS COMPLEX PROCESS ARE NOT WELL DEFINED AND THEIR UNDERSTANDING COULD OFFER POTENTIAL NEW THERAPIES FOR CRSWNP (INCURABLE DISEASE). METHODS: WE PERFORMED A TRANSCRIPTOME-WIDE ANALYSIS DURING IN VITRO MUCOCILIARY DIFFERENTIATION OF HUMAN ADULT BSCS FROM CRSWNP, COMPARED TO THOSE ISOLATED FROM CONTROL NASAL MUCOSA (CONTROL-NM), IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY WHICH KEY MRNA AND MICRORNAS ARE REGULATING THIS COMPLEX PROCESS IN PATHOLOGICAL AND HEALTHY CONDITIONS. RESULTS: A NUMBER OF GENES, MIRS, BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, AND PATHWAYS WERE IDENTIFIED DURING MUCOCILIARY DIFFERENTIATION OF BOTH CRSWNP AND CONTROL-NM EPITHELIA, AND NOTABLY, WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT GENETIC TRANSCRIPTIONAL PROGRAM RESPONSIBLE OF CILIOGENESIS AND CILIA FUNCTION IS SIGNIFICANTLY IMPAIRED IN CRSWNP EPITHELIUM, PRESUMABLY PRODUCED BY AN ALTERED EXPRESSION OF MICRORNAS, PARTICULARLY OF THOSE MIRS BELONGING TO MIR-34 AND MI-449 FAMILIES. CONCLUSIONS: THIS STUDY PROVIDES FOR THE FIRST TIME A NOVEL INSIGHT INTO THE MOLECULAR BASIS OF SINONASAL MUCOCILIARY DIFFERENTIATION, DEMONSTRATING THAT TRANSCRIPTOME RELATED TO CILIOGENESIS AND CILIA FUNCTION IS SIGNIFICANTLY IMPAIRED DURING DIFFERENTIATION OF CRSWNP EPITHELIUM DUE TO AN ALTERED EXPRESSION OF MICRORNAS. 2020 12 2326 37 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 13 3019 28 GENETICS AND EPIGENETICS OF NASAL POLYPOSIS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS) IS AN INFLAMMATORY DISEASE OF THE NOSE AND PARANASAL SINUSES THAT IS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH NASAL POLYPOSIS (CRSWNP) IN THE MOST SEVERE CASES. AS IN OTHER COMPLEX DISEASES, GENETIC FACTORS ARE THOUGHT TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE RISK AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISEASE. ENVIRONMENT MAY ALSO MODULATE THE EPIGENETIC SIGNATURE IN AFFECTED PATIENTS. IN THE PRESENT SYSTEMATIC REVIEW, WE AIMED TO COMPILE ALL PUBLISHED DATA ON GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC VARIATIONS IN CRSWNP SINCE 2000. WE FOUND 104 ARTICLES, 24 OF WHICH WERE RELATED TO EPIGENETIC STUDIES. WE IDENTIFIED MORE THAN 150 GENETIC VARIANTS IN 99 GENES INVOLVED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF NASAL POLYPOSIS. THESE WERE CLUSTERED INTO 8 MAIN NETWORKS, LINKING GENES INVOLVED IN INFLAMMATION AND IMMUNE RESPONSE (EG, MHC), CYTOKINE GENES (EG, TNF), LEUKOTRIENE METABOLISM, AND THE EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX. A TOTAL OF 89 MIRNAS WERE ALSO IDENTIFIED; THESE ARE ASSOCIATED MAINLY WITH BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS SUCH AS THE CELL CYCLE, INFLAMMATION, AND THE IMMUNE RESPONSE. WE PROPOSE A POTENTIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENES AND THE MIRNAS IDENTIFIED THAT MAY OPEN NEW LINES OF INVESTIGATION. AN IN-DEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF GENE VARIANTS AND EPIGENETIC TRAITS COULD HELP US TO DESIGN MORE TAILORED TREATMENT FOR PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP. 2021 14 1632 32 DNMTS ARE INVOLVED IN TGF-BETA1-INDUCED EPITHELIAL-MESENCHYMAL TRANSITIONS IN AIRWAY EPITHELIAL CELLS. CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS) PATHOGENESIS IS CLOSELY RELATED TO TISSUE REMODELING, INCLUDING EPITHELIAL-MESENCHYMAL TRANSITION (EMT). EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS PLAY KEY ROLES IN EMT. DNA METHYLATION, MEDIATED BY DNA METHYLTRANSFERASES (DNMTS), IS AN EPIGENETIC MARKER THAT IS CRITICAL TO EMT. THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE WHETHER DNMTS WERE INVOLVED IN TGF-BETA1-INDUCED EMT AND ELUCIDATE THE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS IN NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS AND AIR-LIQUID INTERFACE CULTURES. GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION AND DNMT ACTIVITY WERE QUANTIFIED. DNMT EXPRESSION WAS MEASURED USING REAL-TIME PCR (QRT-PCR) IN HUMAN CRS TISSUES. MRNA AND PROTEIN LEVELS OF DNMTS, E-CADHERIN, VIMENTIN, ALPHA-SMA, AND FIBRONECTIN WERE DETERMINED USING RT-PCR AND WESTERN BLOTTING, RESPECTIVELY. DNMT1, DNMT3A, AND DNMT3B GENE EXPRESSION WERE KNOCKED DOWN USING SIRNA TRANSFECTION. MAPK PHOSPHORYLATION AND EMT-RELATED TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR LEVELS WERE DETERMINED USING WESTERN BLOTTING. SIGNALING PATHWAYS WERE ANALYZED USING SPECIFIC INHIBITORS OF MAPK. WE DEMONSTRATED THESE DATA IN PRIMARY NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS AND AIR-LIQUID INTERFACE CULTURES. GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION, DNMT ACTIVITY, AND DNMT EXPRESSION INCREASED IN CRS TISSUES. DNMT EXPRESSION WAS POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH LUND-MCKAY CT SCORES. TGF-BETA1 DOSE-DEPENDENTLY INDUCED DNMT EXPRESSION. FURTHER, 5-AZA INHIBITED TGF-BETA1-INDUCED DNMT, SNAIL, AND SLUG EXPRESSION RELATED TO EMT, AS WELL AS P38 AND JNK PHOSPHORYLATION IN A549 CELLS AND TGF-BETA1-INDUCED DNMT EXPRESSION AND EMT IN PRIMARY NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS AND AIR-LIQUID INTERFACE CULTURES. TGF-BETA1-INDUCED DNMT EXPRESSION LEADS TO DNA METHYLATION AND EMT VIA P38, JNK, SNAIL, AND SLUG SIGNALING PATHWAYS. INHIBITION OF DNMT SUPPRESSED THE EMT PROCESS AND THEREFORE IS POTENTIALLY A CRS THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY. 2022 15 2217 29 EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS IN CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH AND WITHOUT NASAL POLYPS. CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS) HAS BROUGHT A HUGE SOCIOECONOMIC BURDEN. HOWEVER, ITS MECHANISM IS STILL ELUSIVE, WHICH MAY INVOLVE GENETIC, ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOME OTHER FACTORS. EPIGENETIC ANALYSES HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED TO EXPLORE THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING CRS. HERE, WE REVIEWED THE FRUITS IN THE EPIGENETIC STUDIES ON DNA METHYLATION, HISTONE MODIFICATION, AND NON-CODING RNA REGULATION. WE CONCLUDED THAT THE EPIGENETIC RESEARCH ON CRS HAS MADE GREAT BREAKTHROUGHS, ESPECIALLY IN THE PAST 5 YEARS AND THE FIELD OF MICRORNAS. "EPIGENETIC THERAPIES" ARE EXPECTED TO BE DESIGNED TO TREAT CRS IN THE FUTURE. 2022 16 2349 40 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 17 1620 32 DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE-MEDIATED TRANSCRIPTIONAL SILENCING IN MALIGNANT GLIOMA: A COMBINED WHOLE-GENOME MICROARRAY AND PROMOTER ARRAY ANALYSIS. EPIGENETIC INACTIVATION OF TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENES IS A COMMON FEATURE IN HUMAN CANCER. PROMOTER HYPERMETHYLATION AND HISTONE DEACETYLATION ARE REVERSIBLE EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS ASSOCIATED WITH TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION. DNA METHYLTRANSFERASES (DNMT1 AND DNMT3B) REGULATE AND MAINTAIN PROMOTER METHYLATION AND ARE OVEREXPRESSED IN HUMAN CANCER. WE PERFORMED WHOLE-GENOME MICROARRAY ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY GENES WITH ALTERED EXPRESSION AFTER RNAI-INDUCED SUPPRESSION OF DNMT IN A GLIOBLASTOMA MULTIFORME (GBM) CELL LINE. WE THEN IDENTIFIED GENES WITH BOTH DECREASED EXPRESSION AND EVIDENCE OF PROMOTER CPG ISLAND HYPERMETHYLATION IN GBM TISSUE SAMPLES USING A COMBINED WHOLE-GENOME MICROARRAY TRANSCRIPTOME ANALYSIS IN CONJUNCTION WITH A PROMOTER ARRAY ANALYSIS AFTER DNA IMMUNOPRECIPITATION WITH ANTI-5-METHYLCYTIDINE. DNMT1 AND 3B KNOCKDOWN RESULTED IN THE RESTORED EXPRESSION OF 308 GENES THAT ALSO CONTAINED PROMOTER REGION HYPERMETHYLATION. OF THESE, 43 WERE ALSO FOUND TO BE DOWNREGULATED IN GBM TISSUE SAMPLES. THREE DOWNREGULATED GENES WITH HYPERMETHYLATED PROMOTERS AND RESTORED EXPRESSION IN RESPONSE TO ACUTE DNMT SUPPRESSION WERE ASSAYED FOR METHYLATION CHANGES USING BISULFITE SEQUENCE ANALYSIS OF THE PROMOTER REGION AFTER CHRONIC DNMT SUPPRESSION. RESTORATION OF GENE EXPRESSION WAS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES IN PROMOTER REGION METHYLATION, BUT RATHER WITH CHANGES IN HISTONE METHYLATION AND CHROMATIN CONFORMATION. TWO OF THE IDENTIFIED GENES EXHIBITED GROWTH SUPPRESSIVE ACTIVITY IN IN VITRO ASSAYS. COMBINING TARGETED GENETIC MANIPULATIONS WITH COMPREHENSIVE GENOMIC AND EXPRESSION ANALYSES PROVIDES A POTENTIALLY POWERFUL NEW APPROACH FOR IDENTIFYING EPIGENETICALLY REGULATED GENES IN GBM. 2009 18 3014 30 GENETICS AND EPIGENETICS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS. DISCERNING THE GENETICS AND EPIGENETICS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS) MAY OPTIMIZE OUTCOMES THROUGH EARLY DIAGNOSTICS, PERSONALIZED AND NOVEL THERAPEUTICS, AND EARLY PROGNOSTICATION. CRS ASSOCIATED WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS AND PRIMARY CILIARY DYSKINESIA HAS WELL-CHARACTERIZED GENETIC MUTATIONS. MOST CRS SUBJECTS, HOWEVER, DO NOT EXHIBIT IDENTIFIABLE MONOGENIC ALTERATIONS. CLUSTERING IN RELATED INDIVIDUALS IS SEEN IN CRS WITH NASAL POLYPS. SPOUSES OF SUBJECTS WITH CRS WITHOUT NASAL POLYPS ALSO MAY BE AT INCREASED RISK OF THE SAME DISEASE. THESE OBSERVATIONS GENERATE QUESTIONS ON GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES IN CRS. GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES HAVE IDENTIFIED VARIATIONS AND POLYMORPHISMS BETWEEN CRS AND CONTROL SUBJECTS IN GENES RELATED TO INNATE AND ADAPTIVE IMMUNITY. CANDIDATE GENE AND TRANSCRIPTOMICS STUDIES HAVE INVESTIGATED AND IDENTIFIED GENETIC VARIATIONS RELATED TO IMMUNITY, INFLAMMATION, EPITHELIAL BARRIER FUNCTION, STRESS-RESPONSE, ANTIGEN PROCESSING, T-CELL REGULATION, AND CYTOKINES IN CRS. EPIGENETIC STUDIES HAVE IDENTIFIED MECHANISMS THROUGH WHICH ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS MAY AFFECT THESE GENE FUNCTIONS. HOWEVER, CAUSALITY IS NOT DETERMINED FOR MOST VARIATIONS. INFERENCES DRAWN FROM THESE DATA MUST BE MEASURED BECAUSE MOST INVESTIGATIONS REPORT UNREPLICATED RESULTS FROM SMALL STUDY POPULATIONS. LARGE, REPLICATED STUDIES IN TIGHT COHORTS ACROSS DIVERSE POPULATIONS REMAIN A PRESSING NEED IN STUDYING CRS GENETICS. 2023 19 3459 32 HYPOMETHYLATION OF NERVE GROWTH FACTOR (NGF) PROMOTES BINDING OF C/EBPALPHA AND CONTRIBUTES TO INFLAMMATORY HYPERALGESIA IN RATS. BACKGROUND: CHRONIC PAIN USUALLY ACCOMPANIED BY TISSUE DAMAGE AND INFLAMMATION. HOWEVER, THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC PAIN REMAINS UNCLEAR. METHODS: WE INVESTIGATED THE ROLE OF NERVE GROWTH FACTOR (NGF) IN CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY PAIN INDUCED BY COMPLETE FREUND'S ADJUVANT (CFA), EXPLORED THE METHYLATION STATUS OF CPG ISLANDS IN THE PROMOTER REGION OF THE NGF GENE, AND CLARIFIED THE FUNCTION AND MECHANISM OF C/EBPALPHA-NGF SIGNALING PATHWAY FROM EPIGENETIC PERSPECTIVE IN THE CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY PAIN MODEL. RESULTS: CFA INDUCED SIGNIFICANT HYPERALGESIA AND CONTINUOUS UPREGULATION OF NGF MRNA AND PROTEIN LEVELS IN THE L4-6 DORSAL ROOT GANGLIONS (DRGS) IN RATS. HYPOMETHYLATION OF CPG ISLANDS OCCURRED IN THE NGF GENE PROMOTER REGION AFTER CFA TREATMENT. AT THE SAME TIME, THE MIR-29B EXPRESSION LEVEL WAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED, WHILE THE DNA METHYLTRANSFERASE 3B (DNMT3B) LEVEL REDUCED SIGNIFICANTLY. MOREOVER, CFA TREATMENT PROMOTED BINDING OF C/EBPALPHA TO THE NGF GENE PROMOTER REGION AND C/EBPALPHA SIRNA TREATMENT OBVIOUSLY DECREASED EXPRESSION OF NGF LEVELS AND ALSO ALLEVIATE INFLAMMATORY HYPERALGESIA SIGNIFICANTLY IN RATS. CONCLUSION: COLLECTIVELY, THE RESULTS INDICATED THAT CFA LEADS TO THE UPREGULATION OF MIR-29B LEVEL, WHICH REPRESSES THE EXPRESSION OF DNMT3B, ENHANCES THE DEMETHYLATION OF THE NGF GENE PROMOTER REGION, AND PROMOTES THE BINDING OF C/EBPALPHA WITH THE NGF GENE PROMOTER, THUS RESULTS IN THE UPREGULATION OF NGF GENE EXPRESSION AND MAINTENANCE OF CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY PAIN. 2020 20 5116 35 POSITIVE REGULATION OF HUMAN TELOMERASE REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE GENE EXPRESSION AND TELOMERASE ACTIVITY BY DNA METHYLATION IN PANCREATIC CANCER. AIM: WE SOUGHT TO DETERMINE THE ROLE OF TELOMERASE AND ITS CATALYTIC SUBUNIT HTERT IN PANCREATIC CANCER AND EVALUATE THE EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF HTERT BY PROMOTER METHYLATION. METHODS: THIRTY PAIRED SAMPLES OF PANCREATIC DUCTAL ADENOCARCINOMAS AND ADJACENT NORMAL TISSUE AND 12 CHRONIC PANCREATITIS SAMPLES WERE STUDIED. REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION, TELOMERIC REPEAT AMPLIFICATION PROTOCOL ASSAY, AND METHYLATION-SPECIFIC POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION WERE PERFORMED TO ANALYZE HTERT EXPRESSION, TELOMERASE ACTIVITY, AND METHYLATION STATUS OF GENE PROMOTERS, RESPECTIVELY. RESULT: HTERT AND TELOMERASE ACTIVITY WERE UPREGULATED IN PANCREATIC CANCER COMPARED WITH PAIRED NORMAL TISSUES AND SAMPLES OF PANCREATITIS. HTERT EXPRESSION CORRELATED WITH TELOMERASE ACTIVITY (P \ .05) AND IN TURN CORRELATED POSITIVELY WITH HTERT PROMOTER METHYLATION (P \ .001) AND P16 PROMOTER METHYLATION. HTERT TRANSCRIPT EXPRESSION AND TELOMERASE ACTIVITY BOTH CONFERRED A WORSE OUTCOME BY UNIVARIATE AND MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS (P \ .05). CONCLUSION: HTERT EXPRESSION AND TELOMERASE ACTIVITY ARE PREDICTORS OF POOR OUTCOME IN PANCREATIC CANCER. HTERT GENE EXPRESSION IS POSITIVELY REGULATED BY PROMOTER METHYLATION. 2009