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Ozawa T, Matsuyama T, Toiyama Y, Takahashi N, Ishikawa T, Uetake H, Yamada Y, Kusunoki M, Calin G, Goel A. CCAT1 and CCAT2 long noncoding RNAs, located within the 8q.24.21 'gene desert', serve as important prognostic biomarkers in colorectal cancer. Ann Oncol 2018; 28:1882-1888. [PMID: 28838211 DOI: 10.1093/annonc/mdx248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 136] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background 8q24.21 is a frequently amplified genomic region in colorectal cancer (CRC). This region is often referred to as a 'gene desert' due to lack of any important protein-coding genes, highlighting the potential role of noncoding RNAs, including long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) located around the proto-oncogene MYC. In this study, we have firstly evaluated the clinical significance of altered expression of lncRNAs mapped to this genomic locus in CRC. Patients and methods A total of 300 tissues, including 280 CRC and 20 adjacent normal mucosa specimens were evaluated for the expression of 12 lncRNAs using qRT-PCR assays. We analyzed the associations between lncRNA expression and various clinicopathological features, as well as with recurrence free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in two independent cohorts. Results The expression of CCAT1, CCAT1-L, CCAT2, PVT1, and CASC19 were elevated in cancer tissues (P = 0.039, <0.001, 0.018, <0.001, 0.002, respectively). Among these, high expression of CCAT1 and CCAT2 was significantly associated with poor RFS (P = 0.049 and 0.022, respectively) and OS (P = 0.028 and 0.015, respectively). These results were validated in an independent patient cohort, in which combined expression of CCAT1 and CCAT2 expression was significantly associated with a poor RFS (HR:2.60, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04-6.06, P = 0.042) and a poor OS (HR:8.38, 95%CI: 2.68-37.0, P < 0.001). We established a RFS prediction model which revealed that combined expression of CCAT1, CCAT2, and carcinoembryonic antigen was a significant determinant for efficiently predicting RFS in stage II (P = 0.034) and stage III (P = 0.001) CRC patients. Conclusions Several lncRNAs located in 8q24.21 locus are highly over-expressed in CRC. High expression of CCAT1 and CCAT2 significantly associates with poor RFS and OS. The expression of these two lncRNAs independently, or in combination, serves as important prognostic biomarkers in CRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Ozawa
- Center for Gastrointestinal Research; Center for Translational Genomics and Oncology, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, Charles A Sammons Cancer Center, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, USA
| | - T Matsuyama
- Center for Gastrointestinal Research; Center for Translational Genomics and Oncology, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, Charles A Sammons Cancer Center, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, USA
| | - Y Toiyama
- Division of Reparative Medicine, Department of Gastrointestinal and Pediatric Surgery, Institute of Life Sciences, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie Japan
| | - N Takahashi
- Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo Japan
| | - T Ishikawa
- Department of Specialized Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - H Uetake
- Department of Specialized Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Y Yamada
- Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo Japan
| | - M Kusunoki
- Division of Reparative Medicine, Department of Gastrointestinal and Pediatric Surgery, Institute of Life Sciences, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie Japan
| | - G Calin
- Division of Cancer Medicine, Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA
| | - A Goel
- Center for Gastrointestinal Research; Center for Translational Genomics and Oncology, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, Charles A Sammons Cancer Center, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, USA
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52
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Smith AJP, Deloukas P, Munroe PB. Emerging applications of genome-editing technology to examine functionality of GWAS-associated variants for complex traits. Physiol Genomics 2018; 50:510-522. [PMID: 29652634 DOI: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00028.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the last decade, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have propelled the discovery of thousands of loci associated with complex diseases. The focus is now turning toward the function of these association signals, determining the causal variant(s) among those in strong linkage disequilibrium, and identifying their underlying mechanisms, such as long-range gene regulation. Genome-editing techniques utilizing zinc-finger nucleases (ZFN), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and clustered regularly-interspaced short palindromic repeats with Cas9 nuclease (CRISPR-Cas9) are becoming the tools of choice to establish functionality for these variants, due to the ability to assess effects of single variants in vivo. This review will discuss examples of how these technologies have begun to aid functional analysis of GWAS loci for complex traits such as cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity, and autoimmune disease. We focus on analysis of variants occurring within noncoding genomic regions, as these comprise the majority of GWAS variants, providing the greatest challenges to determining functionality, and compare editing strategies that provide different levels of evidence for variant functionality. The review describes molecular insights into some of these potentially causal variants and how these may relate to the pathology of the trait and look toward future directions for these technologies in post-GWAS analysis, such as base-editing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew J P Smith
- Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London, Queen Mary University of London , United Kingdom.,NIHR Barts Biomedical Research Centre, Queen Mary University of London , London , United Kingdom
| | - Panos Deloukas
- Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London, Queen Mary University of London , United Kingdom.,NIHR Barts Biomedical Research Centre, Queen Mary University of London , London , United Kingdom
| | - Patricia B Munroe
- Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London, Queen Mary University of London , United Kingdom.,NIHR Barts Biomedical Research Centre, Queen Mary University of London , London , United Kingdom
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53
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Kar SP, Berchuck A, Gayther SA, Goode EL, Moysich KB, Pearce CL, Ramus SJ, Schildkraut JM, Sellers TA, Pharoah PDP. Common Genetic Variation and Susceptibility to Ovarian Cancer: Current Insights and Future Directions. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018; 27:395-404. [PMID: 28615364 DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.epi-17-0315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2017] [Revised: 05/24/2017] [Accepted: 06/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
In this review, we summarize current progress in the genetic epidemiology of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), focusing exclusively on elucidating the role of common germline genetic variation in conferring susceptibility to EOC. We provide an overview of the more than 30 EOC risk loci identified to date by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and describe the contribution of large-scale, cross-cancer type, custom genotyping projects, such as the OncoArray and the Collaborative Oncological Gene-Environment Study, to locus discovery and replication. We discuss the histotype-specific nature of these EOC risk loci, pleiotropy, or overlapping genetic effects between EOC and other hormone-related cancer types, and the application of findings to polygenic risk prediction for EOC. The second part of the article offers a concise review of primarily laboratory-based studies that have led to the identification of several putative EOC susceptibility genes using common variants at the known EOC risk loci as starting points. More global biological insights emerging from network- and pathway-based analyses of GWAS for EOC susceptibility are also highlighted. Finally, we delve into potential future directions, including the need to identify EOC risk loci in non-European populations and the next generation of GWAS functional studies that are likely to involve genome editing to establish the cell type-specific carcinogenic effects of EOC risk variants Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 27(4); 395-404. ©2018 AACRSee all articles in this CEBP Focus section, "Genome-Wide Association Studies in Cancer."
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Affiliation(s)
- Siddhartha P Kar
- Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
| | - Andrew Berchuck
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Simon A Gayther
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
- Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California
| | - Ellen L Goode
- Department of Health Science Research, Division of Epidemiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Kirsten B Moysich
- Department of Cancer Prevention and Control, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York
| | - Celeste Leigh Pearce
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Susan J Ramus
- School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Joellen M Schildkraut
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Virginia
| | - Thomas A Sellers
- Department of Cancer Epidemiology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida
| | - Paul D P Pharoah
- Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
- Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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54
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Schaub FX, Dhankani V, Berger AC, Trivedi M, Richardson AB, Shaw R, Zhao W, Zhang X, Ventura A, Liu Y, Ayer DE, Hurlin PJ, Cherniack AD, Eisenman RN, Bernard B, Grandori C. Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas. Cell Syst 2018; 6:282-300.e2. [PMID: 29596783 PMCID: PMC5892207 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2018.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 233] [Impact Index Per Article: 38.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Revised: 02/06/2018] [Accepted: 03/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Although the MYC oncogene has been implicated in cancer, a systematic assessment of alterations of MYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatory proteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN), across human cancers is lacking. Using computational approaches, we define genomic and proteomic features associated with MYC and the PMN across the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas. Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one of the MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYC antagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequently mutated or deleted members, proposing a role as tumor suppressors. MYC alterations were mutually exclusive with PIK3CA, PTEN, APC, or BRAF alterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct oncogenic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such as immune response and growth factor signaling; chromatin, translation, and DNA replication/repair were conserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insights into MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkers and therapeutics for cancers with alterations of MYC or the PMN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franz X Schaub
- Cure First, Seattle, WA, USA; SEngine Precision Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Ashton C Berger
- The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | | | - Reid Shaw
- SEngine Precision Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Wei Zhao
- Department of Systems Biology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Xiaoyang Zhang
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andrea Ventura
- Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Yuexin Liu
- Department of Systems Biology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Donald E Ayer
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Peter J Hurlin
- Shriners Hospitals for Children Research Center, Department of Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology, Oregon Health & Science University, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Andrew D Cherniack
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Robert N Eisenman
- Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Brady Bernard
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, USA; Providence Health and Services, Portland, OR, USA.
| | - Carla Grandori
- Cure First, Seattle, WA, USA; SEngine Precision Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
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55
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Deregulation of polycomb repressor complex 1 modifier AUTS2 in T-cell leukemia. Oncotarget 2018; 7:45398-45413. [PMID: 27322685 PMCID: PMC5216730 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.9982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2016] [Accepted: 05/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently, we identified deregulated expression of the B-cell specific transcription factor MEF2C in T-cell acute lymphoid leukemia (T-ALL). Here, we performed sequence analysis of a regulatory upstream section of MEF2C in T-ALL cell lines which, however, proved devoid of mutations. Unexpectedly, we found strong conservation between the regulatory upstream region of MEF2C (located at chromosomal band 5q14) and an intergenic stretch at 7q11 located between STAG3L4 and AUTS2, covering nearly 20 kb. While the non-coding gene STAG3L4 was inconspicuously expressed, AUTS2 was aberrantly upregulated in 6% of T-ALL patients (public dataset GSE42038) and in 3/24 T-ALL cell lines, two of which represented very immature differentiation stages. AUTS2 expression was higher in normal B-cells than in T-cells, indicating lineage-specific activity in lymphopoiesis. While excluding chromosomal aberrations, examinations of AUTS2 transcriptional regulation in T-ALL cells revealed activation by IL7-IL7R-STAT5-signalling and MEF2C. AUTS2 protein has been shown to interact with polycomb repressor complex 1 subtype 5 (PRC1.5), transforming this particular complex into an activator. Accordingly, expression profiling and functional analyses demonstrated that AUTS2 activated while PCGF5 repressed transcription of NKL homeobox gene MSX1 in T-ALL cells. Forced expression and pharmacological inhibition of EZH2 in addition to H3K27me3 analysis indicated that PRC2 repressed MSX1 as well. Taken together, we found that AUTS2 and MEF2C, despite lying on different chromosomes, share strikingly similar regulatory upstream regions and aberrant expression in T-ALL subsets. Our data implicate chromatin complexes PRC1/AUTS2 and PRC2 in a gene network in T-ALL regulating early lymphoid differentiation.
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56
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Duffy DJ, Krstic A, Schwarzl T, Halasz M, Iljin K, Fey D, Haley B, Whilde J, Haapa-Paananen S, Fey V, Fischer M, Westermann F, Henrich KO, Bannert S, Higgins DG, Kolch W. Wnt signalling is a bi-directional vulnerability of cancer cells. Oncotarget 2018; 7:60310-60331. [PMID: 27531891 PMCID: PMC5312386 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.11203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2015] [Accepted: 07/26/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Wnt signalling is involved in the formation, metastasis and relapse of a wide array of cancers. However, there is ongoing debate as to whether activation or inhibition of the pathway holds the most promise as a therapeutic treatment for cancer, with conflicting evidence from a variety of tumour types. We show that Wnt/β-catenin signalling is a bi-directional vulnerability of neuroblastoma, malignant melanoma and colorectal cancer, with hyper-activation or repression of the pathway both representing a promising therapeutic strategy, even within the same cancer type. Hyper-activation directs cancer cells to undergo apoptosis, even in cells oncogenically driven by β-catenin. Wnt inhibition blocks proliferation of cancer cells and promotes neuroblastoma differentiation. Wnt and retinoic acid co-treatments synergise, representing a promising combination treatment for MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma. Additionally, we report novel cross-talks between MYCN and β-catenin signalling, which repress normal β-catenin mediated transcriptional regulation. A β-catenin target gene signature could predict patient outcome, as could the expression level of its DNA binding partners, the TCF/LEFs. This β-catenin signature provides a tool to identify neuroblastoma patients likely to benefit from Wnt-directed therapy. Taken together, we show that Wnt/β-catenin signalling is a bi-directional vulnerability of a number of cancer entities, and potentially a more broadly conserved feature of malignant cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Duffy
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.,Current address: The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida, St. Augustine, Florida, USA
| | - Aleksandar Krstic
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Thomas Schwarzl
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.,Current address: European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Melinda Halasz
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | | | - Dirk Fey
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Bridget Haley
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Jenny Whilde
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | | | - Vidal Fey
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo, Finland
| | - Matthias Fischer
- Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Frank Westermann
- Division of NB Genomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kai-Oliver Henrich
- Division of NB Genomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Steffen Bannert
- Division of NB Genomics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Desmond G Higgins
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.,Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.,School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Walter Kolch
- Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.,Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.,School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
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57
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Catarino RR, Stark A. Assessing sufficiency and necessity of enhancer activities for gene expression and the mechanisms of transcription activation. Genes Dev 2018; 32:202-223. [PMID: 29491135 PMCID: PMC5859963 DOI: 10.1101/gad.310367.117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Enhancers are important genomic regulatory elements directing cell type-specific transcription. They assume a key role during development and disease, and their identification and functional characterization have long been the focus of scientific interest. The advent of next-generation sequencing and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9-based genome editing has revolutionized the means by which we study enhancer biology. In this review, we cover recent developments in the prediction of enhancers based on chromatin characteristics and their identification by functional reporter assays and endogenous DNA perturbations. We discuss that the two latter approaches provide different and complementary insights, especially in assessing enhancer sufficiency and necessity for transcription activation. Furthermore, we discuss recent insights into mechanistic aspects of enhancer function, including findings about cofactor requirements and the role of post-translational histone modifications such as monomethylation of histone H3 Lys4 (H3K4me1). Finally, we survey how these approaches advance our understanding of transcription regulation with respect to promoter specificity and transcriptional bursting and provide an outlook covering open questions and promising developments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui R Catarino
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Alexander Stark
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), 1030 Vienna, Austria
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58
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Zhong X, Chen B, Yang L, Yang Z. Molecular and physiological roles of the adaptor protein CARD9 in immunity. Cell Death Dis 2018; 9:52. [PMID: 29352133 PMCID: PMC5833731 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-017-0084-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2017] [Revised: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 10/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
CARD9 is a caspase recruitment domain-containing signaling protein that plays a critical role in innate and adaptive immunity. It has been widely demonstrated that CARD9 adaptor allows pattern recognition receptors to induce NF-κB and MAPK activation, which initiates a “downstream” inflammation cytokine cascade and provides effective protection against microbial invasion, especially fungal infection. Here our aim is to update existing paradigms and summarize the most recent findings on the CARD9 signaling pathway, revealing significant mechanistic insights into the pathogenesis of CARD9 deficiency. We also discuss the effect of CARD9 genetic mutations on the in vivo immune response, and highlight clinical advances in non-infection inflammation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Bin Chen
- Surgery Department, First Affiliated Hospital of Gannan Medical University, Gannan Medical University, Ganzhou, China
| | - Liang Yang
- Fuzhou Medical College of Nanchang University, Jiangxi, China
| | - Zhiwen Yang
- Department of Pharmacy, Songjiang Hospital Affiliated Shanghai First People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
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59
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A Myc enhancer cluster regulates normal and leukaemic haematopoietic stem cell hierarchies. Nature 2018; 553:515-520. [PMID: 29342133 DOI: 10.1038/nature25193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 220] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2015] [Accepted: 12/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The transcription factor Myc is essential for the regulation of haematopoietic stem cells and progenitors and has a critical function in haematopoietic malignancies. Here we show that an evolutionarily conserved region located 1.7 megabases downstream of the Myc gene that has previously been labelled as a 'super-enhancer' is essential for the regulation of Myc expression levels in both normal haematopoietic and leukaemic stem cell hierarchies in mice and humans. Deletion of this region in mice leads to a complete loss of Myc expression in haematopoietic stem cells and progenitors. This caused an accumulation of differentiation-arrested multipotent progenitors and loss of myeloid and B cells, mimicking the phenotype caused by Mx1-Cre-mediated conditional deletion of the Myc gene in haematopoietic stem cells. This super-enhancer comprises multiple enhancer modules with selective activity that recruits a compendium of transcription factors, including GFI1b, RUNX1 and MYB. Analysis of mice carrying deletions of individual enhancer modules suggests that specific Myc expression levels throughout most of the haematopoietic hierarchy are controlled by the combinatorial and additive activity of individual enhancer modules, which collectively function as a 'blood enhancer cluster' (BENC). We show that BENC is also essential for the maintenance of MLL-AF9-driven leukaemia in mice. Furthermore, a BENC module, which controls Myc expression in mouse haematopoietic stem cells and progenitors, shows increased chromatin accessibility in human acute myeloid leukaemia stem cells compared to blasts. This difference correlates with MYC expression and patient outcome. We propose that clusters of enhancers, such as BENC, form highly combinatorial systems that allow precise control of gene expression across normal cellular hierarchies and which also can be hijacked in malignancies.
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60
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Shaker OG, Senousy MA, Elbaz EM. Association of rs6983267 at 8q24, HULC rs7763881 polymorphisms and serum lncRNAs CCAT2 and HULC with colorectal cancer in Egyptian patients. Sci Rep 2017; 7:16246. [PMID: 29176650 PMCID: PMC5701156 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-16500-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2017] [Accepted: 11/13/2017] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The impact of HULC rs7763881 on colorectal cancer (CRC) susceptibility is not yet known. Also, the biological function of the cancer-related rs6983267 remains unclear. We investigated the association of these SNPs with the risk of CRC and adenomatous polyps (AP), their correlation with CCAT2 and HULC expression, and the potential of serum CCAT2 and HULC as biomarkers for CRC. 120 CRC patients, 30 AP patients, and 96 healthy controls were included. Genotyping and serum lncRNAs were assayed by qPCR. Studied SNPs were not associated with AP susceptibility. rs6983267 GG was associated with increased CRC risk, whereas rs7763881 AC was protective. rs7763881 and rs6983267 CT haplotype was protective. Serum CCAT2 and HULC were upregulated in CRC and AP patients versus controls and discriminated these groups by ROC analysis. rs6983267 GG and rs7763881 AA patients demonstrated higher serum CCAT2 and HULC compared with GT/TT and AC, respectively. rs6983267 and serum HULC predicted CRC diagnosis among non-CRC groups (AP + controls) by multivariate analysis. Studied SNPs or serum long noncoding RNAs weren't correlated with nodal or distant metastasis. In conclusion, rs6983267 and rs7763881 are potential genetic markers of CRC predisposition and correlate with serum CCAT2 and HULC, two novel potential non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers for CRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olfat G Shaker
- Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Mahmoud A Senousy
- Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
| | - Eman M Elbaz
- Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
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61
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Coggins NB, Stultz J, O'Geen H, Carvajal-Carmona LG, Segal DJ. Methods for Scarless, Selection-Free Generation of Human Cells and Allele-Specific Functional Analysis of Disease-Associated SNPs and Variants of Uncertain Significance. Sci Rep 2017; 7:15044. [PMID: 29118424 PMCID: PMC5678142 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-15407-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2017] [Accepted: 10/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
With the continued emergence of risk loci from Genome-Wide Association studies and variants of uncertain significance identified from patient sequencing, better methods are required to translate these human genetic findings into improvements in public health. Here we combine CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing with an innovative high-throughput genotyping pipeline utilizing KASP (Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR) genotyping technology to create scarless isogenic cell models of cancer variants in ~1 month. We successfully modeled two novel variants previously identified by our lab in the PALB2 gene in HEK239 cells, resulting in isogenic cells representing all three genotypes for both variants. We also modeled a known functional risk SNP of colorectal cancer, rs6983267, in HCT-116 cells. Cells with extremely low levels of gene editing could still be identified and isolated using this approach. We also introduce a novel molecular assay, ChIPnQASO (Chromatin Immunoprecipitation and Quantitative Allele-Specific Occupation), which uses the same technology to reveal allele-specific function of these variants at the DNA-protein interaction level. We demonstrated preferential binding of the transcription factor TCF7L2 to the rs6983267 risk allele over the non-risk. Our pipeline provides a platform for functional variant discovery and validation that is accessible and broadly applicable for the progression of efforts towards precision medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole B Coggins
- Genome Center and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Jacob Stultz
- Genome Center and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Henriette O'Geen
- Genome Center and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| | - Luis G Carvajal-Carmona
- Genome Center and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
| | - David J Segal
- Genome Center and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
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Sud A, Kinnersley B, Houlston RS. Genome-wide association studies of cancer: current insights and future perspectives. Nat Rev Cancer 2017; 17:692-704. [PMID: 29026206 DOI: 10.1038/nrc.2017.82] [Citation(s) in RCA: 219] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) provide an agnostic approach for investigating the genetic basis of complex diseases. In oncology, GWAS of nearly all common malignancies have been performed, and over 450 genetic variants associated with increased risks have been identified. As well as revealing novel pathways important in carcinogenesis, these studies have shown that common genetic variation contributes substantially to the heritable risk of many common cancers. The clinical application of GWAS is starting to provide opportunities for drug discovery and repositioning as well as for cancer prevention. However, deciphering the functional and biological basis of associations is challenging and is in part a barrier to fully unlocking the potential of GWAS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amit Sud
- Division of Genetics and Epidemiology, The Institute of Cancer Research
| | - Ben Kinnersley
- Division of Genetics and Epidemiology, The Institute of Cancer Research
| | - Richard S Houlston
- Division of Genetics and Epidemiology, The Institute of Cancer Research
- Division of Molecular Pathology, The Institute of Cancer Research, 15 Cotswold Road, Sutton, London SM2 5NG, UK
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63
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Shen P, Pichler M, Chen M, Calin GA, Ling H. To Wnt or Lose: The Missing Non-Coding Linc in Colorectal Cancer. Int J Mol Sci 2017; 18:ijms18092003. [PMID: 28930145 PMCID: PMC5618652 DOI: 10.3390/ijms18092003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2017] [Revised: 09/09/2017] [Accepted: 09/13/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most frequent cancer and one of the leading causes for cancer-related mortality. Aberrant activation of the Wnt signaling is an essential initiating factor in colon carcinogenesis, and a driving force of CRC progression. Recently, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as significant players in CRC pathogenesis through diversified mechanisms. Although both Wnt signaling and lncRNAs represent interesting research areas for CRC, an effort of directly connecting these two areas is lacking. To fill in the knowledge gap, we focus on the reported findings of lncRNAs that regulate Wnt signaling or essential Wnt signaling targets. These include several newly discovered lncRNAs originated from the amplified cancer-associated chromosome 8q24 region that surrounds the essential Wnt target MYC gene, lncRNAs reported to be involved in CRC stem cells, and several individual lncRNAs connected to Wnt signaling through other mechanisms. This review will provide essential information that assists in understanding the missing link of lncRNAs to the classical Wnt signaling in CRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Shen
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
- Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University/The First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong, China.
| | - Martin Pichler
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
- Research Unit of Non-Coding RNA and Genome Editing in Cancer, Division of Oncology, Medical University of Graz, Graz 8010, Austria.
| | - Meng Chen
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
| | - George A Calin
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
- The Center for RNA Interference and Non-Coding RNAs, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
| | - Hui Ling
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
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64
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Contrasting effects of an Mdm2 functional polymorphism on tumor phenotypes. Oncogene 2017; 37:332-340. [PMID: 28925402 DOI: 10.1038/onc.2017.344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2017] [Revised: 07/04/2017] [Accepted: 08/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
MDM2, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, is a potent inhibitor of the p53 tumor suppressor and is elevated in many human cancers that retain wild-type p53. MDM2 SNP309G is a functional polymorphism that results in elevated levels of MDM2 (due to enhanced SP1 binding to the MDM2 promoter) thus decreasing p53 activity. Mdm2SNP309G/G mice are more prone to spontaneous tumor formation than Mdm2SNP309T/T mice, providing direct evidence for the impact of this SNP in tumor development. We asked whether environmental factors impact SNP309G function and show that SNP309G cooperates with ionizing radiation to exacerbate tumor development. Surprisingly, ultraviolet B light or Benzo(a)pyrene exposure of skin shows that SNP309G allele actually protects against squamous cell carcinoma susceptibility. These contrasting differences led us to interrogate the mechanism by which Mdm2 SNP309 regulates tumor susceptibility in a tissue-specific manner. Although basal Mdm2 levels were significantly higher in most tissues in Mdm2SNP309G/G mice compared with Mdm2SNP309T/T mice, they were significantly lower in Mdm2SNP309G/G keratinocytes, the cell-type susceptible to squamous cell carcinoma. The assessment of potential transcriptional regulators in ENCODE ChIP-seq database identified transcriptional repressor E2F6 as a possible negative regulator of MDM2 expression. Our data show that E2F6 suppresses Mdm2 expression in cells harboring the SNP309G allele but not the SNP309T allele. Thus, Mdm2 SNP309G exhibits tissue-specific regulation and differentially impacts cancer risk.
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65
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Nguyen MLT, Simeonov DR, Marson A. "T-bet"-ing on autoimmunity variants. PLoS Genet 2017; 13:e1006924. [PMID: 28880873 PMCID: PMC5589080 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Michelle L. T. Nguyen
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, California, United States of America
- Diabetes Center, University of California, San Francisco, California, United States of America
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Dimitre R. Simeonov
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, California, United States of America
- Diabetes Center, University of California, San Francisco, California, United States of America
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Alexander Marson
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, California, United States of America
- Diabetes Center, University of California, San Francisco, California, United States of America
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, United States of America
- UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, California, United States of America
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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66
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Gupta RM, Hadaya J, Trehan A, Zekavat SM, Roselli C, Klarin D, Emdin CA, Hilvering CRE, Bianchi V, Mueller C, Khera AV, Ryan RJH, Engreitz JM, Issner R, Shoresh N, Epstein CB, de Laat W, Brown JD, Schnabel RB, Bernstein BE, Kathiresan S. A Genetic Variant Associated with Five Vascular Diseases Is a Distal Regulator of Endothelin-1 Gene Expression. Cell 2017; 170:522-533.e15. [PMID: 28753427 PMCID: PMC5785707 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.06.049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 298] [Impact Index Per Article: 42.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2016] [Revised: 04/13/2017] [Accepted: 06/29/2017] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) implicate the PHACTR1 locus (6p24) in risk for five vascular diseases, including coronary artery disease, migraine headache, cervical artery dissection, fibromuscular dysplasia, and hypertension. Through genetic fine mapping, we prioritized rs9349379, a common SNP in the third intron of the PHACTR1 gene, as the putative causal variant. Epigenomic data from human tissue revealed an enhancer signature at rs9349379 exclusively in aorta, suggesting a regulatory function for this SNP in the vasculature. CRISPR-edited stem cell-derived endothelial cells demonstrate rs9349379 regulates expression of endothelin 1 (EDN1), a gene located 600 kb upstream of PHACTR1. The known physiologic effects of EDN1 on the vasculature may explain the pattern of risk for the five associated diseases. Overall, these data illustrate the integration of genetic, phenotypic, and epigenetic analysis to identify the biologic mechanism by which a common, non-coding variant can distally regulate a gene and contribute to the pathogenesis of multiple vascular diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajat M Gupta
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA; Center for Genomic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Joseph Hadaya
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Aditi Trehan
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Carolina Roselli
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Derek Klarin
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Connor A Emdin
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Valerio Bianchi
- Hubrecht Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Christian Mueller
- Department of General and Interventional Cardiology, University Heart Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Amit V Khera
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA; Center for Genomic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Russell J H Ryan
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jesse M Engreitz
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Robbyn Issner
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Noam Shoresh
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Wouter de Laat
- Hubrecht Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Jonathan D Brown
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Renate B Schnabel
- Department of General and Interventional Cardiology, University Heart Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Bradley E Bernstein
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sekar Kathiresan
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA; Center for Genomic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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67
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Association between 8q24 rs6983267 polymorphism and cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis involving 170,737 subjects. Oncotarget 2017; 8:57421-57439. [PMID: 28915683 PMCID: PMC5593654 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.18960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2016] [Accepted: 06/17/2017] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Published data on the association between 8q24 rs6983267 polymorphism and cancer risk are inconsistent. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between rs6983267 polymorphism and cancer risk. We searched on PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) up to November 1, 2016 for relevant studies. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate the strength of this association. We included 78 case-control studies with a total of 73,996 cases and 96,741 controls in this meta-analysis. The pooled results showed that rs6983267 polymorphism was significantly associated with increased risk of overall cancer in all genetic models (dominant model: OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.13–1.26; recessive model: OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.14–1.25; homozygous model: OR= 1.31, 95% CI = 1.23–1.40; heterozygous model: OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.10–1.19; allelic model: OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.11–1.18). Stratified analyses indicated that rs6983267 significantly increased the risk of colorectal cancer in Caucasians, prostate cancer in Caucasians and Asians, thyroid cancer in Caucasians and lung cancer in Asians. When studies were stratified by study quality, source of controls and genotyping method, significant associations were especially found in the high quality studies, the publication-based studies, the hospital-based studies, and the PCR-RFLP studies. Additional well-designed studies with large samples should be performed to validate our results.
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68
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MYC Modulation around the CDK2/p27/SKP2 Axis. Genes (Basel) 2017; 8:genes8070174. [PMID: 28665315 PMCID: PMC5541307 DOI: 10.3390/genes8070174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2017] [Revised: 06/23/2017] [Accepted: 06/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
MYC is a pleiotropic transcription factor that controls a number of fundamental cellular processes required for the proliferation and survival of normal and malignant cells, including the cell cycle. MYC interacts with several central cell cycle regulators that control the balance between cell cycle progression and temporary or permanent cell cycle arrest (cellular senescence). Among these are the cyclin E/A/cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) complexes, the CDK inhibitor p27KIP1 (p27) and the E3 ubiquitin ligase component S-phase kinase-associated protein 2 (SKP2), which control each other by forming a triangular network. MYC is engaged in bidirectional crosstalk with each of these players; while MYC regulates their expression and/or activity, these factors in turn modulate MYC through protein interactions and post-translational modifications including phosphorylation and ubiquitylation, impacting on MYC's transcriptional output on genes involved in cell cycle progression and senescence. Here we elaborate on these network interactions with MYC and their impact on transcription, cell cycle, replication and stress signaling, and on the role of other players interconnected to this network, such as CDK1, the retinoblastoma protein (pRB), protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), the F-box proteins FBXW7 and FBXO28, the RAS oncoprotein and the ubiquitin/proteasome system. Finally, we describe how the MYC/CDK2/p27/SKP2 axis impacts on tumor development and discuss possible ways to interfere therapeutically with this system to improve cancer treatment.
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69
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Genomic Insight into the Role of lncRNA in Cancer Susceptibility. Int J Mol Sci 2017; 18:ijms18061239. [PMID: 28598379 PMCID: PMC5486062 DOI: 10.3390/ijms18061239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2017] [Revised: 06/06/2017] [Accepted: 06/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
With the development of advanced genomic methods, a large amount of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been found to be important for cancer initiation and progression. Given that most of the genome-wide association study (GWAS)-identified cancer risk SNPs are located in the noncoding region, the expression and function of lncRNAs are more likely to be affected by the SNPs. The SNPs may affect the expression of lncRNAs directly through disrupting the binding of transcription factors or indirectly by affecting the expression of regulatory factors. Moreover, SNPs may disrupt the interaction between lncRNAs and other RNAs or proteins. Unveiling the relationship of lncRNA, protein-coding genes, transcription factors and miRNAs from the angle of genomics will improve the accuracy of disease prediction and help find new therapeutic targets.
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70
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Zheng Y, Levens D. Enhancers not required. eLife 2017; 6. [PMID: 28598326 PMCID: PMC5466418 DOI: 10.7554/elife.28339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2017] [Accepted: 06/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Laboratory mice with over half a megabase of DNA upstream of their Myc gene removed still thrive in the absence of stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Zheng
- Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, United States
| | - David Levens
- Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, United States
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71
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Dave K, Sur I, Yan J, Zhang J, Kaasinen E, Zhong F, Blaas L, Li X, Kharazi S, Gustafsson C, De Paepe A, Månsson R, Taipale J. Mice deficient of Myc super-enhancer region reveal differential control mechanism between normal and pathological growth. eLife 2017; 6. [PMID: 28583252 PMCID: PMC5461110 DOI: 10.7554/elife.23382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2016] [Accepted: 04/18/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The gene desert upstream of the MYC oncogene on chromosome 8q24 contains susceptibility loci for several major forms of human cancer. The region shows high conservation between human and mouse and contains multiple MYC enhancers that are activated in tumor cells. However, the role of this region in normal development has not been addressed. Here we show that a 538 kb deletion of the entire MYC upstream super-enhancer region in mice results in 50% to 80% decrease in Myc expression in multiple tissues. The mice are viable and show no overt phenotype. However, they are resistant to tumorigenesis, and most normal cells isolated from them grow slowly in culture. These results reveal that only cells whose MYC activity is increased by serum or oncogenic driver mutations depend on the 8q24 super-enhancer region, and indicate that targeting the activity of this element is a promising strategy of cancer chemoprevention and therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kashyap Dave
- Division of Functional Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Inderpreet Sur
- Division of Functional Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jian Yan
- Division of Functional Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jilin Zhang
- Division of Functional Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Eevi Kaasinen
- Division of Functional Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Fan Zhong
- Division of Functional Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Leander Blaas
- Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Xiaoze Li
- Center for Hematology and Regenerative Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Shabnam Kharazi
- Center for Hematology and Regenerative Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Charlotte Gustafsson
- Center for Hematology and Regenerative Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ayla De Paepe
- Center for Hematology and Regenerative Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Robert Månsson
- Center for Hematology and Regenerative Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Jussi Taipale
- Division of Functional Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Genome-Scale Biology Program, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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72
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Abstract
Wnt/β-catenin signaling is highly conserved throughout metazoans, is required for numerous essential events in development, and serves as a stem cell niche signal in many contexts. Misregulation of the pathway is linked to several human pathologies, most notably cancer. Wnt stimulation results in stabilization and nuclear import of β-catenin, which then acts as a transcriptional co-activator. Transcription factors of the T-cell family (TCF) are the best-characterized nuclear binding partners of β-catenin and mediators of Wnt gene regulation. This review provides an update on what is known about the transcriptional activation of Wnt target genes, highlighting recent work that modifies the conventional model. Wnt/β-catenin signaling regulates genes in a highly context-dependent manner, and the role of other signaling pathways and TCF co-factors in this process will be discussed. Understanding Wnt gene regulation has served to elucidate many biological roles of the pathway, and we will use examples from stem cell biology, metabolism, and evolution to illustrate some of the rich Wnt biology that has been uncovered.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ken M Cadigan
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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73
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Heidenreich B, Kumar R. Altered TERT promoter and other genomic regulatory elements: occurrence and impact. Int J Cancer 2017; 141:867-876. [PMID: 28407294 DOI: 10.1002/ijc.30735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2016] [Revised: 03/28/2017] [Accepted: 03/31/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Study of genetic alterations, inherited or acquired, that increase the risk or drive cancers and many other diseases had remained mostly confined to coding sequences of the human genome. Data from genome wide associations studies, development of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE), and a spurt in detection of driver somatic mutations have shifted focus towards noncoding regions of the human genome. The majority of genetic variants robustly associated with cancers and other syndromes identified through genome wide studies are located within noncoding regulatory regions of the genome. Genome wide techniques have put an emphasis on the role of three-dimensional chromosomal structures and cis-acting elements in regulations of different genes. The variants within noncoding genomic regions can potentially alter a number of regulatory elements including promoters, enhancers, insulators, noncoding long RNAs and others that affect cancers and various diseases through altered expression of critical genes. With effect of genetic alterations within regulatory elements dependent on other partner molecules like transcription factors and histone marks, an understanding of such modifications can potentially identify extended therapeutic targets. That concept has been augmented by the detection of driver somatic noncoding mutations within the promoter region of the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene in different cancers. The acquired somatic noncoding mutations within different regulatory elements are now being reported in different cancers with an increased regularity. In this review we discuss the occurrence and impact of germline and somatic alterations within the TERT promoter and other genomic regulatory elements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Heidenreich
- Division of Molecular Genetic Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Rajiv Kumar
- Division of Molecular Genetic Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.,German Consortium for Translational Research (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
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74
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Abraham BJ, Hnisz D, Weintraub AS, Kwiatkowski N, Li CH, Li Z, Weichert-Leahey N, Rahman S, Liu Y, Etchin J, Li B, Shen S, Lee TI, Zhang J, Look AT, Mansour MR, Young RA. Small genomic insertions form enhancers that misregulate oncogenes. Nat Commun 2017; 8:14385. [PMID: 28181482 PMCID: PMC5309821 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2016] [Accepted: 12/22/2016] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The non-coding regions of tumour cell genomes harbour a considerable fraction of total DNA sequence variation, but the functional contribution of these variants to tumorigenesis is ill-defined. Among these non-coding variants, somatic insertions are among the least well characterized due to challenges with interpreting short-read DNA sequences. Here, using a combination of Chip-seq to enrich enhancer DNA and a computational approach with multiple DNA alignment procedures, we identify enhancer-associated small insertion variants. Among the 102 tumour cell genomes we analyse, small insertions are frequently observed in enhancer DNA sequences near known oncogenes. Further study of one insertion, somatically acquired in primary leukaemia tumour genomes, reveals that it nucleates formation of an active enhancer that drives expression of the LMO2 oncogene. The approach described here to identify enhancer-associated small insertion variants provides a foundation for further study of these abnormalities across human cancers. Sequencing initiatives have detected multiple types of mutations in cancer. Here the authors, analysing enhancer-targeting sequence data, show that small insertions in transcriptional enhancers are frequently found near oncogenes, and demonstrate how one mutation deregulates expression of LMO2 in leukemia cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian J Abraham
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 455 Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
| | - Denes Hnisz
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 455 Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
| | - Abraham S Weintraub
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 455 Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.,Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Nicholas Kwiatkowski
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 455 Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
| | - Charles H Li
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 455 Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.,Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Zhaodong Li
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Nina Weichert-Leahey
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Sunniyat Rahman
- Department of Haematology, UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London WC1E 6DD, UK
| | - Yu Liu
- Department of Computational Biology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, USA
| | - Julia Etchin
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Benshang Li
- Key Laboratory of Pediatric Hematology &Oncology Ministry of Health, Department of Hematology &Oncology, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China.,Pediatric Translational Medicine Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
| | - Shuhong Shen
- Key Laboratory of Pediatric Hematology &Oncology Ministry of Health, Department of Hematology &Oncology, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China.,Pediatric Translational Medicine Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200127, China
| | - Tong Ihn Lee
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 455 Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
| | - Jinghui Zhang
- Department of Computational Biology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, USA
| | - A Thomas Look
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Marc R Mansour
- Department of Haematology, UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London WC1E 6DD, UK
| | - Richard A Young
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, 455 Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.,Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
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75
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Application of CRISPR-mediated genome engineering in cancer research. Cancer Lett 2017; 387:10-17. [DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2016.03.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2015] [Revised: 03/12/2016] [Accepted: 03/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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76
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Drew DA, Chin SM, Gilpin KK, Parziale M, Pond E, Schuck MM, Stewart K, Flagg M, Rawlings CA, Backman V, Carolan PJ, Chung DC, Colizzo FP, Freedman M, Gala M, Garber JJ, Huttenhower C, Kedrin D, Khalili H, Kwon DS, Markowitz SD, Milne GL, Nishioka NS, Richter JM, Roy HK, Staller K, Wang M, Chan AT. ASPirin Intervention for the REDuction of colorectal cancer risk (ASPIRED): a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials 2017; 18:50. [PMID: 28143522 PMCID: PMC5286828 DOI: 10.1186/s13063-016-1744-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2016] [Accepted: 12/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although aspirin is recommended for the prevention of colorectal cancer, the specific individuals for whom the benefits outweigh the risks are not clearly defined. Moreover, the precise mechanisms by which aspirin reduces the risk of cancer are unclear. We recently launched the ASPirin Intervention for the REDuction of colorectal cancer risk (ASPIRED) trial to address these uncertainties. METHODS/DESIGN ASPIRED is a prospective, double-blind, multidose, placebo-controlled, biomarker clinical trial of aspirin use in individuals previously diagnosed with colorectal adenoma. Individuals (n = 180) will be randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to low-dose (81 mg/day) or standard-dose (325 mg/day) aspirin or placebo. At two study visits, participants will provide lifestyle, dietary and biometric data in addition to urine, saliva and blood specimens. Stool, grossly normal colorectal mucosal biopsies and cytology brushings will be collected during a flexible sigmoidoscopy without bowel preparation. The study will examine the effect of aspirin on urinary prostaglandin metabolites (PGE-M; primary endpoint), plasma inflammatory markers (macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1)), colonic expression of transcription factor binding (transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2)), colonocyte gene expression, including hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase 15-(NAD) (HPGD) and those that encode Wnt signaling proteins, colonic cellular nanocytology and oral and gut microbial composition and function. DISCUSSION Aspirin may prevent colorectal cancer through multiple, interrelated mechanisms. The ASPIRED trial will scrutinize these pathways and investigate putative mechanistically based risk-stratification biomarkers. TRIAL REGISTRATION This protocol is registered with the U.S. National Institutes of Health trial registry, ClinicalTrials.gov, under the identifier NCT02394769 . Registered on 16 March 2015.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A. Drew
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Samantha M. Chin
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Katherine K. Gilpin
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Melanie Parziale
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Emily Pond
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Madeline M. Schuck
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Kathleen Stewart
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Meaghan Flagg
- The Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA USA
| | | | - Vadim Backman
- McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL USA
| | - Peter J. Carolan
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Daniel C. Chung
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Francis P. Colizzo
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | | | - Manish Gala
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - John J. Garber
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Curtis Huttenhower
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA USA
| | - Dmitriy Kedrin
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Hamed Khalili
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Douglas S. Kwon
- The Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA USA
| | - Sanford D. Markowitz
- Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH USA
| | - Ginger L. Milne
- Eicosanoid Core Laboratory, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN USA
| | - Norman S. Nishioka
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - James M. Richter
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Hemant K. Roy
- Section of Gastroenterology, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA USA
| | - Kyle Staller
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Molin Wang
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Andrew T. Chan
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
- Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
- Division of Gastroenterology and Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, GRJ-825C, Boston, MA 02114 USA
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77
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The NOTCH1-MYC highway toward T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blood 2017; 129:1124-1133. [PMID: 28115368 DOI: 10.1182/blood-2016-09-692582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 151] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2016] [Accepted: 11/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a highly proliferative hematologic malignancy that results from the transformation of immature T-cell progenitors. Aberrant cell growth and proliferation in T-ALL lymphoblasts are sustained by activation of strong oncogenic drivers promoting cell anabolism and cell cycle progression. Oncogenic NOTCH signaling, which is activated in more than 65% of T-ALL patients by activating mutations in the NOTCH1 gene, has emerged as a major regulator of leukemia cell growth and metabolism. T-ALL NOTCH1 mutations result in ligand-independent and sustained NOTCH1-receptor signaling, which translates into activation of a broad transcriptional program dominated by upregulation of genes involved in anabolic pathways. Among these, the MYC oncogene plays a major role in NOTCH1-induced transformation. As result, the oncogenic activity of NOTCH1 in T-ALL is strictly dependent on MYC upregulation, which makes the NOTCH1-MYC regulatory circuit an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of T-ALL.
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78
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Symmons O, Pan L, Remeseiro S, Aktas T, Klein F, Huber W, Spitz F. The Shh Topological Domain Facilitates the Action of Remote Enhancers by Reducing the Effects of Genomic Distances. Dev Cell 2016; 39:529-543. [PMID: 27867070 PMCID: PMC5142843 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2016.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 150] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2016] [Revised: 08/01/2016] [Accepted: 10/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Gene expression often requires interaction between promoters and distant enhancers, which occur within the context of highly organized topologically associating domains (TADs). Using a series of engineered chromosomal rearrangements at the Shh locus, we carried out an extensive fine-scale characterization of the factors that govern the long-range regulatory interactions controlling Shh expression. We show that Shh enhancers act pervasively, yet not uniformly, throughout the TAD. Importantly, changing intra-TAD distances had no impact on Shh expression. In contrast, inversions disrupting the TAD altered global folding of the region and prevented regulatory contacts in a distance-dependent manner. Our data indicate that the Shh TAD promotes distance-independent contacts between distant regions that would otherwise interact only sporadically, enabling functional communication between them. In large genomes where genomic distances per se can limit regulatory interactions, this function of TADs could be as essential for gene expression as the formation of insulated neighborhoods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Orsolya Symmons
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Leslie Pan
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Silvia Remeseiro
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Tugce Aktas
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Felix Klein
- Genome Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Huber
- Genome Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - François Spitz
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany; Genome Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
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79
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Sze CC, Shilatifard A. MLL3/MLL4/COMPASS Family on Epigenetic Regulation of Enhancer Function and Cancer. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med 2016; 6:cshperspect.a026427. [PMID: 27638352 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a026427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
During development, precise spatiotemporal patterns of gene expression are coordinately controlled by cis-regulatory modules known as enhancers. Their crucial role in development helped spur numerous studies aiming to elucidate the functional properties of enhancers within their physiological and disease contexts. In recent years, the role of enhancer malfunction in tissue-specific tumorigenesis is increasingly investigated. Here, we direct our focus to two primary players in enhancer regulation and their role in cancer pathogenesis: MLL3 and MLL4, members of the COMPASS family of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methyltransferases, and their complex-specific subunit UTX, a histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27) demethylase. We review the most recent evidence on the underlying roles of MLL3/MLL4 and UTX in cancer and highlight key outstanding questions to help drive future research and contribute to our fundamental understanding of cancer and facilitate identification of therapeutic opportunities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christie C Sze
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and Robert H. Lurie NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois 60611
| | - Ali Shilatifard
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and Robert H. Lurie NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois 60611
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80
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Grampp S, Platt JL, Lauer V, Salama R, Kranz F, Neumann VK, Wach S, Stöhr C, Hartmann A, Eckardt KU, Ratcliffe PJ, Mole DR, Schödel J. Genetic variation at the 8q24.21 renal cancer susceptibility locus affects HIF binding to a MYC enhancer. Nat Commun 2016; 7:13183. [PMID: 27774982 PMCID: PMC5079059 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2015] [Accepted: 09/08/2016] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is characterized by loss of function of the von Hippel-Lindau tumour suppressor (VHL) and unrestrained activation of hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs). Genetic and epigenetic determinants have an impact on HIF pathways. A recent genome-wide association study on renal cancer susceptibility identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in an intergenic region located between the oncogenes MYC and PVT1. Here using assays of chromatin conformation, allele-specific chromatin immunoprecipitation and genome editing, we show that HIF binding to this regulatory element is necessary to trans-activate MYC and PVT1 expression specifically in cells of renal tubular origins. Moreover, we demonstrate that the risk-associated polymorphisms increase chromatin accessibility and activity as well as HIF binding to the enhancer. These findings provide further evidence that genetic variation at HIF-binding sites modulates the oncogenic transcriptional output of the VHL-HIF axis and provide a functional explanation for the disease-associated effects of SNPs in ccRCC.
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MESH Headings
- Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear Translocator/genetics
- Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear Translocator/metabolism
- Binding Sites
- Carcinoma, Renal Cell/genetics
- Carcinoma, Renal Cell/metabolism
- Carcinoma, Renal Cell/pathology
- Chromatin/chemistry
- Chromatin/metabolism
- Chromatin Immunoprecipitation
- Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8
- DNA, Intergenic/genetics
- DNA, Intergenic/metabolism
- Enhancer Elements, Genetic
- Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
- Genetic Predisposition to Disease
- Genome-Wide Association Study
- Humans
- Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/genetics
- Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit/metabolism
- Kidney Neoplasms/genetics
- Kidney Neoplasms/metabolism
- Kidney Neoplasms/pathology
- Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
- Protein Binding
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc/genetics
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc/metabolism
- RNA, Long Noncoding/genetics
- RNA, Long Noncoding/metabolism
- Signal Transduction
- Von Hippel-Lindau Tumor Suppressor Protein/genetics
- Von Hippel-Lindau Tumor Suppressor Protein/metabolism
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Affiliation(s)
- Steffen Grampp
- Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen und Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Ulmenweg 18, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - James L. Platt
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, Henry Wellcome Building for Molecular Physiology, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Victoria Lauer
- Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen und Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Ulmenweg 18, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Rafik Salama
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, Henry Wellcome Building for Molecular Physiology, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Franziska Kranz
- Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen und Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Ulmenweg 18, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
- Department of Computer Science 9, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 11, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Viviana K. Neumann
- Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen und Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Ulmenweg 18, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Sven Wach
- Department of Urology, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen und Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Krankenhausstraße 12, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Christine Stöhr
- Institute of Pathology, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen und Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Krankenhausstraße 8-10, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Arndt Hartmann
- Institute of Pathology, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen und Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Krankenhausstraße 8-10, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Kai-Uwe Eckardt
- Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen und Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Ulmenweg 18, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Peter J. Ratcliffe
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, Henry Wellcome Building for Molecular Physiology, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - David R. Mole
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, Henry Wellcome Building for Molecular Physiology, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Johannes Schödel
- Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen und Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Ulmenweg 18, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
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81
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Cico A, Andrieu-Soler C, Soler E. Enhancers and their dynamics during hematopoietic differentiation and emerging strategies for therapeutic action. FEBS Lett 2016; 590:4084-4104. [DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.12424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2016] [Revised: 09/08/2016] [Accepted: 09/12/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alba Cico
- Inserm UMR967, CEA/DRF/iRCM; Fontenay-aux-Roses France
| | - Charlotte Andrieu-Soler
- Inserm UMR967, CEA/DRF/iRCM; Fontenay-aux-Roses France
- CNRS; Institute of Molecular Genetics (IGMM); Montpellier France
| | - Eric Soler
- Inserm UMR967, CEA/DRF/iRCM; Fontenay-aux-Roses France
- CNRS; Institute of Molecular Genetics (IGMM); Montpellier France
- Laboratory of Excellence GR-Ex; Paris France
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82
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Babu D, Fullwood MJ. 3D genome organization in health and disease: emerging opportunities in cancer translational medicine. Nucleus 2016; 6:382-93. [PMID: 26553406 PMCID: PMC4915485 DOI: 10.1080/19491034.2015.1106676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Organizing the DNA to fit inside a spatially constrained nucleus is a challenging problem that has attracted the attention of scientists across all disciplines of science. Increasing evidence has demonstrated the importance of genome geometry in several cellular contexts that affect human health. Among several approaches, the application of sequencing technologies has substantially increased our understanding of this intricate organization, also known as chromatin interactions. These structures are involved in transcriptional control of gene expression by connecting distal regulatory elements with their target genes and regulating co-transcriptional splicing. In addition, chromatin interactions play pivotal roles in the organization of the genome, the formation of structural variants, recombination, DNA replication and cell division. Mutations in factors that regulate chromatin interactions lead to the development of pathological conditions, for example, cancer. In this review, we discuss key findings that have shed light on the importance of these structures in the context of cancers, and highlight the applicability of chromatin interactions as potential biomarkers in molecular medicine as well as therapeutic implications of chromatin interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepak Babu
- a Cancer Science Institute of Singapore: Singapore; National University of Singapore ; Singapore
| | - Melissa J Fullwood
- a Cancer Science Institute of Singapore: Singapore; National University of Singapore ; Singapore.,b School of Biological Sciences; Nanyang Technological University ; Singapore.,c Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology; Agency for Science; Technology and Research (A*STAR) ; Singapore.,d Yale-NUS Liberal Arts College ; Singapore
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83
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Fulco CP, Munschauer M, Anyoha R, Munson G, Grossman SR, Perez EM, Kane M, Cleary B, Lander ES, Engreitz JM. Systematic mapping of functional enhancer-promoter connections with CRISPR interference. Science 2016; 354:769-773. [PMID: 27708057 DOI: 10.1126/science.aag2445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 390] [Impact Index Per Article: 48.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2016] [Accepted: 09/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Gene expression in mammals is regulated by noncoding elements that can affect physiology and disease, yet the functions and target genes of most noncoding elements remain unknown. We present a high-throughput approach that uses clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) interference (CRISPRi) to discover regulatory elements and identify their target genes. We assess >1 megabase of sequence in the vicinity of two essential transcription factors, MYC and GATA1, and identify nine distal enhancers that control gene expression and cellular proliferation. Quantitative features of chromatin state and chromosome conformation distinguish the seven enhancers that regulate MYC from other elements that do not, suggesting a strategy for predicting enhancer-promoter connectivity. This CRISPRi-based approach can be applied to dissect transcriptional networks and interpret the contributions of noncoding genetic variation to human disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles P Fulco
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | | | - Rockwell Anyoha
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Glen Munson
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Sharon R Grossman
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.,Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.,Department of Biology, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | | | - Michael Kane
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Brian Cleary
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.,Computational and Systems Biology Program, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Eric S Lander
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. .,Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Department of Biology, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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84
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Cesaratto L, Grisard E, Coan M, Zandonà L, De Mattia E, Poletto E, Cecchin E, Puglisi F, Canzonieri V, Mucignat MT, Zucchetto A, Stocco G, Colombatti A, Nicoloso MS, Spizzo R. BNC2 is a putative tumor suppressor gene in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma and impacts cell survival after oxidative stress. Cell Death Dis 2016; 7:e2374. [PMID: 27899818 PMCID: PMC5059877 DOI: 10.1038/cddis.2016.278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2016] [Revised: 07/04/2016] [Accepted: 07/29/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Rs3814113 is the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) showing the strongest association with high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) incidence and is located in an intergenic region about 44 kb downstream of basonuclin 2 (BNC2) gene. Lifetime number of ovulations is associated with increased risk to develop HGSOC, probably because of cell damage of extrauterine Müllerian epithelium by ovulation-induced oxidative stress. However, the impact of low-penetrance HGSOC risk alleles (e.g. rs3814113) on the damage induced by oxidative stress remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether rs3814113 genetic interval regulates BNC2 expression and whether BNC2 expression levels impact on cell survival after oxidative stress. To do this, we analyzed gene expression levels of BNC2 first in HGSOC data sets and then in an isogenic cell line that we engineered to carry a 5 kb deletion around rs3814113. Finally, we silenced BNC2 and measured surviving cells after hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) treatment to simulate oxidative stress after ovulation. In this paper, we describe that BNC2 expression levels are reduced in HGSOC samples compared with control samples, and that BNC2 expression levels decrease following oxidative stress and ovulation in vitro and in vivo, respectively. Moreover, deletion of 5 kb surrounding rs3814113 decreases BNC2 expression levels in an isogenic cell line, and silencing of BNC2 expression levels increases cell survival after H2O2 treatment. Altogether, our findings suggest that the intergenic region located around rs3814113 regulates BNC2 expression, which in turn affects cell survival after oxidative stress response. Indeed, HGSOC samples present lower BNC2 expression levels that probably, in the initial phases of oncogenic transformation, conferred resistance to oxidative stress and ultimately reduced the clearance of cells with oxidative-induced damages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Cesaratto
- Division of Experimental Oncology2, Department of Translational Research, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO Aviano), National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
| | - Eleonora Grisard
- Division of Experimental Oncology2, Department of Translational Research, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO Aviano), National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
| | - Michela Coan
- Division of Experimental Oncology2, Department of Translational Research, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO Aviano), National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
- Department of Life and Reproduction Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Luigi Zandonà
- Division of Experimental Oncology2, Department of Translational Research, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO Aviano), National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
| | - Elena De Mattia
- Division of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Translational Research Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO Aviano), National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
| | - Elena Poletto
- Department of Oncology, University Hospital of Udine, Udine, Italy
| | - Erika Cecchin
- Division of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Translational Research Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO Aviano), National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
| | - Fabio Puglisi
- Department of Oncology, University Hospital of Udine, Udine, Italy
- Department of Medical and Biological Sciences, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Canzonieri
- Division of Pathology, Department of Translational Research, CRO Aviano National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
| | - Maria Teresa Mucignat
- Division of Experimental Oncology2, Department of Translational Research, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO Aviano), National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
| | - Antonella Zucchetto
- Clinical and Experimental Onco-Hematology Unit, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO Aviano), National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
| | - Gabriele Stocco
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
| | - Alfonso Colombatti
- Division of Experimental Oncology2, Department of Translational Research, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO Aviano), National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
| | - Milena S Nicoloso
- Division of Experimental Oncology2, Department of Translational Research, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO Aviano), National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
| | - Riccardo Spizzo
- Division of Experimental Oncology2, Department of Translational Research, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO Aviano), National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy
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85
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Abstract
Mutations in enhancer-associated chromatin-modifying components and genomic alterations in non-coding regions of the genome occur frequently in cancer, and other diseases pointing to the importance of enhancer fidelity to ensure proper tissue homeostasis. In this review, I will use specific examples to discuss how mutations in chromatin-modifying factors might affect enhancer activity of disease-relevant genes. I will then consider direct evidence from single nucleotide polymorphisms, small insertions, or deletions but also larger genomic rearrangements such as duplications, deletions, translocations, and inversions of specific enhancers to demonstrate how they have the ability to impact enhancer activity of disease genes including oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Considering that the scientific community only fairly recently has begun to focus its attention on "enhancer malfunction" in disease, I propose that multiple new enhancer-regulated and disease-relevant processes will be uncovered in the near future that will constitute the mechanistic basis for novel therapeutic avenues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hans-Martin Herz
- Department of Cell & Molecular Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
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86
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Zhao X, Wei X, Zhao L, Shi L, Cheng J, Kang S, Zhang H, Zhang J, Li L, Zhang H, Zhao W. The rs6983267 SNP and long non-coding RNA CARLo-5 are associated with endometrial carcinoma. ENVIRONMENTAL AND MOLECULAR MUTAGENESIS 2016; 57:508-515. [PMID: 27432114 DOI: 10.1002/em.22031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2016] [Revised: 06/14/2016] [Accepted: 06/17/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs6983267 and cancer-associated region long non-coding RNA (CARLo-5) are associated with various human cancers. This study aimed to investigate the expression of CARLo-5 in endometrial carcinoma (EC) and its relationship with clinicopathological features and patient survival. The association of the rs6983267 SNP with EC risk and its involvement in the regulation of CARLo-5 expression in EC were investigated. The rs6983267 SNP was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ligase detection reaction in 543 EC patients and 584 controls. The expression of CARLo-5 in 108 EC tissues and 66 normal endometrial tissues (NETs) was determined using quantitative real-time PCR. The genotype and allele distributions of the rs6983267 SNP differed significantly between patients and controls. There was a significant correlation between the rs6983267 genotypes and lymph node metastasis of EC patients (P = 0.026). CARLo-5 expression was significantly higher in EC tissues than in NETs (P < 0.001) and significantly associated with FIGO stage (P = 0.029) and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.030). Patients with high CARLo-5 expression had significantly shorter overall survival than those with low CARLo-5 expression (P = 0.003). The rs6983267 genotype was significantly correlated with CARLo-5 expression (P < 0.05). In conclusion, CARLo-5 was identified as a pro-oncogenic lncRNA that may play an important role in EC progression and represent a prognostic marker for EC. The expression of CARLo-5 was significantly correlated with the rs6983267 genotype associated with increased susceptibility to EC. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 57:508-515, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiwa Zhao
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fourth Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Xurui Wei
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fourth Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Lianmei Zhao
- Tumor Research Institute, Fourth Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Li Shi
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fourth Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Jianxin Cheng
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fourth Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Shan Kang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fourth Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Hui Zhang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fourth Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Jun Zhang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fourth Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Li Li
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fourth Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Haibo Zhang
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fourth Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Wei Zhao
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fourth Hospital, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
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87
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Abstract
Enhancer elements function as the logic gates of the genetic regulatory circuitry. One of their most important functions is the integration of extracellular signals with intracellular cell fate information to generate cell type-specific transcriptional responses. Mutations occurring in cancer often misregulate enhancers that normally control the signal-dependent expression of growth-related genes. This misregulation can result from trans-acting mechanisms, such as activation of the transcription factors or epigenetic regulators that control enhancer activity, or can be caused in cis by direct mutations that alter the activity of the enhancer or its target gene specificity. These processes can generate tumour type-specific super-enhancers and establish a 'locked' gene regulatory state that drives the uncontrolled proliferation of cancer cells. Here, we review the role of enhancers in cancer, and their potential as therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inderpreet Sur
- Division of Functional Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-171 77, Sweden
| | - Jussi Taipale
- Division of Functional Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-171 77, Sweden
- Genome-Scale Biology Program, University of Helsinki, Biomedicum, PO Box 63, Helsinki 00014, Finland
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88
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Du M, Jiao S, Bien SA, Gala M, Abecasis G, Bezieau S, Brenner H, Butterbach K, Caan BJ, Carlson CS, Casey G, Chang-Claude J, Conti DV, Curtis KR, Duggan D, Gallinger S, Haile RW, Harrison TA, Hayes RB, Hoffmeister M, Hopper JL, Hudson TJ, Jenkins MA, Küry S, Le Marchand L, Leal SM, Newcomb PA, Nickerson DA, Potter JD, Schoen RE, Schumacher FR, Seminara D, Slattery ML, Hsu L, Chan AT, White E, Berndt SI, Peters U. Fine-Mapping of Common Genetic Variants Associated with Colorectal Tumor Risk Identified Potential Functional Variants. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0157521. [PMID: 27379672 PMCID: PMC4933364 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2015] [Accepted: 06/01/2016] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified many common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with colorectal cancer risk. These SNPs may tag correlated variants with biological importance. Fine-mapping around GWAS loci can facilitate detection of functional candidates and additional independent risk variants. We analyzed 11,900 cases and 14,311 controls in the Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium and the Colon Cancer Family Registry. To fine-map genomic regions containing all known common risk variants, we imputed high-density genetic data from the 1000 Genomes Project. We tested single-variant associations with colorectal tumor risk for all variants spanning genomic regions 250-kb upstream or downstream of 31 GWAS-identified SNPs (index SNPs). We queried the University of California, Santa Cruz Genome Browser to examine evidence for biological function. Index SNPs did not show the strongest association signals with colorectal tumor risk in their respective genomic regions. Bioinformatics analysis of SNPs showing smaller P-values in each region revealed 21 functional candidates in 12 loci (5q31.1, 8q24, 11q13.4, 11q23, 12p13.32, 12q24.21, 14q22.2, 15q13, 18q21, 19q13.1, 20p12.3, and 20q13.33). We did not observe evidence of additional independent association signals in GWAS-identified regions. Our results support the utility of integrating data from comprehensive fine-mapping with expanding publicly available genomic databases to help clarify GWAS associations and identify functional candidates that warrant more onerous laboratory follow-up. Such efforts may aid the eventual discovery of disease-causing variant(s).
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengmeng Du
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States of America
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States of America
- * E-mail: (MD); (UP)
| | - Shuo Jiao
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - Stephanie A. Bien
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States of America
- School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - Manish Gala
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Goncalo Abecasis
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America
| | | | - Hermann Brenner
- Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Katja Butterbach
- Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Bette J. Caan
- Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program of Northern California, Oakland, CA, United States of America
| | - Christopher S. Carlson
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - Graham Casey
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
| | - Jenny Chang-Claude
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - David V. Conti
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
| | - Keith R. Curtis
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - David Duggan
- Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Steven Gallinger
- Department of Surgery, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Robert W. Haile
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
| | - Tabitha A. Harrison
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - Richard B. Hayes
- Division of Epidemiology, Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Michael Hoffmeister
- Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - John L. Hopper
- Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Thomas J. Hudson
- Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Departments of Medical Biophysics and Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Mark A. Jenkins
- Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Sébastien Küry
- Service de Génétique Médicale, CHU Nantes, Nantes, France
| | - Loic Le Marchand
- Epidemiology Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI, United States of America
| | - Suzanne M. Leal
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Polly A. Newcomb
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States of America
- School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - Deborah A. Nickerson
- Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - John D. Potter
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States of America
- School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America
- Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Robert E. Schoen
- Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America
| | - Fredrick R. Schumacher
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States of America
| | - Daniela Seminara
- Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, United States of America
| | - Martha L. Slattery
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City, UT, United States of America
| | - Li Hsu
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - Andrew T. Chan
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Emily White
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States of America
- School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - Sonja I. Berndt
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, United States of America
| | - Ulrike Peters
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States of America
- School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America
- * E-mail: (MD); (UP)
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89
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Silva TC, Colaprico A, Olsen C, D'Angelo F, Bontempi G, Ceccarelli M, Noushmehr H. TCGA Workflow: Analyze cancer genomics and epigenomics data using Bioconductor packages. F1000Res 2016; 5:1542. [PMID: 28232861 PMCID: PMC5302158 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.8923.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/24/2016] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Biotechnological advances in sequencing have led to an explosion of publicly available data via large international consortia such as
The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA),
The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE), and
The NIH Roadmap Epigenomics Mapping Consortium (Roadmap). These projects have provided unprecedented opportunities to interrogate the epigenome of cultured cancer cell lines as well as normal and tumor tissues with high genomic resolution. The
Bioconductor project offers more than 1,000 open-source software and statistical packages to analyze high-throughput genomic data. However, most packages are designed for specific data types (e.g. expression, epigenetics, genomics) and there is no one comprehensive tool that provides a complete integrative analysis of the resources and data provided by all three public projects. A need to create an integration of these different analyses was recently proposed. In this workflow, we provide a series of biologically focused integrative analyses of different molecular data. We describe how to download, process and prepare TCGA data and by harnessing several key Bioconductor packages, we describe how to extract biologically meaningful genomic and epigenomic data. Using Roadmap and ENCODE data, we provide a work plan to identify biologically relevant functional epigenomic elements associated with cancer. To illustrate our workflow, we analyzed two types of brain tumors: low-grade glioma (LGG) versus high-grade glioma (glioblastoma multiform or GBM). This workflow introduces the following Bioconductor packages:
AnnotationHub,
ChIPSeeker,
ComplexHeatmap,
pathview,
ELMER,
GAIA,
MINET,
RTCGAToolbox,
TCGAbiolinks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiago C Silva
- Department of Genetics, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Antonio Colaprico
- Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, Brussels, Belgium; Machine Learning Group, ULB, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Catharina Olsen
- Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, Brussels, Belgium; Machine Learning Group, ULB, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Fulvio D'Angelo
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy; Biogem, Istituto di Ricerche Genetiche Gaetano Salvatore, Avellino, Italy
| | - Gianluca Bontempi
- Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, Brussels, Belgium; Machine Learning Group, ULB, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
| | | | - Houtan Noushmehr
- Department of Genetics, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil; Department of Neurosurgery, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA
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90
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Silva TC, Colaprico A, Olsen C, D'Angelo F, Bontempi G, Ceccarelli M, Noushmehr H. TCGA Workflow: Analyze cancer genomics and epigenomics data using Bioconductor packages. F1000Res 2016. [PMID: 28232861 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.8923.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Biotechnological advances in sequencing have led to an explosion of publicly available data via large international consortia such as The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE), and The NIH Roadmap Epigenomics Mapping Consortium (Roadmap). These projects have provided unprecedented opportunities to interrogate the epigenome of cultured cancer cell lines as well as normal and tumor tissues with high genomic resolution. The Bioconductor project offers more than 1,000 open-source software and statistical packages to analyze high-throughput genomic data. However, most packages are designed for specific data types (e.g. expression, epigenetics, genomics) and there is no one comprehensive tool that provides a complete integrative analysis of the resources and data provided by all three public projects. A need to create an integration of these different analyses was recently proposed. In this workflow, we provide a series of biologically focused integrative analyses of different molecular data. We describe how to download, process and prepare TCGA data and by harnessing several key Bioconductor packages, we describe how to extract biologically meaningful genomic and epigenomic data. Using Roadmap and ENCODE data, we provide a work plan to identify biologically relevant functional epigenomic elements associated with cancer. To illustrate our workflow, we analyzed two types of brain tumors: low-grade glioma (LGG) versus high-grade glioma (glioblastoma multiform or GBM). This workflow introduces the following Bioconductor packages: AnnotationHub, ChIPSeeker, ComplexHeatmap, pathview, ELMER, GAIA, MINET, RTCGAToolbox, TCGAbiolinks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiago C Silva
- Department of Genetics, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Antonio Colaprico
- Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, Brussels, Belgium; Machine Learning Group, ULB, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Catharina Olsen
- Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, Brussels, Belgium; Machine Learning Group, ULB, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Fulvio D'Angelo
- Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy; Biogem, Istituto di Ricerche Genetiche Gaetano Salvatore, Avellino, Italy
| | - Gianluca Bontempi
- Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, Brussels, Belgium; Machine Learning Group, ULB, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy
| | | | - Houtan Noushmehr
- Department of Genetics, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil; Department of Neurosurgery, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA
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91
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Spitz F. Gene regulation at a distance: From remote enhancers to 3D regulatory ensembles. Semin Cell Dev Biol 2016; 57:57-67. [PMID: 27364700 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2016.06.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2015] [Accepted: 06/24/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Large-scale identification of elements associated with gene expression revealed that many of them are located extremely far from gene transcriptional start sites. We review here the growing evidence that show that distal cis-acting elements provide key instructions to genes, as genetic variation affecting them is growingly identified as an importance source of phenotypic diversity and disease. We discuss the different mechanisms that allow these elements to exert their regulatory functions, in a robust and specific manner, despite the large genomic distances separating them from their target genes. We particularly focus on the role of the structural organization of the genome in guiding such regulatory interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- François Spitz
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany; Genome Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Developmental Biology and Stem Cells, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
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92
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IDH-mutant glioma specific association of rs55705857 located at 8q24.21 involves MYC deregulation. Sci Rep 2016; 6:27569. [PMID: 27282637 PMCID: PMC4901315 DOI: 10.1038/srep27569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2015] [Accepted: 05/16/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The single nucleotide polymorphism rs55705857, located in a non-coding but evolutionarily conserved region at 8q24.21, is strongly associated with IDH-mutant glioma development and was suggested to be a causal variant. However, the molecular mechanism underlying this association has remained unknown. With a case control study in 285 gliomas, 316 healthy controls, 380 systemic cancers, 31 other CNS-tumors, and 120 IDH-mutant cartilaginous tumors, we identified that the association was specific to IDH-mutant gliomas. Odds-ratios were 9.25 (5.17–16.52; 95% CI) for IDH-mutated gliomas and 12.85 (5.94–27.83; 95% CI) for IDH-mutated, 1p/19q co-deleted gliomas. Decreasing strength with increasing anaplasia implied a modulatory effect. No somatic mutations were noted at this locus in 114 blood-tumor pairs, nor was there a copy number difference between risk-allele and only-ancestral allele carriers. CCDC26 RNA-expression was rare and not different between the two groups. There were only minor subtype-specific differences in common glioma driver genes. RNA sequencing and LC-MS/MS comparisons pointed to significantly altered MYC-signaling. Baseline enhancer activity of the conserved region specifically on the MYC promoter and its further positive modulation by the SNP risk-allele was shown in vitro. Our findings implicate MYC deregulation as the underlying cause of the observed association.
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93
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Painter JN, Kaufmann S, O'Mara TA, Hillman KM, Sivakumaran H, Darabi H, Cheng THT, Pearson J, Kazakoff S, Waddell N, Hoivik EA, Goode EL, Scott RJ, Tomlinson I, Dunning AM, Easton DF, French JD, Salvesen HB, Pollock PM, Thompson DJ, Spurdle AB, Edwards SL. A Common Variant at the 14q32 Endometrial Cancer Risk Locus Activates AKT1 through YY1 Binding. Am J Hum Genet 2016; 98:1159-1169. [PMID: 27259051 PMCID: PMC4908177 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.04.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2016] [Accepted: 04/19/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A recent meta-analysis of multiple genome-wide association and follow-up endometrial cancer case-control datasets identified a novel genetic risk locus for this disease at chromosome 14q32.33. To prioritize the functional SNP(s) and target gene(s) at this locus, we employed an in silico fine-mapping approach using genotyped and imputed SNP data for 6,608 endometrial cancer cases and 37,925 controls of European ancestry. Association and functional analyses provide evidence that the best candidate causal SNP is rs2494737. Multiple experimental analyses show that SNP rs2494737 maps to a silencer element located within AKT1, a member of the PI3K/AKT/MTOR intracellular signaling pathway activated in endometrial tumors. The rs2494737 risk A allele creates a YY1 transcription factor-binding site and abrogates the silencer activity in luciferase assays, an effect mimicked by transfection of YY1 siRNA. Our findings suggest YY1 is a positive regulator of AKT1, mediating the stimulatory effects of rs2494737 increasing endometrial cancer risk. Identification of an endometrial cancer risk allele within a member of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, more commonly activated in tumors by somatic alterations, raises the possibility that well tolerated inhibitors targeting this pathway could be candidates for evaluation as chemopreventive agents in individuals at high risk of developing endometrial cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jodie N Painter
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Susanne Kaufmann
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Tracy A O'Mara
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Kristine M Hillman
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Haran Sivakumaran
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Hatef Darabi
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden
| | - Timothy H T Cheng
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - John Pearson
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Stephen Kazakoff
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Nicola Waddell
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Erling A Hoivik
- Centre for Cancer Biomarkers, Department of Clinical Science, The University of Bergen, N5020 Bergen, Norway; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Haukeland University Hospital, N5021 Bergen, Norway
| | - Ellen L Goode
- Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | - Rodney J Scott
- Hunter Medical Research Institute, John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, NSW 2305, Australia; Pathology North (Newcastle) John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, NSW 2305, Australia; Centre for Information Based Medicine, University of Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia; School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
| | - Ian Tomlinson
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Alison M Dunning
- Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 8RN, UK
| | - Douglas F Easton
- Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 8RN, UK; Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 8RN, UK
| | - Juliet D French
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Helga B Salvesen
- Centre for Cancer Biomarkers, Department of Clinical Science, The University of Bergen, N5020 Bergen, Norway; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Haukeland University Hospital, N5021 Bergen, Norway
| | - Pamela M Pollock
- Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation and School of Biomedical Science, Queensland University of Technology at the Translation Research Institute, Brisbane 4102, Australia
| | - Deborah J Thompson
- Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 8RN, UK
| | - Amanda B Spurdle
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Stacey L Edwards
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD 4006, Australia.
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94
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The MYC 3' Wnt-Responsive Element Drives Oncogenic MYC Expression in Human Colorectal Cancer Cells. Cancers (Basel) 2016; 8:cancers8050052. [PMID: 27223305 PMCID: PMC4880869 DOI: 10.3390/cancers8050052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2016] [Revised: 05/11/2016] [Accepted: 05/18/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutations in components of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway drive colorectal cancer (CRC) by deregulating expression of downstream target genes including the c-MYC proto-oncogene (MYC). The critical regulatory DNA enhancer elements that control oncogenic MYC expression in CRC have yet to be fully elucidated. In previous reports, we correlated T-cell factor (TCF) and β-catenin binding to the MYC 3′ Wnt responsive DNA element (MYC 3′ WRE) with MYC expression in HCT116 cells. Here we used CRISPR/Cas9 to determine whether this element is a critical driver of MYC. We isolated a clonal population of cells that contained a deletion of a single TCF binding element (TBE) within the MYC 3′ WRE. This deletion reduced TCF/β-catenin binding to this regulatory element and decreased MYC expression. Using RNA-Seq analysis, we found altered expression of genes that regulate metabolic processes, many of which are known MYC target genes. We found that 3′ WRE-Mut cells displayed a reduced proliferative capacity, diminished clonogenic growth, and a decreased potential to form tumors in vivo. These findings indicate that the MYC 3′ WRE is a critical driver of oncogenic MYC expression and suggest that this element may serve as a therapeutic target for CRC.
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95
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Stracquadanio G, Wang X, Wallace M, Grawenda AM, Zhang P, Hewitt J, Zeron-Medina J, Castro-Giner F, Tomlinson IP, Goding CR, Cygan KJ, Fairbrother WG, Thomas LF, Sætrom P, Gemignani F, Landi S, Schuster-Boeckler B, Bell DA, Bond GL. The importance of p53 pathway genetics in inherited and somatic cancer genomes. Nat Rev Cancer 2016; 16:251-65. [PMID: 27009395 PMCID: PMC6854702 DOI: 10.1038/nrc.2016.15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Decades of research have shown that mutations in the p53 stress response pathway affect the incidence of diverse cancers more than mutations in other pathways. However, most evidence is limited to somatic mutations and rare inherited mutations. Using newly abundant genomic data, we demonstrate that commonly inherited genetic variants in the p53 pathway also affect the incidence of a broad range of cancers more than variants in other pathways. The cancer-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the p53 pathway have strikingly similar genetic characteristics to well-studied p53 pathway cancer-causing somatic mutations. Our results enable insights into p53-mediated tumour suppression in humans and into p53 pathway-based cancer surveillance and treatment strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Stracquadanio
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Xuting Wang
- Environmental Genomics Group, Genome Integrity and Structural Biology, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, USA
| | - Marsha Wallace
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Anna M. Grawenda
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Ping Zhang
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Juliet Hewitt
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Jorge Zeron-Medina
- Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, Oncology Department, Passeig de la Vall D’Hebron 119, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Francesc Castro-Giner
- Molecular and Population Genetics Laboratory, The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, United Kingdom
| | - Ian P. Tomlinson
- Molecular and Population Genetics Laboratory, The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, United Kingdom
| | - Colin R. Goding
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Kamil J. Cygan
- Center for Computational Molecular Biology, Brown University, 115 Waterman Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA
- Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry, Brown University, 70 Ship Street, Providence, RI 02903, USA
| | - William G. Fairbrother
- Center for Computational Molecular Biology, Brown University, 115 Waterman Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA
- Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry, Brown University, 70 Ship Street, Providence, RI 02903, USA
| | - Laurent F. Thomas
- Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian, University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Pål Sætrom
- Department of Computer and Information Science, Norwegian, University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
- Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian, University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Frederica Gemignani
- Genetics- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via Derna, 1, 56126 Pisa - Italy
| | - Stefano Landi
- Genetics- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via Derna, 1, 56126 Pisa - Italy
| | - Benjamin Schuster-Boeckler
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Douglas A. Bell
- Environmental Genomics Group, Genome Integrity and Structural Biology, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, USA
- Corresponding authors: . The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, The Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, The University of Oxford, Oxford, The United Kingdom. . Environmental Genomics Group, Genomic Integrity and Structural Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, MD C3-03, NIEHS, PO Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, The United States of America
| | - Gareth L. Bond
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
- Corresponding authors: . The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, The Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, The University of Oxford, Oxford, The United Kingdom. . Environmental Genomics Group, Genomic Integrity and Structural Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, MD C3-03, NIEHS, PO Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, The United States of America
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96
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Saint-André V, Federation AJ, Lin CY, Abraham BJ, Reddy J, Lee TI, Bradner JE, Young RA. Models of human core transcriptional regulatory circuitries. Genome Res 2016; 26:385-96. [PMID: 26843070 PMCID: PMC4772020 DOI: 10.1101/gr.197590.115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 190] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2015] [Accepted: 12/21/2015] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
A small set of core transcription factors (TFs) dominates control of the gene expression program in embryonic stem cells and other well-studied cellular models. These core TFs collectively regulate their own gene expression, thus forming an interconnected auto-regulatory loop that can be considered the core transcriptional regulatory circuitry (CRC) for that cell type. There is limited knowledge of core TFs, and thus models of core regulatory circuitry, for most cell types. We recently discovered that genes encoding known core TFs forming CRCs are driven by super-enhancers, which provides an opportunity to systematically predict CRCs in poorly studied cell types through super-enhancer mapping. Here, we use super-enhancer maps to generate CRC models for 75 human cell and tissue types. These core circuitry models should prove valuable for further investigating cell-type–specific transcriptional regulation in healthy and diseased cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Violaine Saint-André
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
| | - Alexander J Federation
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA
| | - Charles Y Lin
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA
| | - Brian J Abraham
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
| | - Jessica Reddy
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA; Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Tong Ihn Lee
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
| | - James E Bradner
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA; Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Richard A Young
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA; Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
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97
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Murakawa Y, Yoshihara M, Kawaji H, Nishikawa M, Zayed H, Suzuki H, FANTOM Consortium, Hayashizaki Y. Enhanced Identification of Transcriptional Enhancers Provides Mechanistic Insights into Diseases. Trends Genet 2016; 32:76-88. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2015.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2015] [Revised: 11/25/2015] [Accepted: 11/30/2015] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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98
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Tak YG, Hung Y, Yao L, Grimmer MR, Do A, Bhakta MS, O'Geen H, Segal DJ, Farnham PJ. Effects on the transcriptome upon deletion of a distal element cannot be predicted by the size of the H3K27Ac peak in human cells. Nucleic Acids Res 2016; 44:4123-33. [PMID: 26743005 PMCID: PMC4872074 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkv1530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2015] [Accepted: 12/21/2015] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with increased risk for colorectal cancer (CRC). A molecular understanding of the functional consequences of this genetic variation is complicated because most GWAS SNPs are located in non-coding regions. We used epigenomic information to identify H3K27Ac peaks in HCT116 colon cancer cells that harbor SNPs associated with an increased risk for CRC. Employing CRISPR/Cas9 nucleases, we deleted a CRC risk-associated H3K27Ac peak from HCT116 cells and observed large-scale changes in gene expression, resulting in decreased expression of many nearby genes. As a comparison, we showed that deletion of a robust H3K27Ac peak not associated with CRC had minimal effects on the transcriptome. Interestingly, although there is no H3K27Ac peak in HEK293 cells in the E7 region, deletion of this region in HEK293 cells decreased expression of several of the same genes that were downregulated in HCT116 cells, including the MYC oncogene. Accordingly, deletion of E7 causes changes in cell culture assays in HCT116 and HEK293 cells. In summary, we show that effects on the transcriptome upon deletion of a distal regulatory element cannot be predicted by the size or presence of an H3K27Ac peak.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Gyoung Tak
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Yuli Hung
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Lijing Yao
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Matthew R Grimmer
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Albert Do
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
| | - Mital S Bhakta
- Genome Center and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Henriette O'Geen
- Genome Center and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - David J Segal
- Genome Center and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Peggy J Farnham
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
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99
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Tak YG, Farnham PJ. Making sense of GWAS: using epigenomics and genome engineering to understand the functional relevance of SNPs in non-coding regions of the human genome. Epigenetics Chromatin 2015; 8:57. [PMID: 26719772 PMCID: PMC4696349 DOI: 10.1186/s13072-015-0050-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 206] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2015] [Accepted: 12/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Considerable progress towards an understanding of complex diseases has been made in recent years due to the development of high-throughput genotyping technologies. Using microarrays that contain millions of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), Genome Wide Association Studies (GWASs) have identified SNPs that are associated with many complex diseases or traits. For example, as of February 2015, 2111 association studies have identified 15,396 SNPs for various diseases and traits, with the number of identified SNP-disease/trait associations increasing rapidly in recent years. However, it has been difficult for researchers to understand disease risk from GWAS results. This is because most GWAS-identified SNPs are located in non-coding regions of the genome. It is important to consider that the GWAS-identified SNPs serve only as representatives for all SNPs in the same haplotype block, and it is equally likely that other SNPs in high linkage disequilibrium (LD) with the array-identified SNPs are causal for the disease. Because it was hoped that disease-associated coding variants would be identified if the true casual SNPs were known, investigators have expanded their analyses using LD calculation and fine-mapping. However, such analyses also identified risk-associated SNPs located in non-coding regions. Thus, the GWAS field has been left with the conundrum as to how a single-nucleotide change in a non-coding region could confer increased risk for a specific disease. One possible answer to this puzzle is that the variant SNPs cause changes in gene expression levels rather than causing changes in protein function. This review provides a description of (1) advances in genomic and epigenomic approaches that incorporate functional annotation of regulatory elements to prioritize the disease risk-associated SNPs that are located in non-coding regions of the genome for follow-up studies, (2) various computational tools that aid in identifying gene expression changes caused by the non-coding disease-associated SNPs, and (3) experimental approaches to identify target genes of, and study the biological phenotypes conferred by, non-coding disease-associated SNPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Gyoung Tak
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089 USA
| | - Peggy J Farnham
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089 USA
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100
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Shah M, Rennoll SA, Raup-Konsavage WM, Yochum GS. A dynamic exchange of TCF3 and TCF4 transcription factors controls MYC expression in colorectal cancer cells. Cell Cycle 2015; 14:323-32. [PMID: 25659031 DOI: 10.4161/15384101.2014.980643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Deregulated Wnt/β-catenin signaling promotes colorectal cancer (CRC) by activating expression of the c-MYC proto-oncogene (MYC). In the nucleus, the β-catenin transcriptional co-activator binds T-cell factor (TCF) transcription factors, and together TCF/β-catenin complexes activate MYC expression through Wnt responsive DNA regulatory elements (WREs). The MYC 3' WRE maps 1.4-kb downstream from the MYC transcription stop site and binds TCF4/β-catenin transcription complexes to activate MYC. However, the underlying mechanisms for how this element operates are not fully understood. Here, we report that the TCF family member, TCF3, plays an important role in regulating MYC expression in CRCs. We demonstrate that TCF3 binds the MYC 3' WRE to repress MYC. When TCF3 is depleted using shRNAs, the MYC 3' WRE is more available to bind TCF4/β-catenin complexes. Stimulating downstream Wnt/β-catenin signaling by inhibiting GSK3β causes an exchange of TCF3 with TCF4/β-catenin complexes to activate MYC. Finally, this transcription factor switch at the MYC 3' WRE controls MYC expression as quiescent cells re-enter the cell cycle and progress to S phase. These results indicate that a dynamic interplay of TCF transcription factors governs MYC gene expression in CRCs.
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Key Words
- APC, adenomatous polyposis coli
- CRC, colorectal cancer
- ChIP, chromatin immunoprecipitation
- GSK3β, glycogen synthase kinase 3 β
- HDAC, histone deacetylase
- Lef, Lymphoid enhancer-binding factor
- LiCl, lithium chloride
- MYC
- MYC, myelocytomatosis
- RT, reverse transcription
- TCF, T-cell factor
- TCF3
- TCF4
- TLE, Transducin-like enhancer of split
- WRE
- WRE, Wnt responsive DNA element
- colorectal cancer
- qPCR, quantitative PCR
- transcription
- β-catenin
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Affiliation(s)
- Meera Shah
- a Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology ; The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine ; Hershey , PA USA
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