Hypermethylation of Anti-oncogenic MicroRNA 7 is Increased in Emphysema Patients

Impact of COPD pulmonary structural remodeling on the prognosis of patients with advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma

Background

By observing the changes of lung imaging airway structure in patients with advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma（ALUSC）, the relationship between the different types of COPD pulmonary structural remodeling and the prognosis of patients with ALUSC was analyzed.

Methods

We reviewed the medical records of 278 patients with ALUSC. The degree of emphysema and the percentage of bronchial wall thickness（WT%） on chest HRCT were calculated by Synapse3D software, Lung structural remodeling can be divided into there types: airway remodeling dominated, emphysema dominated, and mixed types.

Results

Compared with the diagnosis, the Goddard score increased, the proportion of airway remodeling dominated type decreased and the proportion of mixed type increased during the progression of ALUSC. In Kaplan-Meier analysis, whether with or without COPD, the mPFS and mOS of patients with mixed type were the shortest, and the difference was statistically significant. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that mixed type was an independent risk factor for poor PFS and OS in patients with ALUSC.

Conclusion

Patients with ALUSC all have varying degrees of lung structural remodeling, and patients with mixed lung structural remodeling have the worst prognosis. In addition, the aggravation of emphysema during tumor progression is more pronounced than the thickening of the airway wall, and the changes of emphysema was more powerful in predicting the progression of ALUSC.Clinicians must pay more attention to the changes of COPD (especially emphysema) in the process of diagnosis and treatment of ALUSC.

The role of N6-methyladenosine methylation in environmental exposure-induced health damage

The health risks caused by environmental pollution have long been of substantial concern. With the development of epigenetics, a large number of studies have demonstrated that N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification is involved in the regulation of various important life activities associated with various diseases. Recent studies have revealed that m6A plays a key role in health damage caused by environmental exposure by regulating post-transcriptional gene expression. Therefore, our study outlined the effects of environmental pollutant exposure on m6A methylation and its regulator levels. Moreover, we found that m6A methylation modifications were involved in the development of various health damages by regulating important life activities in vivo, such as reactive oxygen species imbalance, apoptosis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and inflammatory processes. More importantly, we delved into the regulatory mechanisms of m6A methylation dysregulation in environmental pollution-induced diseases. Finally, by examining the published literature, we found that methyltransferase-like protein 3 (METTL3) and fat mass- and obesity-associated protein (FTO) were potentially used as biomarkers of health damage induced by particulate matter exposure and heavy metal exposure, respectively. The current studies on regulators of METTL3 and FTO were more promising to bring new perspectives for the treatment of environmental health-related diseases.

Nutriepigenomics and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: potential role of dietary and epigenetics factors in disease development and management

Over recent decades, a number of studies have revealed the possible role of different types of diets, as well as the nutritional elements they are made up of, in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To date, dietary factors have been identified to play a role in the prevention of COPD, with evidence from antioxidant nutrients, vitamins, and fiber intake. Additionally, certain dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean diet, together with other Western diets, provide evidence of the influence on COPD development, promoting lung health through nutritional approaches, and giving us an opportunity for intervention. The effect of diet on COPD is conveyed by 3 mechanisms: regulation of inflammation, oxidative stress, and carbon dioxide produced/oxygen intake. Current advances have begun to highlight the possible role of diet in modifying gene expression in certain individuals that predisposes them to COPD through epigenetic modifications. The relation between dietary intake and epigenetic factors has therefore outlined nutriepigenomics as a possible missing link in the relation between environmental exposure to smoke and the appearance of a subsequent chronic bronchial obstruction. This review summarizes the evidence regarding the influence of dietary patterns and nutrients and epigenetic regulatory mechanisms on COPD development and prevention with the aim of encouraging clinical research on the impact of dietary modifications on COPD-related clinical outcomes. This review highlights the importance of proposing and carrying out future studies focused on the modulating effects of certain nutrients on epigenetic changes in patients with specific COPD phenotypes (bronchiectasis, emphysema, asthma/COPD, chronic bronchitis), and their individual responses to cigarette smoking, environmental pollution, or other noxious particles. The objectives of these future studies must be directed to the development of novel therapeutic approaches and personalized management of COPD.

The role of miRNAs in alveolar epithelial cells in emphysema

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an inflammatory lung disease becoming one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity globally. The significant risk factors for COPD are exposure to harmful particles such as cigarette smoke, biomass smoke, and air pollution. Pulmonary emphysema belongs to COPD and is characterized by a unique alveolar destruction pattern resulting in marked airspace enlargement. Alveolar type II (ATII) cells have stem cell potential; they proliferate and differentiate to alveolar type I cells to restore the epithelium after damage. Oxidative stress causes premature cell senescence that can contribute to emphysema development. MiRNAs regulate gene expression, are essential for maintaining ATII cell homeostasis, and their dysregulation contributes to this disease development. They also serve as biomarkers of lung diseases and potential therapeutics. In this review, we summarize recent findings on miRNAs’ role in alveolar epithelial cells in emphysema.

Identification of Proteomic Signatures in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Emphysematous Phenotype

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a highly heterogeneous disease. Emphysematous phenotype is the most common and critical phenotype, which is characterized by progressive lung destruction and poor prognosis. However, the underlying mechanism of this structural damage has not been completely elucidated. A total of 12 patients with COPD emphysematous phenotype (COPD-E) and nine patients with COPD non-emphysematous phenotype (COPD-NE) were enrolled to determine differences in differential abundant protein (DAP) expression between both groups. Quantitative tandem mass tag–based proteomics was performed on lung tissue samples of all patients. A total of 29 and 15 lung tissue samples from patients in COPD-E and COPD-NE groups, respectively, were used as the validation cohort to verify the proteomic analysis results using western blotting. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were conducted for DAPs. A total of 4,343 proteins were identified, of which 25 were upregulated and 11 were downregulated in the COPD-E group. GO and KEGG analyses showed that wound repair and retinol metabolism–related pathways play an essential role in the molecular mechanism of COPD emphysematous phenotype. Three proteins, namely, KRT17, DHRS9, and FMO3, were selected for validation. While KRT17 and DHRS9 were highly expressed in the lung tissue samples of the COPD-E group, FMO3 expression was not significantly different between both groups. In conclusion, KRT17 and DHRS9 are highly expressed in the lung tissue of patients with COPD emphysematous phenotype. Therefore, these proteins might involve in wound healing and retinol metabolism in patients with emphysematous phenotype and can be used as phenotype-specific markers.

The aberrant cross-talk of epithelium-macrophages via METTL3-regulated extracellular vesicle miR-93 in smoking-induced emphysema

Cigarette smoke (CS), a complex chemical indoor air pollutant, induces degradation of elastin, resulting in emphysema. Aberrant cross-talk between macrophages and bronchial epithelial cells is essential for the degradation of elastin that contributes to emphysema, in which extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a critical role. The formation of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is a modification in miRNA processing, but its role in the development of emphysema remains unclear. Here, we established that production of excess mature microRNA-93 (miR-93) in bronchial epithelial cells via enhanced m6A modification was mediated by overexpressed methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) induced by CS. Mature miR-93 was transferred from bronchial epithelial cells into macrophages by EVs. In macrophages, miR-93 activated the JNK pathway by targeting dual-specificity phosphatase 2 (DUSP2), which elevated the levels of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) and matrix metalloproteinase 12 (MMP12) and induced elastin degradation, leading to emphysema. These results demonstrate that METTL3-mediated formation of EV miR-93, facilitated by m6A, is implicated in the aberrant cross-talk of epithelium-macrophages, indicating that this process is involved in the smoking-related emphysema. EV miR-93 may use as a novel risk biomarker for CS-induced emphysema.

Lung emphysema and lung cancer: what do we know about it?

Emphysema and lung cancer (LC) are two diseases which share common risk factors, e.g., smoking. In recent years, many studies have sought to analyse this association. By way of illustration, we conducted a review of the scientific literature of the studies published to date, whose main designated aim was to demonstrate the relationship between emphysema and LC, and this association's influence on the histology, prognosis and molecular mechanisms responsible. We included over 40 studies (ranging from case-control and cohort studies to systematic reviews and meta-analyses), which highlight the association between emphysema and LC, independently of smoking habit. These studies also report a possible influence on histology, with adenocarcinoma being the most frequent lineage, and an association with poor prognosis, which affects both survival and post-operative complications. Oxidative stress, which generates chronic inflammatory status as well as the presence of certain polymorphisms in various genes (CYP1A1, TERT, CLPTM1L, ERK), gives rise-in the case of patients with emphysema-to alteration of cellular repair mechanisms, which in turn favours the proliferation of neoplastic epithelial cells responsible for the origin of LC.

When Oxidative Stress Meets Epigenetics: Implications in Cancer Development

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and it can affect any part of the organism. It arises as a consequence of the genetic and epigenetic changes that lead to the uncontrolled growth of the cells. The epigenetic machinery can regulate gene expression without altering the DNA sequence, and it comprises methylation of the DNA, histones modifications, and non-coding RNAs. Alterations of these gene-expression regulatory elements can be produced by an imbalance of the intracellular environment, such as the one derived by oxidative stress, to promote cancer development, progression, and resistance to chemotherapeutic treatments. Here we review the current literature on the effect of oxidative stress in the epigenetic machinery, especially over the largely unknown ncRNAs and its consequences toward cancer development and progression.