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Qu Q, Sun JY, Zhang ZY, Su Y, Li SS, Li F, Wang RX. Hub microRNAs and genes in the development of atrial fibrillation identified by weighted gene co-expression network analysis. BMC Med Genomics 2021; 14:271. [PMID: 34781940 PMCID: PMC8591905 DOI: 10.1186/s12920-021-01124-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Co-expression network may contribute to better understanding molecular interaction patterns underlying cellular processes. To explore microRNAs (miRNAs) expression patterns correlated with AF, we performed weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) based on the dataset GSE28954. Thereafter, we predicted target genes using experimentally verified databases (ENOCRI, miRTarBase, and Tarbase), and overlapped genes with differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from GSE79768 were identified as key genes. Integrated analysis of association between hub miRNAs and key genes was conducted to screen hub genes. In general, we identified 3 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) and 320 DEGs, predominantly enriched in inflammation-related functional items. Two significant modules (red and blue) and hub miRNAs (hsa-miR-146b-5p and hsa-miR-378a-5p), which highly correlated with AF-related phenotype, were detected by WGCNA. By overlapping the DEGs and predicted target genes, 38 genes were screened out. Finally, 9 genes (i.e. ATP13A3, BMP2, CXCL1, GABPA, LIF, MAP3K8, NPY1R, S100A12, SLC16A2) located at the core region in the miRNA-gene interaction network were identified as hub genes. In conclusion, our study identified 2 hub miRNAs and 9 hub genes, which may improve the understanding of molecular mechanisms and help to reveal potential therapeutic targets against AF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Qu
- Department of Cardiology, The Affiliated Wuxi People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 299, Qingyang Road, Wuxi, 214023, China.,Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China
| | - Jin-Yu Sun
- Department of Cardiology, The Affiliated Wuxi People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 299, Qingyang Road, Wuxi, 214023, China.,Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China
| | - Zhen-Ye Zhang
- Department of Cardiology, The Affiliated Wuxi People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 299, Qingyang Road, Wuxi, 214023, China
| | - Yue Su
- Department of Cardiology, The Affiliated Wuxi People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 299, Qingyang Road, Wuxi, 214023, China.,Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China
| | - Shan-Shan Li
- Department of Cardiology, The Affiliated Wuxi People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 299, Qingyang Road, Wuxi, 214023, China
| | - Feng Li
- Department of Cardiology, The Affiliated Wuxi People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 299, Qingyang Road, Wuxi, 214023, China
| | - Ru-Xing Wang
- Department of Cardiology, The Affiliated Wuxi People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No. 299, Qingyang Road, Wuxi, 214023, China.
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Christians A, Weiss AC, Martens H, Klopf MG, Hennies I, Haffner D, Kispert A, Weber RG. Inflammation-like changes in the urothelium of Lifr-deficient mice and LIFR-haploinsufficient humans with urinary tract anomalies. Hum Mol Genet 2021; 29:1192-1204. [PMID: 32179912 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddaa048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2020] [Revised: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) are the most common cause of end-stage kidney disease in children. While the genetic aberrations underlying CAKUT pathogenesis are increasingly being elucidated, their consequences on a cellular and molecular level commonly remain unclear. Recently, we reported rare heterozygous deleterious LIFR variants in 3.3% of CAKUT patients, including a novel de novo frameshift variant, identified by whole-exome sequencing, in a patient with severe bilateral CAKUT. We also demonstrated CAKUT phenotypes in Lifr-/- and Lifr+/- mice, including a narrowed ureteric lumen due to muscular hypertrophy and a thickened urothelium. Here, we show that both in the ureter and bladder of Lifr-/- and Lifr+/- embryos, differentiation of the three urothelial cell types (basal, intermediate and superficial cells) occurs normally but that the turnover of superficial cells is elevated due to increased proliferation, enhanced differentiation from their progenitor cells (intermediate cells) and, importantly, shedding into the ureteric lumen. Microarray-based analysis of genome-wide transcriptional changes in Lifr-/- versus Lifr+/+ ureters identified gene networks associated with an antimicrobial inflammatory response. Finally, in a reverse phenotyping effort, significantly more superficial cells were detected in the urine of CAKUT patients with versus without LIFR variants indicating conserved LIFR-dependent urinary tract changes in the murine and human context. Our data suggest that LIFR signaling is required in the epithelium of the urinary tract to suppress an antimicrobial response under homeostatic conditions and that genetically induced inflammation-like changes underlie CAKUT pathogenesis in Lifr deficiency and LIFR haploinsufficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Christians
- Department of Human Genetics, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Anna-Carina Weiss
- Institute of Molecular Biology, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Helge Martens
- Department of Human Genetics, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Maximilian Georg Klopf
- Institute of Molecular Biology, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Imke Hennies
- Department of Pediatric Kidney, Liver and Metabolic Diseases, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Dieter Haffner
- Department of Pediatric Kidney, Liver and Metabolic Diseases, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Andreas Kispert
- Institute of Molecular Biology, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Ruthild G Weber
- Department of Human Genetics, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
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3
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Loreti M, Shi DL, Carron C. The regulatory proteins DSCR6 and Ezh2 oppositely regulate Stat3 transcriptional activity in mesoderm patterning during Xenopus development. J Biol Chem 2020; 295:2724-2735. [PMID: 31996376 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra119.010719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Revised: 01/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Embryonic cell fate specification and axis patterning requires integration of several signaling pathways that orchestrate region-specific gene expression. The transcription factor signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) plays important roles during early development, but it is unclear how Stat3 is activated. Here, using Xenopus as a model, we analyzed the post-translational regulation and functional consequences of Stat3 activation in dorsoventral axis patterning. We show that Stat3 phosphorylation, lysine methylation, and transcriptional activity increase before gastrulation and induce ventral mesoderm formation. Down syndrome critical region gene 6 (DSCR6), a RIPPLY family member that induces dorsal mesoderm by releasing repressive polycomb group proteins from chromatin, bound to the Stat3 C-terminal region and antagonized its transcriptional and ventralizing activities by interfering with its lysine methylation. Enhancer of zeste 2 polycomb-repressive complex 2 subunit (Ezh2) also bound to this region; however, its methyltransferase activity was required for Stat3 methylation and activation. Loss of Ezh2 resulted in dorsalization of ventral mesoderm and formation of a secondary axis. Furthermore, interference with Ezh2 phosphorylation also prevented Stat3 lysine methylation and transcriptional activity. Thus, inhibition of either Ezh2 phosphorylation or Stat3 lysine methylation compensated for the absence of DSCR6 function. These results reveal that DSCR6 and Ezh2 critically and post-translationally regulate Stat3 transcriptional activity. Ezh2 promotes Stat3 activation in ventral mesoderm formation independently of epigenetic regulation, whereas DSCR6 specifies dorsal fate by counteracting this ventralizing activity. This antagonism helps pattern the mesoderm along the dorsoventral axis, representing a critical facet of cell identity regulation during development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mafalda Loreti
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS UMR7622, IBPS-Developmental Biology Laboratory, 75005 Paris, France
| | - De-Li Shi
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS UMR7622, IBPS-Developmental Biology Laboratory, 75005 Paris, France.
| | - Clémence Carron
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS UMR7622, IBPS-Developmental Biology Laboratory, 75005 Paris, France.
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