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Sarkar MS, Mia MM, Amin MA, Hossain MS, Islam MZ. Bioinformatics and network biology approach to identifying type 2 diabetes genes and pathways that influence the progression of breast cancer. Heliyon 2023; 9:e16151. [PMID: 37234659 PMCID: PMC10205526 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16151] [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: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 05/07/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Breast cancer is the second most prevalent malignancy affecting women. Postmenopausal women breast tumor is one of the top causes of death in women, accounting for 23% of cancer cases. Type 2 diabetes, a worldwide pandemic, has been connected to a heightened risk of several malignancies, although its association with breast cancer is still uncertain. In comparison to non-diabetic women, women with T2DM had a 23% elevated likelihood of developing breast cancer. It is difficult to determine causative or genetic susceptibility that connect T2DM and breast cancer. We created a large-scale network-based quantitative approach employing unbiased methods to discover abnormally amplified genes in both T2DM and breast cancer, to solve these issues. We performed transcriptome analysis to uncover identical genetic biomarkers and pathways to clarify the connection between T2DM and breast cancer patients. In this study, two RNA-seq datasets (GSE103001 and GSE86468) from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) are used to identify mutually differentially expressed genes (DEGs) for breast cancer and T2DM, as well as common pathways and prospective medicines. Firstly, 45 shared genes (30 upregulated and 15 downregulated) between T2D and breast cancer were detected. We employed gene ontology and pathway enrichment to characterize prevalent DEGs' molecular processes and signal transduction pathways and observed that T2DM has certain connections to the progression of breast cancer. Using several computational and statistical approaches, we created a protein-protein interactions (PPI) network and revealed hub genes. These hub genes can be potential biomarkers, which may also lead to new therapeutic strategies for investigated diseases. We conducted TF-gene interactions, gene-microRNA interactions, protein-drug interactions, and gene-disease associations to find potential connections between T2DM and breast cancer pathologies. We assume that the potential drugs that emerged from this study could be useful therapeutic values. Researchers, doctors, biotechnologists, and many others may benefit from this research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Md Sumon Sarkar
- Department of Pharmacy, Islamic University, Kushtia-7003, Bangladesh
| | - Md Misor Mia
- Department of Pharmacy, Islamic University, Kushtia-7003, Bangladesh
| | - Md Al Amin
- Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Prime University, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh
| | - Md Sojib Hossain
- Department of Mathematics, Govt. Bangla College, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh
| | - Md Zahidul Islam
- Department of Information & Communication Technology, Islamic University, Kushtia-7003, Bangladesh
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2
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Guardia T, Zhang Y, Thompson KN, Lee SJ, Martin SS, Konstantopoulos K, Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulos A. OBSCN restoration via OBSCN-AS1 long-noncoding RNA CRISPR-targeting suppresses metastasis in triple-negative breast cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2215553120. [PMID: 36877839 PMCID: PMC10089184 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2215553120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Mounting evidence implicates the giant, cytoskeletal protein obscurin (720 to 870 kDa), encoded by the OBSCN gene, in the predisposition and development of breast cancer. Accordingly, prior work has shown that the sole loss of OBSCN from normal breast epithelial cells increases survival and chemoresistance, induces cytoskeletal alterations, enhances cell migration and invasion, and promotes metastasis in the presence of oncogenic KRAS. Consistent with these observations, analysis of Kaplan-Meier Plotter datasets reveals that low OBSCN levels correlate with significantly reduced overall and relapse-free survival in breast cancer patients. Despite the compelling evidence implicating OBSCN loss in breast tumorigenesis and progression, its regulation remains elusive, limiting any efforts to restore its expression, a major challenge given its molecular complexity and gigantic size (~170 kb). Herein, we show that OBSCN-Antisense RNA 1 (OBSCN-AS1), a novel nuclear long-noncoding RNA (lncRNA) gene originating from the minus strand of OBSCN, and OBSCN display positively correlated expression and are downregulated in breast cancer biopsies. OBSCN-AS1 regulates OBSCN expression through chromatin remodeling involving H3 lysine 4 trimethylation enrichment, associated with open chromatin conformation, and RNA polymerase II recruitment. CRISPR-activation of OBSCN-AS1 in triple-negative breast cancer cells effectively and specifically restores OBSCN expression and markedly suppresses cell migration, invasion, and dissemination from three-dimensional spheroids in vitro and metastasis in vivo. Collectively, these results reveal the previously unknown regulation of OBSCN by an antisense lncRNA and the metastasis suppressor function of the OBSCN-AS1/OBSCN gene pair, which may be used as prognostic biomarkers and/or therapeutic targets for metastatic breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talia Guardia
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD21201
- Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD21201
| | - Yuqi Zhang
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD21218
- Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD21218
| | - Keyata N. Thompson
- Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD21201
- Department of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD21201
| | - Se Jong Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD21218
- Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD21218
| | - Stuart S. Martin
- Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD21201
- Department of Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD21201
| | - Konstantinos Konstantopoulos
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD21218
- Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD21218
| | - Aikaterini Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulos
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD21201
- Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD21201
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3
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Ali A, Salem M. Genome-wide identification of antisense lncRNAs and their association with susceptibility to Flavobacterium psychrophilum in rainbow trout. Front Immunol 2022; 13:1050722. [PMID: 36561762 PMCID: PMC9763276 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1050722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Eukaryotic genomes encode long noncoding natural antisense transcripts (lncNATs) that have been increasingly recognized as regulatory members of gene expression. Recently, we identified a few antisense transcripts correlating in expression with immune-related genes. However, a systematic genome-wide analysis of lncNATs in rainbow trout is lacking. This study used 134 RNA-Seq datasets from five different projects to identify antisense transcripts. A total of 13,503 lncNATs were identified genome-wide. About 75% of lncNATs showed multiple exons compared to 36.5% of the intergenic lncRNAs. RNA-Seq datasets from resistant, control, and susceptible rainbow trout genetic lines with significant differences in survival rate following Flavobacterium psychrophilum (Fp) infection were analyzed to investigate the potential role of the lncNATs during infection. Twenty-four pairwise comparisons between the different genetic lines, infectious status, and time points revealed 581 differentially expressed (DE) lncNATs and 179 differentially used exons (DUEs). Most of the DE lncNATs strongly and positively correlated in expression with their corresponding sense transcripts across 24 RNA-Seq datasets. LncNATs complementary to genes related to immunity, muscle contraction, proteolysis, and iron/heme metabolism were DE following infection. LncNATs complementary to hemolysis-related genes were DE in the resistant fish compared to susceptible fish on day 5 post-infection, suggesting enhanced clearance of free hemoglobin (Hb) and heme and increased erythropoiesis. LncNATs complementary to hepcidin, a master negative regulator of the plasma iron concentration, were the most downregulated lncNATs on day 5 of bacterial infection in the resistant fish. Ninety-four DE lncNAT, including five complementary to hepcidin, are located within 26 QTL regions previously identified in association with bacterial cold water disease (BCWD) in rainbow trout. Collectively, lncNATs are involved in the molecular architecture of fish immunity and should be further investigated for potential applications in genomic selection and genetic manipulation in aquaculture.
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Santos F, Capela AM, Mateus F, Nóbrega-Pereira S, Bernardes de Jesus B. Non-coding antisense transcripts: fine regulation of gene expression in cancer. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:5652-5660. [PMID: 36284703 PMCID: PMC9579725 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Revised: 10/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural antisense transcripts (NATs) are coding or non-coding RNA sequences transcribed on the opposite direction from the same genomic locus. NATs are widely distributed throughout the human genome and seem to play crucial roles in physiological and pathological processes, through newly described and targeted mechanisms. NATs represent the intricate complexity of the genome organization and constitute another layer of potential targets in disease. Here, we focus on the interesting and unique role of non-coding NATs in cancer, paying particular attention to those acting as miRNA sponges.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Bruno Bernardes de Jesus
- Corresponding author at: Department of Medical Sciences and Institute of Biomedicine – iBiMED, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
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Shi Q, Yao XY, Wang HY, Li YJ, Zhang XX, Sun C. Breast cancer-associated SNP rs72755295 is a cis-regulatory variation for human EXO1. Genet Mol Biol 2022; 45:e20210420. [PMID: 36255267 PMCID: PMC9631386 DOI: 10.1590/1678-4685-gmb-2021-0420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in women. A previous genome-wide association study reports that rs72755295, a SNP locating at intron of EXO1 (exonuclease 1), is associated with breast cancer. Due to the complete linkage disequilibrium between rs72755295 and rs4149909, a nonsynonymous mutation for EXO1, rs4149909 is supposed to be the causal SNP. Since EXO1 is overexpressed in breast carcinoma samples, we hypothesized that the genetic variations in this locus might confer breast cancer risk by regulating EXO1 expression. To substantiate this, a functional genomics study was performed. The dual luciferase assay indicated that G of rs72755295 presents significantly higher relative enhancer activity than A, thus verifying that this SNP can influence gene expression in breast cell. Through chromosome conformation capture it was disclosed that the enhancer containing rs72755295 can interact with the EXO1 promoter. RNA-seq analysis indicated that EXO1 expression is dependent on the rs72755295 genotype. By chromatin immunoprecipitation, the transcription factor PAX6 (paired box 6) was recognized to bind the region spanning rs72755295. In electrophoretic mobility shift assay, G of rs72755295 displays obviously higher binding affinity with nuclear protein than A. Our results indicated that rs72755295 is a cis-regulatory variation for EXO1 and might confer breast cancer risk besides rs4149909.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Shi
- Shaanxi Normal University, College of Life Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi, P.R. China
| | - Xing-Yuan Yao
- Shaanxi Normal University, College of Life Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi, P.R. China
| | - Hong-Yan Wang
- Shaanxi Normal University, College of Life Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi, P.R. China
| | - Ya-Jie Li
- Shaanxi Normal University, College of Life Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi, P.R. China
| | - Xin-Xin Zhang
- Shaanxi Normal University, College of Life Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi, P.R. China
| | - Chang Sun
- Shaanxi Normal University, College of Life Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi, P.R. China
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Wang Y, Chen J, Cowan DB, Wang DZ. Non-coding RNAs in cardiac regeneration: Mechanism of action and therapeutic potential. Semin Cell Dev Biol 2021; 118:150-162. [PMID: 34284952 PMCID: PMC8434979 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2021.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2021] [Revised: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
In the past two decades, thousands of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been discovered, annotated, and characterized in nearly every tissue under both physiological and pathological conditions. Here, we will focus on the role of ncRNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs) in ischemic heart disease (IHD), which remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in humans-resulting in 8.9 million deaths annually. Cardiomyocyte (CM) proliferation, differentiation, and survival in addition to neovascularization of injured tissues and the prevention of fibrosis are commonly regarded as critically important for the recovery of the heart following myocardial infarction (MI). An abundance of evidence has been accumulated to show ncRNAs participate in cardiac recovery after MI. Because miRNAs are important regulators of cardiac regeneration, the therapeutic potential of at least five of these molecules has been assessed in large animal models of human IHD. In particular, miRNA-based interventions based on miR-132 and miR-92a inhibition in related diseases have displayed favorable outcomes that have provided the impetus for miRNA-based clinical trials for IHD. At the same time, the functional roles of lncRNAs and circRNAs in cardiac regeneration are also being explored. In the present review, we will summarize the latest ncRNA studies aimed at reversing damage to the ischemic heart and discuss the therapeutic potential of targeting miRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs to stimulate cardiac regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Wang
- Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Jinghai Chen
- Provincial Key Lab of Cardiovascular Research, Second Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Translational Medicine, Zhejiang University, 268 Kaixuan Road, Hangzhou, China
| | - Douglas B Cowan
- Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Da-Zhi Wang
- Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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7
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Krappinger JC, Bonstingl L, Pansy K, Sallinger K, Wreglesworth NI, Grinninger L, Deutsch A, El-Heliebi A, Kroneis T, Mcfarlane RJ, Sensen CW, Feichtinger J. Non-coding Natural Antisense Transcripts: Analysis and Application. J Biotechnol 2021; 340:75-101. [PMID: 34371054 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2021.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Non-coding natural antisense transcripts (ncNATs) are regulatory RNA sequences that are transcribed in the opposite direction to protein-coding or non-coding transcripts. These transcripts are implicated in a broad variety of biological and pathological processes, including tumorigenesis and oncogenic progression. With this complex field still in its infancy, annotations, expression profiling and functional characterisations of ncNATs are far less comprehensive than those for protein-coding genes, pointing out substantial gaps in the analysis and characterisation of these regulatory transcripts. In this review, we discuss ncNATs from an analysis perspective, in particular regarding the use of high-throughput sequencing strategies, such as RNA-sequencing, and summarize the unique challenges of investigating the antisense transcriptome. Finally, we elaborate on their potential as biomarkers and future targets for treatment, focusing on cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian C Krappinger
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signalling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6/II, 8010 Graz, Austria; Christian Doppler Laboratory for innovative Pichia pastoris host and vector systems, Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6/II, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Lilli Bonstingl
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signalling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6/II, 8010 Graz, Austria; Center for Biomarker Research in Medicine, Stiftingtalstraße 5, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Katrin Pansy
- Division of Haematology, Medical University of Graz, Stiftingtalstrasse 24, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Katja Sallinger
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signalling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6/II, 8010 Graz, Austria; Center for Biomarker Research in Medicine, Stiftingtalstraße 5, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Nick I Wreglesworth
- North West Cancer Research Institute, School of Medical Sciences, Bangor University, LL57 2UW Bangor, United Kingdom
| | - Lukas Grinninger
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signalling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6/II, 8010 Graz, Austria; Austrian Biotech University of Applied Sciences, Konrad Lorenz-Straße 10, 3430 Tulln an der Donau, Austria
| | - Alexander Deutsch
- Division of Haematology, Medical University of Graz, Stiftingtalstrasse 24, 8010 Graz, Austria; BioTechMed-Graz, Mozartgasse 12/II, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Amin El-Heliebi
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signalling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6/II, 8010 Graz, Austria; Center for Biomarker Research in Medicine, Stiftingtalstraße 5, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Thomas Kroneis
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signalling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6/II, 8010 Graz, Austria; Center for Biomarker Research in Medicine, Stiftingtalstraße 5, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Ramsay J Mcfarlane
- North West Cancer Research Institute, School of Medical Sciences, Bangor University, LL57 2UW Bangor, United Kingdom
| | - Christoph W Sensen
- BioTechMed-Graz, Mozartgasse 12/II, 8010 Graz, Austria; Institute of Computational Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Petersgasse 14/V, 8010 Graz, Austria; HCEMM Kft., Római blvd. 21, 6723 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Julia Feichtinger
- Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Gottfried Schatz Research Center for Cell Signalling, Metabolism and Aging, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6/II, 8010 Graz, Austria; Christian Doppler Laboratory for innovative Pichia pastoris host and vector systems, Division of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Medical University of Graz, Neue Stiftingtalstraße 6/II, 8010 Graz, Austria; BioTechMed-Graz, Mozartgasse 12/II, 8010 Graz, Austria.
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Guardia T, Eason M, Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulos A. Obscurin: A multitasking giant in the fight against cancer. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer 2021; 1876:188567. [PMID: 34015411 PMCID: PMC8349851 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2021.188567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Giant obscurins (720-870 kDa), encoded by OBSCN, were originally discovered in striated muscles as cytoskeletal proteins with scaffolding and regulatory roles. Recently though, they have risen to the spotlight as key players in cancer development and progression. Herein, we provide a timely prudent synopsis of the expanse of OBSCN mutations across 16 cancer types. Given the extensive work on OBSCN's role in breast epithelium, we summarize functional studies implicating obscurins as potent tumor suppressors in breast cancer and delve into an in silico analysis of its mutational profile and epigenetic (de)regulation using different dataset platforms and sophisticated computational tools. Lastly, we formally describe the OBSCN-Antisense-RNA-1 gene, which belongs to the long non-coding RNA family and discuss its potential role in modulating OBSCN expression in breast cancer. Collectively, we highlight the escalating involvement of obscurins in cancer biology and outline novel potential mechanisms of OBSCN (de)regulation that warrant further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Talia Guardia
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Matthew Eason
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Aikaterini Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulos
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, USA.
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Barbagallo C, Di Maria A, Alecci A, Barbagallo D, Alaimo S, Colarossi L, Ferro A, Di Pietro C, Purrello M, Pulvirenti A, Ragusa M. VECTOR: An Integrated Correlation Network Database for the Identification of CeRNA Axes in Uveal Melanoma. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:genes12071004. [PMID: 34210067 PMCID: PMC8305227 DOI: 10.3390/genes12071004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Revised: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular malignant tumor in adults and, although its genetic background has been extensively studied, little is known about the contribution of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) to its pathogenesis. Indeed, its competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) regulatory network comprising microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and mRNAs has been insufficiently explored. Thanks to UM findings from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), it is now possible to statistically elaborate these data to identify the expression relationships among RNAs and correlative interaction data. In the present work, we propose the VECTOR (uVeal mElanoma Correlation NeTwORk) database, an interactive tool that identifies and visualizes the relationships among RNA molecules, based on the ceRNA model. The VECTOR database contains: (i) the TCGA-derived expression correlation values of miRNA-mRNA, miRNA-lncRNA and lncRNA-mRNA pairs combined with predicted or validated RNA-RNA interactions; (ii) data of sense-antisense sequence overlapping; (iii) correlation values of Transcription Factor (TF)-miRNA, TF-lncRNA, and TF-mRNA pairs associated with ChiPseq data; (iv) expression data of miRNAs, lncRNAs and mRNAs both in UM and physiological tissues. The VECTOR web interface can be queried, by inputting the gene name, to retrieve all the information about RNA signaling and visualize this as a graph. Finally, VECTOR provides a very detailed picture of ceRNA networks in UM and could be a very useful tool for researchers studying RNA signaling in UM. The web version of Vector is freely available at the URL reported at the end of the Introduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Barbagallo
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences—Section of Biology and Genetics, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy; (C.B.); (A.A.); (D.B.); (C.D.P.); (M.P.)
| | - Antonio Di Maria
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, c/o Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy; (A.D.M.); (S.A.); (A.F.); (M.R.)
| | - Adriana Alecci
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences—Section of Biology and Genetics, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy; (C.B.); (A.A.); (D.B.); (C.D.P.); (M.P.)
| | - Davide Barbagallo
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences—Section of Biology and Genetics, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy; (C.B.); (A.A.); (D.B.); (C.D.P.); (M.P.)
| | - Salvatore Alaimo
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, c/o Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy; (A.D.M.); (S.A.); (A.F.); (M.R.)
| | - Lorenzo Colarossi
- Department of Experimental Oncology, Mediterranean Institute of Oncology (IOM), 95029 Catania, Italy;
| | - Alfredo Ferro
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, c/o Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy; (A.D.M.); (S.A.); (A.F.); (M.R.)
| | - Cinzia Di Pietro
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences—Section of Biology and Genetics, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy; (C.B.); (A.A.); (D.B.); (C.D.P.); (M.P.)
| | - Michele Purrello
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences—Section of Biology and Genetics, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy; (C.B.); (A.A.); (D.B.); (C.D.P.); (M.P.)
| | - Alfredo Pulvirenti
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, c/o Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy; (A.D.M.); (S.A.); (A.F.); (M.R.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Marco Ragusa
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, c/o Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy; (A.D.M.); (S.A.); (A.F.); (M.R.)
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10
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Genetic variant rs10251977 (G>A) in EGFR-AS1 modulates the expression of EGFR isoforms A and D. Sci Rep 2021; 11:8808. [PMID: 33888812 PMCID: PMC8062556 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88161-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2020] [Accepted: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Tyrosine kinase inhibitor is an effective chemo-therapeutic drug against tumors with deregulated EGFR pathway. Recently, a genetic variant rs10251977 (G>A) in exon 20 of EGFR reported to act as a prognostic marker for HNSCC. Genotyping of this polymorphism in oral cancer patients showed a similar frequency in cases and controls. EGFR-AS1 expressed significantly high level in tumors and EGFR-A isoform expression showed significant positive correlation (r = 0.6464, p < 0.0001) with reference to EGFR-AS1 expression levels, consistent with larger TCGA HNSCC tumor dataset. Our bioinformatic analysis showed enrichment of alternative splicing marks H3K36me3 and presence of intronic polyA sites spanning around exon 15a and 15b of EGFR facilitates skipping of exon 15b, thereby promoting the splicing of EGFR-A isoform. In addition, high level expression of PTBP1 and its binding site in EGFR and EGFR-AS1 enhances the expression of EGFR-A isoform (r = 0.7404, p < 0.0001) suggesting that EGFR-AS1 expression modulates the EGFR-A and D isoforms through alternative splicing. In addition, this polymorphism creates a binding site for miR-891b in EGFR-AS1 and may negatively regulate the EGFR-A. Collectively, our results suggested the presence of genetic variant in EGFR-AS1 modulates the expression of EGFR-D and A isoforms.
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Wang L, Sparks-Wallace A, Casteel JL, Howell MEA, Ning S. Algorithm-Based Meta-Analysis Reveals the Mechanistic Interaction of the Tumor Suppressor LIMD1 With Non-Small-Cell Lung Carcinoma. Front Oncol 2021; 11:632638. [PMID: 33869018 PMCID: PMC8044451 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2021.632638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2020] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is the major type of lung cancer, which is among the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. LIMD1 was previously identified as a tumor suppressor in lung cancer, but their detailed interaction in this setting remains unclear. In this study, we have carried out multiple genome-wide bioinformatic analyses for a comprehensive understanding of LIMD1 in NSCLC, using various online algorithm platforms that have been built for mega databases derived from both clinical and cell line samples. Our results indicate that LIMD1 expression level is significantly downregulated at both mRNA and protein levels in both lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), with a considerable contribution from its promoter methylation rather than its gene mutations. The Limd1 gene undergoes mutation only at a low rate in NSCLC (0.712%). We have further identified LIMD1-associated molecular signatures in NSCLC, including its natural antisense long non-coding RNA LIMD1-AS1 and a pool of membrane trafficking regulators. We have also identified a subgroup of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, especially neutrophils, whose tumor infiltration levels significantly correlate with LIMD1 level in both LUAD and LUSC. However, a significant correlation of LIMD1 with a subset of immune regulatory molecules, such as IL6R and TAP1, was only found in LUAD. Regarding the clinical outcomes, LIMD1 expression level only significantly correlates with the survival of LUAD (p<0.01) but not with that of LUSC (p>0.1) patients. These findings indicate that LIMD1 plays a survival role in LUAD patients at least by acting as an immune regulatory protein. To further understand the mechanisms underlying the tumor-suppressing function of LIMD1 in NSCLC, we show that LIMD1 downregulation remarkably correlates with the deregulation of multiple pathways that play decisive roles in the oncogenesis of NSCLC, especially those mediated by EGFR, KRAS, PIK3CA, Keap1, and p63, in both LUAD and LUSC, and those mediated by p53 and CDKN2A only in LUAD. This study has disclosed that LIMD1 can serve as a survival prognostic marker for LUAD patients and provides mechanistic insights into the interaction of LIMD1 with NSCLC, which provide valuable information for clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ling Wang
- Department of Internal Medicine, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, United States.,Center of Excellence for Inflammation, Infectious Diseases and Immunity, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, United States
| | - Ayrianna Sparks-Wallace
- Department of Internal Medicine, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, United States
| | - Jared L Casteel
- Department of Internal Medicine, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, United States
| | - Mary E A Howell
- Department of Internal Medicine, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, United States
| | - Shunbin Ning
- Department of Internal Medicine, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, United States.,Center of Excellence for Inflammation, Infectious Diseases and Immunity, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, United States
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12
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Carter JM, Ang DA, Sim N, Budiman A, Li Y. Approaches to Identify and Characterise the Post-Transcriptional Roles of lncRNAs in Cancer. Noncoding RNA 2021; 7:19. [PMID: 33803328 PMCID: PMC8005986 DOI: 10.3390/ncrna7010019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 02/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
It is becoming increasingly evident that the non-coding genome and transcriptome exert great influence over their coding counterparts through complex molecular interactions. Among non-coding RNAs (ncRNA), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in particular present increased potential to participate in dysregulation of post-transcriptional processes through both RNA and protein interactions. Since such processes can play key roles in contributing to cancer progression, it is desirable to continue expanding the search for lncRNAs impacting cancer through post-transcriptional mechanisms. The sheer diversity of mechanisms requires diverse resources and methods that have been developed and refined over the past decade. We provide an overview of computational resources as well as proven low-to-high throughput techniques to enable identification and characterisation of lncRNAs in their complex interactive contexts. As more cancer research strategies evolve to explore the non-coding genome and transcriptome, we anticipate this will provide a valuable primer and perspective of how these technologies have matured and will continue to evolve to assist researchers in elucidating post-transcriptional roles of lncRNAs in cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Michel Carter
- School of Biological Sciences (SBS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637551, Singapore; (D.A.A.); (N.S.); (A.B.)
| | - Daniel Aron Ang
- School of Biological Sciences (SBS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637551, Singapore; (D.A.A.); (N.S.); (A.B.)
| | - Nicholas Sim
- School of Biological Sciences (SBS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637551, Singapore; (D.A.A.); (N.S.); (A.B.)
| | - Andrea Budiman
- School of Biological Sciences (SBS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637551, Singapore; (D.A.A.); (N.S.); (A.B.)
| | - Yinghui Li
- School of Biological Sciences (SBS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637551, Singapore; (D.A.A.); (N.S.); (A.B.)
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), A*STAR, Singapore 138673, Singapore
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13
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Gakii C, Rimiru R. Identification of cancer related genes using feature selection and association rule mining. INFORMATICS IN MEDICINE UNLOCKED 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.imu.2021.100595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
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14
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Zhang Z, Jia JP, Zhang YJ, Liu G, Zhou F, Zhang BC. Long Noncoding RNA ADAMTS9-AS2 Inhibits the Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion in Bladder Tumor Cells. Onco Targets Ther 2020; 13:7089-7100. [PMID: 32801743 PMCID: PMC7382762 DOI: 10.2147/ott.s245826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 05/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Bladder tumor is the fifth most prevalent tumor in men, yet its pathogenesis remains to be fully identified. Albeit a host of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) are emerging as new players involved in bladder tumor, the functions of many lncRNAs are still enigmatic. Reports on the deluge of studies on lncRNA ADAMTS9-AS2 have been convincingly associated with various tumors, but without mention of its roles in bladder tumor. Therefore, the roles of ADAMTS9-AS2 in bladder tumor cells were explored in our study. MATERIALS AND METHODS Quantitative real-time PCR assays and bioinformatic tools were applied in bladder tumor cells to identify the ADAMTS9-AS2 and ADAMTS9 expression. Western blot assays were performed to obtain the protein levels of bladder tumor related key molecules. CCK8, clonogenic assay, scratch wound healing, and transwell assays were separately applied to identify the functional roles of ADAMTS9-AS2 on proliferation, migration, and invasion in bladder tumor cells. RESULTS First, ADAMTS9-AS2 downregulation in bladder tumor cells was identified. Overexpression and knockdown experiments showed that ADAMTS9-AS2 expression was positively related to ADAMTS9, which is in accordance with the results from GEO database. Second, ADAMTS9-AS2 contributed to the inhibition of proliferation, migration, and invasion in bladder tumor cells. Third, ADAMTS9-AS2 was linked with PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway related-molecules, several key autophagy, and apoptotic proteins. CONCLUSION Conjointly, our findings suggested that ADAMTS9-AS2 might function as a tumor suppressor to restrain the proliferation, migration, and invasion in bladder tumor cells. The potential mechanism of ADAMTS9-AS2 related to PI3K/AKT/mTOR signal pathway was further identified. Of note, we found that ADAMTS9-AS2 has a significant effect on several key autophagy and apoptotic proteins. Therefore, these observations will provide supportive evidence to ADAMTS9-AS2 as a potential biomarker in patients with bladder tumor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhan Zhang
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai200433, People’s Republic of China
| | - Jin-Peng Jia
- Department of Orthopaedics, General Hospital of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Beijing100853, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yin-Jiang Zhang
- School of Pharmacy, Minzu University of China, Beijing100081, People’s Republic of China
| | - Gang Liu
- Department of Urology, Huangshi Central Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Hubei Polytechnic University, Edong Healthcare Group, Huangshi435000, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Kidney Disease Pathogenesis and Intervention, Hubei Polytechnic University, Huangshi435000, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Fan Zhou
- Department of Urology, Wuhan Fourth Hospital, Pu’ai Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan430033, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
| | - Bi-Cheng Zhang
- Cancer Center, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan430060, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
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15
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Ambrose RL, Brice AM, Caputo AT, Alexander MR, Tribolet L, Liu YC, Adams TE, Bean AG, Stewart CR. Molecular characterisation of ILRUN, a novel inhibitor of proinflammatory and antimicrobial cytokines. Heliyon 2020; 6:e04115. [PMID: 32518853 PMCID: PMC7270589 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2020] [Revised: 04/28/2020] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Regulation of type-I interferon (IFN) production is essential to the balance between antimicrobial defence and autoimmune disorders. The human protein-coding gene ILRUN (inflammation and lipid regulator with UBA-like and NBR1-like domains, previously C6orf106) was recently characterised as an inhibitor of antiviral and proinflammatory cytokine (interferon-alpha/beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha) transcription. Currently there is a paucity of information about the molecular characteristics of ILRUN, despite it being associated with several diseases including virus infection, coronary artery disease, obesity and cancer. Here, we characterise ILRUN as a highly phylogenetically conserved protein containing UBA-like and a NBR1-like domains that are both essential for inhibition of type-I interferon and tumor necrosis factor alpha) transcription in human cells. We also solved the crystal structure of the NBR1-like domain, providing insights into its potential role in ILRUN function. This study provides critical information for future investigations into the role of ILRUN in health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca L. Ambrose
- CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, Geelong, Victoria, 3220, Australia
| | - Aaron M. Brice
- CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, Geelong, Victoria, 3220, Australia
| | | | - Marina R. Alexander
- CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, Geelong, Victoria, 3220, Australia
| | - Leon Tribolet
- CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, Geelong, Victoria, 3220, Australia
| | - Yu Chih Liu
- CSIRO Manufacturing, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | | | - Andrew G.D. Bean
- CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, Geelong, Victoria, 3220, Australia
| | - Cameron R. Stewart
- CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, Geelong, Victoria, 3220, Australia
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16
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Nolte W, Weikard R, Brunner RM, Albrecht E, Hammon HM, Reverter A, Kühn C. Identification and Annotation of Potential Function of Regulatory Antisense Long Non-Coding RNAs Related to Feed Efficiency in Bos taurus Bulls. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21093292. [PMID: 32384694 PMCID: PMC7247587 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21093292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2020] [Revised: 05/02/2020] [Accepted: 05/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can influence transcriptional and translational processes in mammalian cells and are associated with various developmental, physiological and phenotypic conditions. However, they remain poorly understood and annotated in livestock species. We combined phenotypic, metabolomics and liver transcriptomic data of bulls divergent for residual feed intake (RFI) and fat accretion. Based on a project-specific transcriptome annotation for the bovine reference genome ARS-UCD.1.2 and multiple-tissue total RNA sequencing data, we predicted 3590 loci to be lncRNAs. To identify lncRNAs with potential regulatory influence on phenotype and gene expression, we applied the regulatory impact factor algorithm on a functionally prioritized set of loci (n = 4666). Applying the algorithm of partial correlation and information theory, significant and independent pairwise correlations were calculated and co-expression networks were established, including plasma metabolites correlated with lncRNAs. The network hub lncRNAs were assessed for potential cis-actions and subjected to biological pathway enrichment analyses. Our results reveal a prevalence of antisense lncRNAs positively correlated with adjacent protein-coding genes and suggest their participation in mitochondrial function, acute phase response signalling, TCA-cycle, fatty acid β-oxidation and presumably gluconeogenesis. These antisense lncRNAs indicate a stabilizing function for their cis-correlated genes and a putative regulatory role in gene expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wietje Nolte
- Institute of Genome Biology, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany; (W.N.); (R.W.); (R.M.B.)
| | - Rosemarie Weikard
- Institute of Genome Biology, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany; (W.N.); (R.W.); (R.M.B.)
| | - Ronald M. Brunner
- Institute of Genome Biology, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany; (W.N.); (R.W.); (R.M.B.)
| | - Elke Albrecht
- Institute of Muscle Biology and Growth, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany;
| | - Harald M. Hammon
- Institute of Nutritional Physiology “Oskar Kellner”, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany;
| | - Antonio Reverter
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Agriculture and Food, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, St Lucia 4067 QLD, Australia;
| | - Christa Kühn
- Institute of Genome Biology, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany; (W.N.); (R.W.); (R.M.B.)
- Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
- Correspondence:
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17
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Vellichirammal NN, Albahrani A, Banwait JK, Mishra NK, Li Y, Roychoudhury S, Kling MJ, Mirza S, Bhakat KK, Band V, Joshi SS, Guda C. Pan-Cancer Analysis Reveals the Diverse Landscape of Novel Sense and Antisense Fusion Transcripts. MOLECULAR THERAPY. NUCLEIC ACIDS 2020; 19:1379-1398. [PMID: 32160708 PMCID: PMC7044684 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtn.2020.01.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2019] [Revised: 01/03/2020] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Gene fusions that contribute to oncogenicity can be explored for identifying cancer biomarkers and potential drug targets. To investigate the nature and distribution of fusion transcripts in cancer, we examined the transcriptome data of about 9,000 primary tumors from 33 different cancers in TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) along with cell line data from CCLE (Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia) using ChimeRScope, a novel fusion detection algorithm. We identified several fusions with sense (canonical, 39%) or antisense (non-canonical, 61%) transcripts recurrent across cancers. The majority of the recurrent non-canonical fusions found in our study are novel, unexplored, and exhibited highly variable profiles across cancers, with breast cancer and glioblastoma having the highest and lowest rates, respectively. Overall, 4,344 recurrent fusions were identified from TCGA in this study, of which 70% were novel. Additional analysis of 802 tumor-derived cell line transcriptome data across 20 cancers revealed significant variability in recurrent fusion profiles between primary tumors and corresponding cell lines. A subset of canonical and non-canonical fusions was validated by examining the structural variation evidence in whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data or by Sanger sequencing of fusion junctions. Several recurrent fusion genes identified in our study show promise for drug repurposing in basket trials and present opportunities for mechanistic studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Abrar Albahrani
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
| | - Jasjit K Banwait
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA; Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Core. University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
| | - Nitish K Mishra
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
| | - You Li
- HitGen, South Keyuan Road 88, Chengdu, China
| | - Shrabasti Roychoudhury
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
| | - Mathew J Kling
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
| | - Sameer Mirza
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
| | - Kishor K Bhakat
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
| | - Vimla Band
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
| | - Shantaram S Joshi
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
| | - Chittibabu Guda
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA; Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Core. University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA.
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18
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Barak M, Porath HT, Finkelstein G, Knisbacher BA, Buchumenski I, Roth SH, Levanon EY, Eisenberg E. Purifying selection of long dsRNA is the first line of defense against false activation of innate immunity. Genome Biol 2020; 21:26. [PMID: 32028986 PMCID: PMC7006430 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-020-1937-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2019] [Accepted: 01/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mobile elements comprise a large fraction of metazoan genomes. Accumulation of mobile elements is bound to produce multiple putative double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) structures within the transcriptome. These endogenous dsRNA structures resemble viral RNA and may trigger false activation of the innate immune response, leading to severe damage to the host cell. Adenosine to inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing is a common post-transcriptional modification, abundant within repetitive elements of all metazoans. It was recently shown that a key function of A-to-I RNA editing by ADAR1 is to suppress the immunogenic response by endogenous dsRNAs. RESULTS Here, we analyze the transcriptomes of dozens of species across the Metazoa and identify a strong genomic selection against endogenous dsRNAs, resulting in their purification from the canonical transcriptome. This purifying selection is especially strong for long and nearly perfect dsRNAs. These are almost absent from mRNAs, but not pre-mRNAs, supporting the notion of selection due to cytoplasmic processes. The few long and nearly perfect structures found in human transcripts are weakly expressed and often heavily edited. CONCLUSION Purifying selection of long dsRNA is an important defense mechanism against false activation of innate immunity. This newly identified principle governs the integration of mobile elements into the genome, a major driving force of genome evolution. Furthermore, we find that most ADAR1 activity is not required to prevent an immune response to endogenous dsRNAs. The critical targets of ADAR1 editing are, likely, to be found mostly in non-canonical transcripts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Barak
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 52900, Israel
| | - Hagit T Porath
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 52900, Israel
| | - Gilad Finkelstein
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 52900, Israel
| | - Binyamin A Knisbacher
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 52900, Israel
| | - Ilana Buchumenski
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 52900, Israel
| | - Shalom Hillel Roth
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 52900, Israel
| | - Erez Y Levanon
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 52900, Israel.
| | - Eli Eisenberg
- Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel.
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19
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Karakülah G, Arslan N, Yandım C, Suner A. TEffectR: an R package for studying the potential effects of transposable elements on gene expression with linear regression model. PeerJ 2019; 7:e8192. [PMID: 31824778 PMCID: PMC6899341 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2019] [Accepted: 11/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Recent studies highlight the crucial regulatory roles of transposable elements (TEs) on proximal gene expression in distinct biological contexts such as disease and development. However, computational tools extracting potential TE -proximal gene expression associations from RNA-sequencing data are still missing. Implementation Herein, we developed a novel R package, using a linear regression model, for studying the potential influence of TE species on proximal gene expression from a given RNA-sequencing data set. Our R package, namely TEffectR, makes use of publicly available RepeatMasker TE and Ensembl gene annotations as well as several functions of other R-packages. It calculates total read counts of TEs from sorted and indexed genome aligned BAM files provided by the user, and determines statistically significant relations between TE expression and the transcription of nearby genes under diverse biological conditions. Availability TEffectR is freely available at https://github.com/karakulahg/TEffectR along with a handy tutorial as exemplified by the analysis of RNA-sequencing data including normal and tumour tissue specimens obtained from breast cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gökhan Karakülah
- Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center, Izmir, Turkey.,Izmir International Biomedicine and Genome Institute, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey
| | | | - Cihangir Yandım
- Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center, Izmir, Turkey.,Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, Izmir University of Economics, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Aslı Suner
- Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
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20
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Roth SH, Levanon EY, Eisenberg E. Genome-wide quantification of ADAR adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing activity. Nat Methods 2019; 16:1131-1138. [PMID: 31636457 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-019-0610-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2019] [Accepted: 08/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing by the adenosine deaminase that acts on RNA (ADAR) enzymes is a common RNA modification, preventing false activation of the innate immune system by endogenous double-stranded RNAs. Methods for quantification of ADAR activity are sought after, due to an increasing interest in the role of ADARs in cancer and autoimmune disorders, as well as attempts to harness the ADAR enzymes for RNA engineering. Here, we present the Alu editing index (AEI), a robust and simple-to-use computational tool devised for this purpose. We describe its properties and demonstrate its superiority to current quantification methods of ADAR activity. The AEI is used to map global editing across a large dataset of healthy human samples and identify putative regulators of ADAR, as well as previously unknown factors affecting the observed Alu editing levels. These should be taken into account in future comparative studies of ADAR activity. The AEI tool is available at https://github.com/a2iEditing/RNAEditingIndexer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shalom Hillel Roth
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Erez Y Levanon
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Eli Eisenberg
- Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. .,Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
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21
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Thomas PB, Seim I, Jeffery PL, Gahete MD, Maugham M, Crisp GJ, Stacey A, Shah ET, Walpole C, Whiteside EJ, Nelson CC, Herington AC, Luque RM, Veedu RN, Chopin LK. The long non-coding RNA GHSROS facilitates breast cancer cell migration and orthotopic xenograft tumour growth. Int J Oncol 2019; 55:1223-1236. [PMID: 31638176 PMCID: PMC6831199 DOI: 10.3892/ijo.2019.4891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2018] [Accepted: 04/02/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that numerous long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are dysregulated in cancer, and have critical roles in tumour development and progression. The present study investigated the ghrelin receptor antisense lncRNA growth hormone secretagogue receptor opposite strand (GHSROS) in breast cancer. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction revealed that GHSROS expression was significantly upregulated in breast tumour tissues compared with normal breast tissue. Induced overexpression of GHSROS in the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line significantly increased cell migration in vitro, without affecting cell proliferation, a finding similar to our previous study on lung cancer cell lines. Microarray analysis revealed a significant repression of a small cluster of major histocompatibility class II genes and enrichment of immune response pathways; this phenomenon may allow tumour cells to better evade the immune system. Ectopic overexpression of GHSROS in the MDA-MB-231 cell line significantly increased orthotopic xenograft growth in mice, suggesting that in vitro culture does not fully capture the function of this lncRNA. This study demonstrated that GHSROS may serve a relevant role in breast cancer. Further studies are warranted to explore the function and therapeutic potential of this lncRNA in breast cancer progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick B Thomas
- Ghrelin Research Group, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Inge Seim
- Ghrelin Research Group, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Penny L Jeffery
- Ghrelin Research Group, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Manuel D Gahete
- Maimonides Institute of Biomedical Research of Cordoba (IMIBIC), 14004 Córdoba, Spain
| | - Michelle Maugham
- Ghrelin Research Group, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Gabrielle J Crisp
- Ghrelin Research Group, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Andrew Stacey
- Ghrelin Research Group, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Esha T Shah
- Ghrelin Research Group, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Carina Walpole
- Ghrelin Research Group, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | | | - Colleen C Nelson
- Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre-Queensland, Translational Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Adrian C Herington
- Ghrelin Research Group, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Raúl M Luque
- Maimonides Institute of Biomedical Research of Cordoba (IMIBIC), 14004 Córdoba, Spain
| | - Rakesh N Veedu
- Centre for Comparative Genomics, Murdoch University & Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, Perth, Western Australia 6150, Australia
| | - Lisa K Chopin
- Ghrelin Research Group, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
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22
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Esse R, Gushchanskaia ES, Lord A, Grishok A. DOT1L complex suppresses transcription from enhancer elements and ectopic RNAi in Caenorhabditis elegans. RNA (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2019; 25:1259-1273. [PMID: 31300558 PMCID: PMC6800474 DOI: 10.1261/rna.070292.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2019] [Accepted: 07/10/2019] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Methylation of histone H3 on lysine 79 (H3K79) by DOT1L is associated with actively transcribed genes. Earlier, we described that DOT-1.1, the Caenorhabditis elegans homolog of mammalian DOT1L, cooperates with the chromatin-binding protein ZFP-1 (AF10 homolog) to negatively modulate transcription of highly and widely expressed target genes. Also, the reduction of ZFP-1 levels has consistently been associated with lower efficiency of RNA interference (RNAi) triggered by exogenous double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), but the reason for this is not clear. Here, we demonstrate that the DOT1L complex suppresses transcription originating from enhancer elements and antisense transcription, thus potentiating the expression of enhancer-regulated genes. We also show that worms lacking H3K79 methylation do not survive, and this lethality is suppressed by a loss of caspase-3 or Dicer complex components that initiate gene silencing response to exogenous dsRNA. Our results suggest that ectopic elevation of endogenous dsRNA directly or indirectly resulting from global misregulation of transcription in DOT1L complex mutants may engage the Dicer complex and, therefore, limit the efficiency of exogenous RNAi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruben Esse
- Department of Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA
| | | | - Avery Lord
- Department of Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA
| | - Alla Grishok
- Department of Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA
- Genome Science Institute, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA
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23
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Yandım C, Karakülah G. Dysregulated expression of repetitive DNA in ER+/HER2- breast cancer. Cancer Genet 2019; 239:36-45. [PMID: 31536958 DOI: 10.1016/j.cancergen.2019.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2019] [Revised: 07/03/2019] [Accepted: 09/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Limited studies on breast cancer indicated pathogenic changes in the expressions of some repeat elements. A global analysis was much needed within this context to distinguish the most significant repeats from more than a thousand repeat motifs. Utilising a previously presented RNA-seq dataset, we studied expression changes of all repeats in ER+/HER2- human breast tumour samples obtained from 22 patients in comparison to matched normal tissues. Fifty six (56) repeat subtypes including satellites and transposons were found to be differentially expressed and most of them were novel for breast cancer. HERVKC4-int and HERV1_LTRc, whose expressions correlated well with that of the estrogen receptor gene ESR1, were upregulated at the highest level. REP522 and D20S16 satellites were also significantly upregulated along with insignificant increases in the expressions of other satellites including HSATI and BSR/beta. Interestingly, expressions of REP522 and D20S16 correlated with many key breast cancer pathway (e.g. BRCA1, BRCA2, AKT1, MTOR, KRAS) and survival genes; possibly highlighting their importance in the carcinogenesis of breast. Additional differentially expressed elements such as L1P and various MER transposons also exhibited a similar pattern. Finally, our repeat enrichment analysis on the promoters of differentially expressed genes revealed further links between additional repeats and nearby genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cihangir Yandım
- İzmir University of Economics, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, 35330, Balçova, İzmir, Turkey; İzmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (IBG), Dokuz Eylül University Health Campus, 35340, İnciraltı, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Gökhan Karakülah
- İzmir Biomedicine and Genome Center (IBG), Dokuz Eylül University Health Campus, 35340, İnciraltı, İzmir, Turkey; İzmir International Biomedicine and Genome Institute (iBG-İzmir), Dokuz Eylül University, 35340, İnciraltı, İzmir, Turkey.
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24
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Avgan N, Wang JI, Fernandez-Chamorro J, Weatheritt RJ. Multilayered control of exon acquisition permits the emergence of novel forms of regulatory control. Genome Biol 2019; 20:141. [PMID: 31315652 PMCID: PMC6637531 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-019-1757-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2019] [Accepted: 07/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The long introns of mammals are pools of evolutionary potential due to the multiplicity of sequences that permit the acquisition of novel exons. However, the permissibility of genes to this type of acquisition and its influence on the evolution of cell regulation is poorly understood. RESULTS Here, we observe that human genes are highly permissive to the inclusion of novel exonic regions permitting the emergence of novel regulatory features. Our analysis reveals the potential for novel exon acquisition to occur in over 30% of evaluated human genes. Regulatory processes including the rate of splicing efficiency and RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) elongation control this process by modulating the "window of opportunity" for spliceosomal recognition. DNA damage alters this window promoting the inclusion of repeat-derived novel exons that reduce the ribosomal engagement of cell cycle genes. Finally, we demonstrate that the inclusion of novel exons is suppressed in hematological cancer samples and can be reversed by drugs modulating the rate of RNAPII elongation. CONCLUSION Our work demonstrates that the inclusion of repeat-associated novel intronic regions is a tightly controlled process capable of expanding the regulatory capacity of cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nesli Avgan
- EMBL Australia, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia
| | - Juli I Wang
- EMBL Australia, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia
- St. Vincent's Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia
| | | | - Robert J Weatheritt
- EMBL Australia, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia.
- St. Vincent's Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia.
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25
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Unveiling the druggable RNA targets and small molecule therapeutics. Bioorg Med Chem 2019; 27:2149-2165. [PMID: 30981606 PMCID: PMC7126819 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2019.03.057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Revised: 03/25/2019] [Accepted: 03/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The increasing appreciation for the crucial roles of RNAs in infectious and non-infectious human diseases makes them attractive therapeutic targets. Coding and non-coding RNAs frequently fold into complex conformations which, if effectively targeted, offer opportunities to therapeutically modulate numerous cellular processes, including those linked to undruggable protein targets. Despite the considerable skepticism as to whether RNAs can be targeted with small molecule therapeutics, overwhelming evidence suggests the challenges we are currently facing are not outside the realm of possibility. In this review, we highlight the most recent advances in molecular techniques that have sparked a revolution in understanding the RNA structure-to-function relationship. We bring attention to the application of these modern techniques to identify druggable RNA targets and to assess small molecule binding specificity. Finally, we discuss novel screening methodologies that support RNA drug discovery and present examples of therapeutically valuable RNA targets.
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26
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A natural antisense lncRNA controls breast cancer progression by promoting tumor suppressor gene mRNA stability. PLoS Genet 2018; 14:e1007802. [PMID: 30496290 PMCID: PMC6289468 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2018] [Revised: 12/11/2018] [Accepted: 11/01/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The human genome encodes thousands of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) genes; the function of majority of them is poorly understood. Aberrant expression of a significant number of lncRNAs is observed in various diseases, including cancer. To gain insights into the role of lncRNAs in breast cancer progression, we performed genome-wide transcriptome analyses in an isogenic, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC/basal-like) progression cell lines using a 3D cell culture model. We identified significantly altered expression of 1853 lncRNAs, including ~500 natural antisense transcript (NATs) lncRNAs. A significant number of breast cancer-deregulated NATs displayed co-regulated expression with oncogenic and tumor suppressor protein-coding genes in cis. Further studies on one such NAT, PDCD4-AS1 lncRNA reveal that it positively regulates the expression and activity of the tumor suppressor PDCD4 in mammary epithelial cells. Both PDCD4-AS1 and PDCD4 show reduced expression in TNBC cell lines and in patients, and depletion of PDCD4-AS1 compromised the cellular levels and activity of PDCD4. Further, tumorigenic properties of PDCD4-AS1-depleted TNBC cells were rescued by exogenous expression of PDCD4, implying that PDCD4-AS1 acts upstream of PDCD4. Mechanistically, PDCD4-AS1 stabilizes PDCD4 RNA by forming RNA duplex and controls the interaction between PDCD4 RNA and RNA decay promoting factors such as HuR. Our studies demonstrate crucial roles played by NAT lncRNAs in regulating post-transcriptional gene expression of key oncogenic or tumor suppressor genes, thereby contributing to TNBC progression. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. The molecular mechanisms underlying the disease have been extensively studied, leading to dramatic improvements in diagnostic and prognostic approaches. Despite the overall improvements in survival rate, numerous cases of death by breast cancer are still reported per year, alerting us about the potential gap of knowledge in cancer molecular biology era. The emerging advances in new generation sequencing techniques have revealed that the majority of genome is transcribed into non-protein coding RNAs or ncRNAs, including thousands of long ncRNAs (lncRNAs) of unknown function. Natural antisense RNAs (NATs) constitute a group of lncRNAs that are transcribed in the opposite direction to a sense protein-coding or non-coding gene with partial or complete complementarity. In this manuscript, we investigate the role of NATs in breast cancer progression, focusing on the role of PDCD4-AS1, a NAT expressed from the established tumor suppressor PDCD4 gene locus. We observe that both PDCD4-AS1 and PDCD4 display concordant expression in breast cancer cell lines and patients. In mammary epithelial cells, PDCD4-AS1 promotes the stability of PDCD4 mRNA. PDCD4-AS1 by forming RNA duplex with PDCD4 RNA prevents the interaction between PDCD4 RNA and RNA decay factors in the nucleus.
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27
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Nititham J, Fergusson C, Palmer C, Liao W, Foerster J. Candidate long-range regulatory sites acting on the IL17 pathway genes TRAF3IP2
and IL17RA
are associated with psoriasis. Exp Dermatol 2018; 27:1294-1297. [DOI: 10.1111/exd.13761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2018] [Revised: 06/22/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Joanne Nititham
- Department of Dermatology; University of California at San Francisco; San Francisco California
| | | | | | - Wilson Liao
- Department of Dermatology; University of California at San Francisco; San Francisco California
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28
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Annala M, Taavitsainen S, Vandekerkhove G, Bacon JVW, Beja K, Chi KN, Nykter M, Wyatt AW. Frequent mutation of the FOXA1 untranslated region in prostate cancer. Commun Biol 2018; 1:122. [PMID: 30272002 PMCID: PMC6123809 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-018-0128-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2018] [Accepted: 08/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Prostate cancer has a low somatic mutation rate but non-coding regions remain underexplored. We sequenced the untranslated regions (UTRs) of 72 established driver genes in 428 patients with metastatic prostate cancer and identified FOXA1 3'-UTR mutations in 12% of patients. The mutations were predominantly insertions or deletions, covered the entire UTR without motif enrichment, and were not detected in other cancers. FOXA1 lies in head-on orientation with the androgen-regulated non-coding gene AL121790.1, resulting in strong prostate lineage-specific bidirectional transcription across the FOXA1 3'-UTR. This suggests transcriptional activity as a cause for the localized hypermutation. The indel-dominant pattern of somatic mutation extends into the FOXA1 coding region, where it is shaped by clonal selection to yield a cluster of non-frameshift indels inside the forkhead domain. Somatic FOXA1 3'-UTR mutations may prove useful for diagnostic and screening approaches, given their high frequency and lineage specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matti Annala
- Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences and Biomeditech Institute, University of Tampere, FI-33520, Tampere, Finland
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3Z6, Canada
| | - Sinja Taavitsainen
- Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences and Biomeditech Institute, University of Tampere, FI-33520, Tampere, Finland
| | - Gillian Vandekerkhove
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3Z6, Canada
| | - Jack V W Bacon
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3Z6, Canada
| | - Kevin Beja
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3Z6, Canada
| | - Kim N Chi
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3Z6, Canada
- Department of Medical Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1G1, Canada
| | - Matti Nykter
- Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences and Biomeditech Institute, University of Tampere, FI-33520, Tampere, Finland
| | - Alexander W Wyatt
- Vancouver Prostate Centre, Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3Z6, Canada.
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29
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Wenric S, Shemirani R. Using Supervised Learning Methods for Gene Selection in RNA-Seq Case-Control Studies. Front Genet 2018; 9:297. [PMID: 30123241 PMCID: PMC6085558 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2018.00297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Whole transcriptome studies typically yield large amounts of data, with expression values for all genes or transcripts of the genome. The search for genes of interest in a particular study setting can thus be a daunting task, usually relying on automated computational methods. Moreover, most biological questions imply that such a search should be performed in a multivariate setting, to take into account the inter-genes relationships. Differential expression analysis commonly yields large lists of genes deemed significant, even after adjustment for multiple testing, making the subsequent study possibilities extensive. Here, we explore the use of supervised learning methods to rank large ensembles of genes defined by their expression values measured with RNA-Seq in a typical 2 classes sample set. First, we use one of the variable importance measures generated by the random forests classification algorithm as a metric to rank genes. Second, we define the EPS (extreme pseudo-samples) pipeline, making use of VAEs (Variational Autoencoders) and regressors to extract a ranking of genes while leveraging the feature space of both virtual and comparable samples. We show that, on 12 cancer RNA-Seq data sets ranging from 323 to 1,210 samples, using either a random forests-based gene selection method or the EPS pipeline outperforms differential expression analysis for 9 and 8 out of the 12 datasets respectively, in terms of identifying subsets of genes associated with survival. These results demonstrate the potential of supervised learning-based gene selection methods in RNA-Seq studies and highlight the need to use such multivariate gene selection methods alongside the widely used differential expression analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephane Wenric
- Laboratory of Human Genetics, GIGA-Research, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.,Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, United States
| | - Ruhollah Shemirani
- Department of Computer Science, Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, United States
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30
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Latgé G, Poulet C, Bours V, Josse C, Jerusalem G. Natural Antisense Transcripts: Molecular Mechanisms and Implications in Breast Cancers. Int J Mol Sci 2018; 19:ijms19010123. [PMID: 29301303 PMCID: PMC5796072 DOI: 10.3390/ijms19010123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2017] [Revised: 12/07/2017] [Accepted: 12/29/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural antisense transcripts are RNA sequences that can be transcribed from both DNA strands at the same locus but in the opposite direction from the gene transcript. Because strand-specific high-throughput sequencing of the antisense transcriptome has only been available for less than a decade, many natural antisense transcripts were first described as long non-coding RNAs. Although the precise biological roles of natural antisense transcripts are not known yet, an increasing number of studies report their implication in gene expression regulation. Their expression levels are altered in many physiological and pathological conditions, including breast cancers. Among the potential clinical utilities of the natural antisense transcripts, the non-coding|coding transcript pairs are of high interest for treatment. Indeed, these pairs can be targeted by antisense oligonucleotides to specifically tune the expression of the coding-gene. Here, we describe the current knowledge about natural antisense transcripts, their varying molecular mechanisms as gene expression regulators, and their potential as prognostic or predictive biomarkers in breast cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Latgé
- Laboratory of Human Genetics, GIGA-Institute, University of Liège, 4500 Liège, Belgium.
| | - Christophe Poulet
- Laboratory of Human Genetics, GIGA-Institute, University of Liège, 4500 Liège, Belgium.
| | - Vincent Bours
- Laboratory of Human Genetics, GIGA-Institute, University of Liège, 4500 Liège, Belgium.
- Center of Genetics, University Hospital (CHU), 4500 Liège, Belgium.
| | - Claire Josse
- Laboratory of Human Genetics, GIGA-Institute, University of Liège, 4500 Liège, Belgium.
- Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital (CHU), 4500 Liège, Belgium.
- Laboratory of Medical Oncology, GIGA-Institute, University of Liège, 4500 Liège, Belgium.
| | - Guy Jerusalem
- Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital (CHU), 4500 Liège, Belgium.
- Laboratory of Medical Oncology, GIGA-Institute, University of Liège, 4500 Liège, Belgium.
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