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Knuth MM, Xue J, Elnagheeb M, Gharaibeh RZ, Schoenrock SA, McRitchie S, Brouwer C, Sumner SJ, Tarantino L, Valdar W, Rector RS, Simon JM, Ideraabdullah F. Early life exposure to vitamin D deficiency impairs molecular mechanisms that regulate liver cholesterol biosynthesis, energy metabolism, inflammation, and detoxification. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2024; 15:1335855. [PMID: 38800476 PMCID: PMC11116800 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1335855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Emerging data suggests liver disease may be initiated during development when there is high genome plasticity and the molecular pathways supporting liver function are being developed. Methods Here, we leveraged our Collaborative Cross mouse model of developmental vitamin D deficiency (DVD) to investigate the role of DVD in dysregulating the molecular mechanisms underlying liver disease. We defined the effects on the adult liver transcriptome and metabolome and examined the role of epigenetic dysregulation. Given that the parental origin of the genome (POG) influences response to DVD, we used our established POG model [POG1-(CC011xCC001)F1 and POG2-(CC001xCC011)F1] to identify interindividual differences. Results We found that DVD altered the adult liver transcriptome, primarily downregulating genes controlling liver development, response to injury/infection (detoxification & inflammation), cholesterol biosynthesis, and energy production. In concordance with these transcriptional changes, we found that DVD decreased liver cell membrane-associated lipids (including cholesterol) and pentose phosphate pathway metabolites. Each POG also exhibited distinct responses. POG1 exhibited almost 2X more differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with effects indicative of increased energy utilization. This included upregulation of lipid and amino acid metabolism genes and increased intermediate lipid and amino acid metabolites, increased energy cofactors, and decreased energy substrates. POG2 exhibited broader downregulation of cholesterol biosynthesis genes with a metabolomics profile indicative of decreased energy utilization. Although DVD primarily caused loss of liver DNA methylation for both POGs, only one epimutation was shared, and POG2 had 6.5X more differentially methylated genes. Differential methylation was detected at DEGs regulating developmental processes such as amino acid transport (POG1) and cell growth & differentiation (e.g., Wnt & cadherin signaling, POG2). Conclusions These findings implicate a novel role for maternal vitamin D in programming essential offspring liver functions that are dysregulated in liver disease. Importantly, impairment of these processes was not rescued by vitamin D treatment at weaning, suggesting these effects require preventative measures. Substantial differences in POG response to DVD demonstrate that the parental genomic context of exposure determines offspring susceptibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan M. Knuth
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Jing Xue
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Nutrition Research Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kannapolis, NC, United States
| | - Marwa Elnagheeb
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Raad Z. Gharaibeh
- Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Sarah A. Schoenrock
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Susan McRitchie
- Nutrition Research Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kannapolis, NC, United States
| | - Cory Brouwer
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United States
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte Bioinformatics Service Division, North Carolina Research Campus, Kannapolis, NC, United States
| | - Susan J. Sumner
- Nutrition Research Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kannapolis, NC, United States
- Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Lisa Tarantino
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - William Valdar
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - R. Scott Rector
- Research Service, Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Medical Center, Columbia, MO, United States
- NextGen Precision Health, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
- Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
| | - Jeremy M. Simon
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Neuroscience Center Bioinformatics Core, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Folami Ideraabdullah
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Nutrition Research Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kannapolis, NC, United States
- Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
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Macdonald JK, Clift CL, Saunders J, Zambrzycki SC, Mehta AS, Drake RR, Angel PM. Differential Protease Specificity by Collagenase as a Novel Approach to Serum Proteomics That Includes Identification of Extracellular Matrix Proteins without Enrichment. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MASS SPECTROMETRY 2024; 35:487-497. [PMID: 38329320 PMCID: PMC10921462 DOI: 10.1021/jasms.3c00366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 12/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Circulating extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins are serological biomarkers of interest due to their association with pathologies involving disease processes such as fibrosis and cancers. In this study, we investigate the potential for serum biomarker research using differential protease specificity (DPS), leveraging alternate protease specificity as a targeting mechanism to selectively digest circulating ECM protein serum proteins. A proof-of-concept study is presented using serum from patients with cirrhotic liver or hepatocellular carcinoma. The approach uses collagenase DPS for digestion of deglycosylated serum and liquid-chromatography-trapped ion mobility-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-TIMS-MS/MS) to enhance the detection of ECM proteins in serum. It requires no sample enrichment and minimizes the albumin average precursor intensity readout to less than 1.2%. We further demonstrate the capabilities for using the method as a high-throughput matrix-assisted laser/desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) assay coupled with reference library searching. A goal is to improve the depth and breadth of biofluid proteomics for noninvasive assays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jade K. Macdonald
- Department of Cell and Molecular
Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
| | | | | | - Stephen C. Zambrzycki
- Department of Cell and Molecular
Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
| | - Anand S. Mehta
- Department of Cell and Molecular
Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
| | - Richard R. Drake
- Department of Cell and Molecular
Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
| | - Peggi M. Angel
- Department of Cell and Molecular
Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
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He C, Konishi R, Harata A, Nakamura Y, Mizuno R, Yoda M, Toi M, Kawaguchi K, Kawaoka S. Serum amyloid alpha 1-2 are not required for liver inflammation in the 4T1 murine breast cancer model. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1097788. [PMID: 36817472 PMCID: PMC9935569 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1097788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancers induce the production of acute phase proteins such as serum amyloid alpha (SAA) in the liver and cause inflammation in various host organs. Despite the well-known coincidence of acute phase response and inflammation, the direct roles of SAA proteins in inflammation in the cancer context remains incompletely characterized, particularly in vivo. Here, we investigate the in vivo significance of SAA proteins in liver inflammation in the 4T1 murine breast cancer model. 4T1 cancers elevate the expression of SAA1 and SAA2, the two major murine acute phase proteins in the liver. The elevation of Saa1-2 correlates with the up-regulation of immune cell-related genes including neutrophil markers. To examine this correlation in detail, we generate mice that lack Saa1-2 and investigate immune-cell phenotypes. RNA-seq experiments reveal that deletion of Saa1-2 does not strongly affect 4T1-induced activation of immune cell-related genes in the liver. Flow cytometry experiments demonstrate the dispensable roles of SAA1-2 in cancer-dependent neutrophil infiltration to the liver. Consistently, 4T1-induced gene expression changes in bone marrow do not require Saa1-2. This study clarifies the negligible contribution of SAA1-2 proteins in liver inflammation in the 4T1 breast cancer model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenfeng He
- Inter-Organ Communication Research Team, Institute for Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.,Department of Breast Surgery, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Riyo Konishi
- Inter-Organ Communication Research Team, Institute for Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Ayano Harata
- Inter-Organ Communication Research Team, Institute for Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.,Department of Integrative Bioanalytics, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC), Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Yuki Nakamura
- Inter-Organ Communication Research Team, Institute for Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.,Department of Breast Surgery, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Rin Mizuno
- Inter-Organ Communication Research Team, Institute for Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Mayuko Yoda
- Department of Integrative Bioanalytics, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC), Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Masakazu Toi
- Department of Breast Surgery, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Kosuke Kawaguchi
- Department of Breast Surgery, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Shinpei Kawaoka
- Inter-Organ Communication Research Team, Institute for Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.,Department of Integrative Bioanalytics, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC), Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
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Wu J, Chen Y. Signal peptide stabilizes folding and inhibits misfolding of serum amyloid A. Protein Sci 2022; 31:e4485. [PMID: 36309973 PMCID: PMC9667897 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Revised: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Signal peptide (SP) plays an important role in membrane targeting for insertion of secretory and membrane proteins during translocation processes in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Beside the targeting functions, SP has also been found to affect the stability and folding of several proteins. Serum amyloid A (SAA) proteins are apolipoproteins responding to acute-phase inflammation. The fibrillization of SAA results in a protein misfolding disease named amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis. The main disease-associated isoform of human SAA, SAA1.1, is expressed as a precursor protein with an N-terminal signal peptide composed of 18 residues. The cleavage of the SP generates mature SAA1.1. To investigate whether the SP affects properties of SAA1.1, we systematically examined the structure, protein stability, and fibrillization propensity of pre-SAA1.1, which possesses the SP, and Ser-SAA1.1 without the SP but containing with an additional N-terminal serine residue. We found that the presence of the SP did not significantly affect the predominant helical structure but changed the tertiary conformation as evidenced by intrinsic fluorescence and exposed hydrophobic surfaces. Pre-SAA1.1 and Ser-SAA1.1 formed distinct oligomeric assemblies in which pre-SAA1.1 populated as tetramer and octamer, whereas Ser-SAA1.1 existed as a predominant hexamer. Pre-SAA1.1 was found significantly more stable than Ser-SAA1.1 upon thermal and chemical unfolding. Ser-SAA1.1, but not pre-SAA1.1, is capable of forming amyloid fibrils in protein misfolding study, indicating a protective role of the SP. Altogether, our results demonstrated a novel role of the SP in SAA folding and misfolding and provided a novel direction for therapeutic development of AA amyloidosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin‐Lin Wu
- Ph.D. Program for Cancer Biology and Drug DiscoveryChina Medical University and Academia SinicaTaichungTaiwan
- Genomics Research Center, Academia SinicaTaipeiTaiwan
| | - Yun‐Ru Chen
- Ph.D. Program for Cancer Biology and Drug DiscoveryChina Medical University and Academia SinicaTaichungTaiwan
- Genomics Research Center, Academia SinicaTaipeiTaiwan
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Function of the Long Noncoding RNAs in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Classification, Molecular Mechanisms, and Significant Therapeutic Potentials. Bioengineering (Basel) 2022; 9:bioengineering9080406. [PMID: 36004931 PMCID: PMC9405066 DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering9080406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2022] [Revised: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common and serious type of primary liver cancer. HCC patients have a high death rate and poor prognosis due to the lack of clear signs and inadequate treatment interventions. However, the molecular pathways that underpin HCC pathogenesis remain unclear. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a new type of RNAs, have been found to play important roles in HCC. LncRNAs have the ability to influence gene expression and protein activity. Dysregulation of lncRNAs has been linked to a growing number of liver disorders, including HCC. As a result, improved understanding of lncRNAs could lead to new insights into HCC etiology, as well as new approaches for the early detection and treatment of HCC. The latest results with respect to the role of lncRNAs in controlling multiple pathways of HCC were summarized in this study. The processes by which lncRNAs influence HCC advancement by interacting with chromatin, RNAs, and proteins at the epigenetic, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional levels were examined. This critical review also highlights recent breakthroughs in lncRNA signaling pathways in HCC progression, shedding light on the potential applications of lncRNAs for HCC diagnosis and therapy.
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