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Nie X, Wei X, Ma H, Fan L, Chen WD. The complex role of Wnt ligands in type 2 diabetes mellitus and related complications. J Cell Mol Med 2021; 25:6479-6495. [PMID: 34042263 PMCID: PMC8278111 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.16663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2021] [Revised: 05/02/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the major chronic diseases, whose prevalence is increasing dramatically worldwide and can lead to a range of serious complications. Wnt ligands (Wnts) and their activating Wnt signalling pathways are closely involved in the regulation of various processes that are important for the occurrence and progression of T2DM and related complications. However, our understanding of their roles in these diseases is quite rudimentary due to the numerous family members of Wnts and conflicting effects via activating the canonical and/or non-canonical Wnt signalling pathways. In this review, we summarize the current findings on the expression pattern and exact role of each human Wnt in T2DM and related complications, including Wnt1, Wnt2, Wnt2b, Wnt3, Wnt3a, Wnt4, Wnt5a, Wnt5b, Wnt6, Wnt7a, Wnt7b, Wnt8a, Wnt8b, Wnt9a, Wnt9b, Wnt10a, Wnt10b, Wnt11 and Wnt16. Moreover, the role of main antagonists (sFRPs and WIF-1) and coreceptor (LRP6) of Wnts in T2DM and related complications and main challenges in designing Wnt-based therapeutic approaches for these diseases are discussed. We hope a deep understanding of the mechanistic links between Wnt signalling pathways and diabetic-related diseases will ultimately result in a better management of these diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaobo Nie
- Key Laboratory of Receptors-Mediated Gene Regulation and Drug Discovery, School of Basic Medical Sciences, People's Hospital of Hebi, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
| | - Xiaoyun Wei
- Key Laboratory of Receptors-Mediated Gene Regulation and Drug Discovery, School of Basic Medical Sciences, People's Hospital of Hebi, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
| | - Han Ma
- Key Laboratory of Receptors-Mediated Gene Regulation and Drug Discovery, School of Basic Medical Sciences, People's Hospital of Hebi, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
| | - Lili Fan
- Key Laboratory of Receptors-Mediated Gene Regulation and Drug Discovery, School of Basic Medical Sciences, People's Hospital of Hebi, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
| | - Wei-Dong Chen
- Key Laboratory of Receptors-Mediated Gene Regulation and Drug Discovery, School of Basic Medical Sciences, People's Hospital of Hebi, Henan University, Kaifeng, China.,Key Laboratory of Molecular Pathology, School of Basic Medical Science, Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, China
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Kina S, Kawabata-Iwakawa R, Miyamoto S, Arasaki A, Sunakawa H, Kinjo T. A molecular signature of well-differentiated oral squamous cell carcinoma reveals a resistance mechanism to metronomic chemotherapy and novel therapeutic candidates. J Drug Target 2021; 29:1118-1127. [PMID: 33979258 DOI: 10.1080/1061186x.2021.1929256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Well-differentiated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), accounts for approximately 10% of all HNSCCs and, while these cases are associated with good prognosis after surgery, these are resistant to chemotherapy. Here we designed a retrospective study to evaluate the effects of histological differentiation on tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) patients undergoing surgery or metronomic neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The metronomic neoadjuvant chemotherapy significantly improved overall survival of patients with poorly or moderately differentiated tumour, but not those with well-differentiated tumour. Analysis of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) showed that FAT1 mutations were significantly enriched in more differentiated HNSCC while ASPM mutations were significantly enriched among the poorly differentiated HNSCC. Interestingly, Wnt/β-catenin pathway was activated in well-differentiated HNSCC. Active β-catenin is translocated to the nucleus in the well-differentiated oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. Wnt inhibitor, Wnt974, were synergistic with methotrexate in killing well-differentiated oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines. TCGA data analyses reveal a signature in patients with well-differentiated HNSCC who have no benefits from metronomic neoadjuvant chemotherapy, suggesting that there might be novel nosology and therapeutic candidates for improving HNSCC patient survival. Well-differentiated OSCC is synergistically killed by combination chemotherapy with Wnt inhibitor, making it promising therapeutic candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shinichiro Kina
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Functional Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nakagami-gun, Japan.,Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Oncology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan
| | - Reika Kawabata-Iwakawa
- Division of Integrated Oncology Research, Gunma University Initiative for Advanced Research, Maebashi, Japan
| | - Sho Miyamoto
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Functional Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nakagami-gun, Japan
| | - Akira Arasaki
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Functional Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nakagami-gun, Japan
| | - Hajime Sunakawa
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Functional Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nakagami-gun, Japan
| | - Takao Kinjo
- Department of Basic Laboratory Sciences, Division of Morphological Pathology, School of Health Sciences, University of the Ryukyus, Nakagami-gun, Japan
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Schmidt F, Kern F, Schulz MH. Integrative prediction of gene expression with chromatin accessibility and conformation data. Epigenetics Chromatin 2020; 13:4. [PMID: 32029002 PMCID: PMC7003490 DOI: 10.1186/s13072-020-0327-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2019] [Accepted: 01/06/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Enhancers play a fundamental role in orchestrating cell state and development. Although several methods have been developed to identify enhancers, linking them to their target genes is still an open problem. Several theories have been proposed on the functional mechanisms of enhancers, which triggered the development of various methods to infer promoter-enhancer interactions (PEIs). The advancement of high-throughput techniques describing the three-dimensional organization of the chromatin, paved the way to pinpoint long-range PEIs. Here we investigated whether including PEIs in computational models for the prediction of gene expression improves performance and interpretability. RESULTS We have extended our [Formula: see text] framework to include DNA contacts deduced from chromatin conformation capture experiments and compared various methods to determine PEIs using predictive modelling of gene expression from chromatin accessibility data and predicted transcription factor (TF) motif data. We designed a novel machine learning approach that allows the prioritization of TFs binding to distal loop and promoter regions with respect to their importance for gene expression regulation. Our analysis revealed a set of core TFs that are part of enhancer-promoter loops involving YY1 in different cell lines. CONCLUSION We present a novel approach that can be used to prioritize TFs involved in distal and promoter-proximal regulatory events by integrating chromatin accessibility, conformation, and gene expression data. We show that the integration of chromatin conformation data can improve gene expression prediction and aids model interpretability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Schmidt
- High-throughput Genomics & Systems Biology, Cluster of Excellence on Multimodal Computing and Interaction, Saarland Informatics Campus, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
- Computational Biology & Applied Algorithmics, Max-Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarland Informatics Campus, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
- Center for Bioinformatics, Saarland Informatics Campus, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
- Genome Institute of Singapore, A*STAR, 60 Biopolis Street, Singapore, 138672 Singapore
| | - Fabian Kern
- High-throughput Genomics & Systems Biology, Cluster of Excellence on Multimodal Computing and Interaction, Saarland Informatics Campus, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
- Center for Bioinformatics, Saarland Informatics Campus, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
- Chair for Clinical Bioinformatics, Saarland Informatics Campus, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Marcel H. Schulz
- High-throughput Genomics & Systems Biology, Cluster of Excellence on Multimodal Computing and Interaction, Saarland Informatics Campus, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
- Computational Biology & Applied Algorithmics, Max-Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarland Informatics Campus, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
- Center for Bioinformatics, Saarland Informatics Campus, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
- Institute of Cardiovascular Regeneration, Goethe-University, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- German Center for Cardiovascular Research, Partner Site Rhein-Main, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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Serotonin is elevated in risk-genotype carriers of TCF7L2 - rs7903146. Sci Rep 2019; 9:12863. [PMID: 31492908 PMCID: PMC6731216 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49347-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2019] [Accepted: 08/12/2019] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) polymorphism rs7903146 is known to be tightly associated with an elevated risk for type 2 diabetes, whereas the molecular mechanisms remain elusive. We evaluated the metabolic profile of a total of 394 patients' serum samples with respect to their rs7903146 genotype using targeted metabolomics in a discovery (n = 154) and a validation (n = 240) study. We have identified serotonin as the top metabolite being increased in carriers of the risk allele. Serotonin was significantly associated with the rs7903146 genotype after full adjustment including type 2 diabetes and further top ranked metabolites. Given the role of peripheral serotonin in metabolic homeostasis and type 2 diabetes, this finding provides a first hint that the well-known impact of the TCF7L2 polymorphism on type 2 diabetes risk may involve a serotonin-dependent pathway.
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Scheibner K, Bakhti M, Bastidas-Ponce A, Lickert H. Wnt signaling: implications in endoderm development and pancreas organogenesis. Curr Opin Cell Biol 2019; 61:48-55. [PMID: 31377680 DOI: 10.1016/j.ceb.2019.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2019] [Revised: 06/26/2019] [Accepted: 07/02/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The pancreas is derived from the foregut endoderm during embryonic development. After gastrulation and endoderm germ layer formation complex morphogenetic events coupled with cell differentiation programs pattern the gut tube and induce pancreas organogenesis. This results in formation of exocrine, ductal and hormone-producing endocrine cells. Among these, endocrine cells are responsible for blood glucose homeostasis and their malfunction leads to diabetes mellitus, which cannot be stopped or reversed by the current standard treatments. Thus, intense efforts to regenerate or replace the lost or dysfunctional insulin-producing β-cells are on the way. This depends on identifying the factors that coordinate pancreas organogenesis. Here, we highlight the contribution of canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling branches in orchestrating endoderm formation, pancreatic morphogenesis as well as endocrine cell formation and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Scheibner
- Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Institute of Stem Cell Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine, Munich, Germany
| | - Mostafa Bakhti
- Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Institute of Stem Cell Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Aimée Bastidas-Ponce
- Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Institute of Stem Cell Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine, Munich, Germany
| | - Heiko Lickert
- Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Institute of Stem Cell Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Technical University of Munich, School of Medicine, Munich, Germany.
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Modulation of the endocrine transcriptional program by targeting histone modifiers of the H3K27me3 mark. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-GENE REGULATORY MECHANISMS 2018. [PMID: 29530603 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagrm.2018.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Posttranscriptional modifications of histones constitute an epigenetic mechanism that is closely linked to both gene silencing and activation events. Trimethylation of Histone3 at lysine 27 (H3K27me3) is a repressive mark that associates with developmental gene regulation during differentiation programs. In the developing pancreas, expression of the transcription factor Neurogenin3 in multipotent progenitors initiates endocrine differentiation that culminates in the generation of all pancreatic islet cell lineages, including insulin-producing beta cells. Previously, we showed that Neurogenin3 promoted the removal of H3K27me3 marks at target gene promoters in vitro, suggesting a functional connection between this factor and regulators of this chromatin mark. In the present study, we aimed to specifically evaluate whether targeting the activity of these histone modifiers can be used to modulate pancreatic endocrine differentiation. Our data show that chemical inhibition of the H3K27me3 demethylases Jmjd3/Utx blunts Neurogenin3-dependent gene activation in vitro. Conversely, inhibition of the H3K27me3 methyltransferase Ezh2 enhances both the transactivation ability of Neurogenin3 in cultured cells and the formation of insulin-producing cells during directed differentiation from pluripotent cells. These results can help improve current protocols aimed at generating insulin-producing cells for beta cell replacement therapy in diabetes.
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Sakhneny L, Rachi E, Epshtein A, Guez HC, Wald-Altman S, Lisnyansky M, Khalifa-Malka L, Hazan A, Baer D, Priel A, Weil M, Landsman L. Pancreatic Pericytes Support β-Cell Function in a Tcf7l2-Dependent Manner. Diabetes 2018; 67:437-447. [PMID: 29246974 DOI: 10.2337/db17-0697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2017] [Accepted: 12/06/2017] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Polymorphism in TCF7L2, a component of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway, has a strong association with β-cell dysfunction and type 2 diabetes through a mechanism that has yet to be defined. β-Cells rely on cells in their microenvironment, including pericytes, for their proper function. Here, we show that Tcf7l2 activity in pancreatic pericytes is required for β-cell function. Transgenic mice in which Tcf7l2 was selectively inactivated in their pancreatic pericytes exhibited impaired glucose tolerance due to compromised β-cell function and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Inactivation of pericytic Tcf7l2 was associated with impaired expression of genes required for β-cell function and maturity in isolated islets. In addition, we identified Tcf7l2-dependent pericytic expression of secreted factors shown to promote β-cell function, including bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4). Finally, we show that exogenous BMP4 is sufficient to rescue the impaired glucose-stimulated insulin secretion of transgenic mice, pointing to a potential mechanism through which pericytic Tcf7l2 activity affects β-cells. To conclude, we suggest that pancreatic pericytes produce secreted factors, including BMP4, in a Tcf7l2-dependent manner to support β-cell function. Our findings thus propose a potential cellular mechanism through which abnormal TCF7L2 activity predisposes individuals to diabetes and implicates abnormalities in the islet microenvironment in this disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lina Sakhneny
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Eleonor Rachi
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Alona Epshtein
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Helen C Guez
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Shane Wald-Altman
- Department of Cell Research and Immunology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and the Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Michal Lisnyansky
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Laura Khalifa-Malka
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Adina Hazan
- Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Daria Baer
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Avi Priel
- Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Miguel Weil
- Department of Cell Research and Immunology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and the Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Limor Landsman
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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