Interplay between chromatin modifications and paused RNA polymerase II in dynamic transition between stalled and activated genes

DNA methylation profile of liver of mice conceived by in vitro fertilization

Offspring generated by in vitro fertilization (IVF) are believed to be healthy but display a possible predisposition to chronic diseases, like hypertension and glucose intolerance. Since epigenetic changes are believed to underlie such phenotype, this study aimed at describing global DNA methylation changes in the liver of adult mice generated by natural mating (FB group) or by IVF. Embryos were generated by IVF or natural mating. At 30 weeks of age, mice were sacrificed. The liver was removed, and global DNA methylation was assessed using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS). Genomic Regions for Enrichment Analysis Tool (GREAT) and G:Profilerβ were used to identify differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and for functional enrichment analysis. Overrepresented gene ontology terms were summarized with REVIGO, while canonical pathways (CPs) were identified with Ingenuity® Pathway Analysis. Overall, 2692 DMRs (4.91%) were different between the groups. The majority of DMRs (84.92%) were hypomethylated in the IVF group. Surprisingly, only 0.16% of CpG islands were differentially methylated and only a few DMRs were located on known gene promoters (n = 283) or enhancers (n = 190). Notably, the long-interspersed element (LINE), short-interspersed element (SINE), and long terminal repeat (LTR1) transposable elements showed reduced methylation (P < 0.05) in IVF livers. Cellular metabolic process, hepatic fibrosis, and insulin receptor signaling were some of the principal biological processes and CPs modified by IVF. In summary, IVF modifies the DNA methylation signature in the adult liver, resulting in hypomethylation of genes involved in metabolism and gene transcription regulation. These findings may shed light on the mechanisms underlying the developmental origin of health and disease.

Annotation and cluster analysis of long noncoding RNA linked to male sex and estrogen in cancers

The sex difference in cancer occurrence is a consistent finding in cancer epidemiology. Several solid tumors, including lung cancer, colorectal cancer, hepatic carcinoma, and renal carcinoma, are generally more common in males. Although sexual dimorphism is attributed to hormonal or behavioral differences, evidence for the function of lncRNA is lacking in sex-specific cancers. We show here that LINC00263 is one of the most dysregulated lncRNAs in lung adenocarcinomas and is upregulated in lung adenocarcinoma, colorectal cancer, and renal carcinoma, especially in male patients compared to females. LINC00263 functions as an oncogene by promoting translocation of p65 into the nucleus to activate the NF-κB-signaling pathway through interaction with IKKα in the cytoplasm. The expression of LINC00263 is strongly correlated with ESR1, and it is decreased after treatment with estrogen. Ligand-activated ER could inhibit the function of LINC00263 by inhibiting NF-κB from cytoplasmic translocation into the nucleus. The inhibitory effect of estrogen on LINC00263 indicates its differential expression in male and female patients. Our findings indicate that LINC00263 is linked to male sex and estrogen as an oncogene, and these findings might help in the exploration of the mechanisms of differential gene regulation in sex-specific cancers.

The epigenetic regulators and metabolic changes in ferroptosis-associated cancer progression

Ferroptosis, a novel form of regulated cell death, is different from other types of cell death in morphology, genetics and biochemistry. Increasing evidence indicates that ferroptosis has significant implications on cell death linked to cardiomyopathy, tumorigenesis, and cerebral hemorrhage to name a few. Here we summarize current literature on ferroptosis, including organelle dysfunction, signaling transduction pathways, metabolic reprogramming and epigenetic regulators in cancer progression. With regard to organelles, mitochondria-induced cysteine starvation, endoplasmic reticulum-related oxidative stress, lysosome dysfunction and golgi stress-related lipid peroxidation all contribute to induction of ferroptosis. Understanding the underlying mechanism in ferroptosis could provide insight into the treatment of various intractable diseases including cancers.

DNA methylation modifier LSH inhibits p53 ubiquitination and transactivates p53 to promote lipid metabolism

BACKGROUND

The stability of p53 is mainly controlled by ubiquitin-dependent degradation, which is triggered by the E3 ubiquitin ligase MDM2. The chromatin modifier lymphoid-specific helicase (LSH) is essential for DNA methylation and cancer progression as a transcriptional repressor. The potential interplay between chromatin modifiers and transcription factors remains largely unknown.

RESULTS

Here, we present data suggesting that LSH regulates p53 in cis through two pathways: prevention proteasomal degradation through its deubiquitination, which is achieved by reducing the lysine 11-linked, lysine 48-linked polyubiquitin chains (K11 and K48) on p53; and revival of the transcriptional activity of p53 by forming a complex with PKM2 (pyruvate kinase 2). Furthermore, we confirmed that the LSH-PKM2 interaction occurred at the intersubunit interface region of the PKM2 C-terminal region and the coiled-coil domains (CC) and ATP-binding domains of LSH, and this interaction regulated p53-mediated transactivation in cis in lipid metabolism, especially lipid catabolism.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that LSH is a novel regulator of p53 through the proteasomal pathway, thereby providing an alternative mechanism of p53 involvement in lipid metabolism in cancer.

Metabolic Intermediates in Tumorigenesis and Progression

Traditional antitumor drugs inhibit the proliferation and metastasis of tumour cells by restraining the replication and expression of DNA. These drugs are usually highly cytotoxic. They kill tumour cells while also cause damage to normal cells at the same time, especially the hematopoietic cells that divide vigorously. Patients are exposed to other serious situations such as a severe infection caused by a decrease in the number of white blood cells. Energy metabolism is an essential process for the survival of all cells, but differs greatly between normal cells and tumour cells in metabolic pathways and metabolic intermediates. Whether this difference could be used as new therapeutic target while reducing damage to normal tissues is the topic of this paper. In this paper, we introduce five major metabolic intermediates in detail, including acetyl-CoA, SAM, FAD, NAD⁺ and THF. Their contents and functions in tumour cells and normal cells are significantly different. And the possible regulatory mechanisms that lead to these differences are proposed carefully. It is hoped that the key enzymes in these regulatory pathways could be used as new targets for tumour therapy.

Long noncoding RNA LINC00336 inhibits ferroptosis in lung cancer by functioning as a competing endogenous RNA

The regulatory loop between long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs has a dynamic role in transcriptional and translational regulation, and is involved in cancer. However, the regulatory circuitry between lncRNAs and microRNAs in tumorigenesis remains elusive. Here we demonstrate that a nuclear lncRNA LINC00336 is upregulated in lung cancer and functions as an oncogene by acting as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNAs). LINC00336 bound RNA-binding protein ELAVL1 (ELAV-like RNA-binding protein 1) using nucleotides 1901–2107 of LINC00336 and the RRM interaction domain and key amino acids (aa) of ELAVL1 (aa 101–213), inhibiting ferroptosis. Moreover, ELAVL1 increased LINC00336 expression by stabilizing its posttranscriptional level, whereas LSH (lymphoid-specific helicase) increased ELAVL1 expression through the p53 signaling pathway, further supporting the hypothesis that LSH promotes LINC00336 expression. Interestingly, LINC00336 served as an endogenous sponge of microRNA 6852 (MIR6852) to regulate the expression of cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS), a surrogate marker of ferroptosis. Finally, we found that MIR6852 inhibited cell growth by promoting ferroptosis. These data show that the network of lncRNA and ceRNA has an important role in tumorigenesis and ferroptosis.

Regulation of chromatin remodeling through RNA polymerase II stalling in the immune system

RNA polymerase II (Pol II) binds to promoter-proximal regions of inducible target genes that are controlled and not transcribed by several negative elongation factors, which is known as Pol II stalling. The occurrence of stalling is due to particular modification signatures and structural conformations of chromatin that affect Pol II elongation. The existence and physiological importance of Pol II stalling implies that there is a dynamic balance in chromatin regulation prior to endogenous or exogenous stimulation. In this review, we discuss the effects of ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes and histone modification via transcriptional machinery Pol II C-terminal domain phosphorylated at serine 5 (S5P RNAPII) initiation and S2P RNAPII elongation on the expression or silence of specific genes after the production of activated or differentiated signals or cytokines. The response occurs immediately during immune cell development and function, and it also includes the generation of immunological memories. This summary suggests that the host immune response genes involve a novel mechanism of selectively regulatory chromatin remodeling, a fundamental and crucial aspect of epigenetic regulation.

Decrease in Lymphoid Specific Helicase and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine Is Associated with Metastasis and Genome Instability

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification as a hallmark in cancer. Conversion of 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) by ten-eleven translocation (TET) family enzymes plays an important biological role in embryonic stem cells, development, aging and disease. Lymphoid specific helicase (LSH), a chromatin remodeling factor, is regarded as a reader of 5-hmC. Recent reports show that the level of 5-hmC is altered in various types of cancers. However, the change in 5-hmC levels in cancer and associated metastasis is not well defined. We report that the level of 5-hmC was decreased in metastatic tissues of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, breast cancer, and colon cancer relative to that in non-metastasis tumor tissues. Furthermore, our data show that TET2, but not TET3, interacted with LSH, whereas LSH increased TET2 expression through silencing miR-26b-5p and miR-29c-5p. Finally, LSH promoted genome stability by silencing satellite expression by affecting 5-hmC levels in pericentromeric satellite repeats, and LSH was resistant to cisplatin-induced DNA damage. Our data indicate that 5-hmC might serve as a metastasis marker for cancer and that the decreased expression of LSH is likely one of the mechanisms of genome instability underlying 5-hmC loss in cancer.

EGLN1/c-Myc Induced Lymphoid-Specific Helicase Inhibits Ferroptosis through Lipid Metabolic Gene Expression Changes

Ferroptosis is a newly discovered form of non-apoptotic cell death in multiple human diseases. However, the epigenetic mechanisms underlying ferroptosis remain poorly defined. First, we demonstrated that lymphoid-specific helicase (LSH), which is a DNA methylation modifier, interacted with WDR76 to inhibit ferroptosis by activating lipid metabolism-associated genes, including GLUT1, and ferroptosis related genes SCD1 and FADS2, in turn, involved in the Warburg effect. WDR76 targeted these genes expression in dependent manner of LSH and chromatin modification in DNA methylation and histone modification. These effects were dependent on iron and lipid reactive oxygen species. We further demonstrated that EGLN1 and c-Myc directly activated the expression of LSH by inhibiting HIF-1α. Finally, we demonstrated that LSH functioned as an oncogene in lung cancer in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, our study elucidates the molecular basis of the c-Myc/EGLN1-mediated induction of LSH expression that inhibits ferroptosis, which can be exploited for the development of therapeutic strategies targeting ferroptosis for the treatment of cancer.

Chromatin Remodeling Factor LSH is Upregulated by the LRP6-GSK3β-E2F1 Axis Linking Reversely with Survival in Gliomas

The signaling pathway-based stratification in chromatin modification could predict clinical outcome more reliably than morphology-alone-based classification schemes in gliomas. Here we reported a role of the chromatin-remodeling factor lymphoid-specific helicase (LSH) in gliomas. Among astrocytomas of grade I to III and glioblastoma of grade IV, LSH were almost completely expressed in all cases, and strongly correlated with astrocytomas progression and poor prognosis of patients with astrocytomas and glioblastoma. Ectopic expression of LSH promoted tumor formation. Up-regulation of transcription factor E2F1 in astrocytomas and glioblastoma was associated with the progression of gliomas and correlated with LSH expression. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis showed transcription factor E2F1 were recruited to the promoter region of LSH, and depletion of E2F1 decreased LSH expression and cell growth. Moreover, glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), an intact complex of E2F1, were also highly expressed in astrocytomas and linked with astrocytomas progression and poor prognosis of patients with astrocytomas and glioblastoma. Inhibition of GSK3β increased the enrichment of E2F1 to the LSH promoter, in turn, increased LSH expression. Lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6 (LRP6), an upstream regulator of GSK3β signaling pathway, was highly expressed in gliomas. Knockdown of LRP6 decreased LSH expression through decrease of recruitment of E2F1 to the LSH promoter leading to inhibition of cell growth. Taken together, this study reveals evidence demonstrating a mechanism by which upregulated promoted gliomas. A mechanistic link between LSH expression and activation of the LPR6/ GSK3β/E2F1 axis in gliomas illustrates a novel role of LSH in malignant astrocytomas and glioblastoma.

Chromatin remodeling factor LSH affects fumarate hydratase as a cancer driver

Cancer metabolism and epigenetic alteration are two critical mechanisms for tumorigenesis and cancer progression; however, the dynamic interplay between them remains poorly understood. As reported in the article entitled "Chromatin remodeling factor LSH drives cancer progression by suppressing the activity of fumarate hydratase," which was recently published in Cancer Research, our group examined the physiological role of lymphocyte-specific helicase (LSH) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) by focusing on cancer progression and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. We found that LSH was overexpressed in NPC, and its expression associated with Epstein-Barr virus infection. We also found that LSH directly suppressed fumarate hydratase (FH), a key component of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, in combination with euchromatic histone-lysine N-methyltransferase 2 (EHMT2), also known as G9a. Depletion of FH promoted epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Moreover, LSH controlled expression of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates that promote cancer progression, including EMT, through activation by inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B kinase alpha (IKKα), a chromatin modifier and transcriptional activator. Our study showed that LSH plays a critical role in cancer progression, which has important implications for the development of novel strategies to treat NPC.

Repression of Hox genes by LMP1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and modulation of glycolytic pathway genes by HoxC8

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) causes human lymphoid malignancies, and the EBV product latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) has been identified as an oncogene in epithelial carcinomas such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). EBV can epigenetically reprogram lymphocyte-specific processes and induce cell immortalization. However, the interplay between LMP1 and the NPC host cell remains largely unknown. Here, we report that LMP1 is important to establish the Hox gene expression signature in NPC cell lines and tumor biopsies. LMP1 induces repression of several Hox genes in part via stalling of RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II). Pol II stalling can be overcome by irradiation involving the epigenetic regulator TET3. Furthermore, we report that HoxC8, one of the genes silenced by LMP1, has a role in tumor growth. Ectopic expression of HoxC8 inhibits NPC cell growth in vitro and in vivo, modulates glycolysis and regulates the expression of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle-related genes. We propose that viral latency products may repress via stalling key mediators that in turn modulate glycolysis.

Modifications of RNA polymerase II CTD: Connections to the histone code and cellular function

At the onset of transcription, many protein machineries interpret the cellular signals that regulate gene expression. These complex signals are mostly transmitted to the indispensable primary proteins involved in transcription, RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) and histones. RNAPII and histones are so well coordinated in this cellular function that each cellular signal is precisely allocated to specific machinery depending on the stage of transcription. The carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of RNAPII in eukaryotes undergoes extensive posttranslational modification, called the 'CTD code', that is indispensable for coupling transcription with many cellular processes, including mRNA processing. The posttranslational modification of histones, known as the 'histone code', is also critical for gene transcription through the reversible and dynamic remodeling of chromatin structure. Notably, the histone code is closely linked with the CTD code, and their combinatorial effects enable the delicate regulation of gene transcription. This review elucidates recent findings regarding the CTD modifications of RNAPII and their coordination with the histone code, providing integrative pathways for the fine-tuned regulation of gene expression and cellular function.

Homocysteine Induces Collagen I Expression by Downregulating Histone Methyltransferase G9a

Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) leads to several clinical manifestations including hepatic fibrosis. Excess deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) components including collagen is the eponymous lesion of liver fibrosis. In this study, we demonstrated that elevated concentration of Hcy induced the expression of collagen type I in cultured human liver cells as well as in liver tissue of HHcy mice. Meanwhile, Hcy inhibited the expression of histone methyltransferase G9a. Mechanistically, silencing endogenous G9a by siRNA enhanced the promoter activity of COL1A1 in LO2 cells. Conversely, overexpressing G9a inhibited the promoter activity of COL1A1. CHIP assay demonstrated that G9a binds to the neuron-restrictive silencer element (NRSE) on the promoter of COL1A1. Hcy treatment decreased the binding of G9a on NRSE, which in turn decreased the level of H3K9me2 on the promoter of COL1A1, led to upregulation of COL1A1. Taken together, these results provide a novel mechanism on explaining how HHcy promotes ECM production.

A fine balance: epigenetic control of cellular quiescence by the tumor suppressor PRDM2/RIZ at a bivalent domain in the cyclin a gene

Adult stem cell quiescence is critical to ensure regeneration while minimizing tumorigenesis. Epigenetic regulation contributes to cell cycle control and differentiation, but few regulators of the chromatin state in quiescent cells are known. Here we report that the tumor suppressor PRDM2/RIZ, an H3K9 methyltransferase, is enriched in quiescent muscle stem cells invivo and controls reversible quiescence in cultured myoblasts. We find that PRDM2 associates with >4400 promoters in G₀ myoblasts, 55% of which are also marked with H3K9me2 and enriched for myogenic, cell cycle and developmental regulators. Knockdown of PRDM2 alters histone methylation at key promoters such as Myogenin and CyclinA2 (CCNA2), and subverts the quiescence program via global de-repression of myogenesis, and hyper-repression of the cell cycle. Further, PRDM2 acts upstream of the repressive PRC2 complex in G₀. We identify a novel G₀-specific bivalent chromatin domain in the CCNA2 locus. PRDM2 protein interacts with the PRC2 protein EZH2 and regulates its association with the bivalent domain in the CCNA2 gene. Our results suggest that induction of PRDM2 in G₀ ensures that two antagonistic programs—myogenesis and the cell cycle—while stalled, are poised for reactivation. Together, these results indicate that epigenetic regulation by PRDM2 preserves key functions of the quiescent state, with implications for stem cell self-renewal.

PKM2: the thread linking energy metabolism reprogramming with epigenetics in cancer

Cancer metabolism reprogramming or alterations in epigenetics are linked to an incidence of cancer. It is apparent that epigenetic changes have been found in tumors, therefore, the complete epigenome and entire pathways relevant to cell metabolism are subject to epigenetic dysregulation. Here, we review the pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) isoform, a glycolytic enzyme involved in ATP generation and pyruvate production, which plays an essential role in tumor metabolism and growth, and also functions as a protein kinase that phosphorylates histones during genes transcription and chromatin remodeling. We also discuss the potential role of PKM2 in the dynamic integration between metabolic reprogramming and alterations in epigenetics during carcinogenesis and cancer progression.