Folate deficiency and aberrant DNA methylation and expression of FHIT gene were associated with cervical pathogenesis

Predict the Progression of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia by a Novel Marker Folate Combine with FRα, p16 and Ki-67

Purpose

To study the expression of serum folate and red blood cell (RBC) folate, folate receptor α (FRα), p^16INK4a (p16), and Ki-67 at different levels of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and then analyze their role in the progression of CIN and their value as an early warning indicator of CIN progression.

Patients and methods

We randomly collected the data of patients at the Department of Gynecology in Guangxi Medical University Affiliated Cancer Hospital from January 2016 to December 2018: Normal controls (149 cases), CIN1 (150 cases), CIN2 (100 cases), and CIN3 (101 cases). [Ethical approval by Ethics Committee of the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University. (2013) No. (001–1)]. The expression of serum folate and RBC folate was detected by the chemiluminescence method, while the expression of FRα, p16, and Ki-67 was detected by Streptavidin-Perosidase (SP) immunohistochemistry.

Results

There was no statistically significant difference in serum folate levels between different grades of CIN (P=0.784), but the RBC folate levels were statistically significant (P=0.015), and there was a negative correlation between RBC folate levels and CIN lesion grades (P<0.05). The FRα, p16, and Ki-67 levels in the CIN group were significantly different from those in the normal control group (P <0.01), and a positive correlation was found (P <0.01); FRα positivity (P=0.000), Ki-67 positivity (P=0.000), and low-level RBC folate (P=0.000) were independent risk factors for the progression of CIN; these indicators were combined to establish a random forest (RF) model in which the Ki-67+FRα model was used as the early warning model of CIN progression.

Conclusion

RBC folate, FRα, p16, and Ki-67 can be used as valuable clinical test indicators for predicting the progression of CIN; the combined detection model of Ki-67+FRα can be used as an early warning model for predicting the progression of CIN.

Taxonomic and Functional Differences in Cervical Microbiome Associated with Cervical Cancer Development

The cervical microbiome is associated with cervical cancer risk, but how microbial diversity and functional profiles change in cervical cancer remains unclear. Herein, we investigated microbial-compositional and functional differences between a control group and a high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer (CIN2/3-CC) group. After retrospective collection of 92 cervical swab samples, we carried out 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing on 50 and 42 samples from the control and CIN2/3-CC groups, respectively. The EzBioCloud pipeline was applied to identify the genomic features associated with the groups using 16S rRNA data. A linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) was performed to assess the enrichment in the assigned taxonomic and functional profiles. We found a lower richness in the control group relative to the CIN2/3-CC group; however, the β-diversity tended to be similar between the groups. The LEfSe analysis showed that a phylum Sacchaaribacteria_TM7, 11 genera, and 21 species were more abundant in the CIN2/3-CC group and that one uncharacterized Gardnerella species was more abundant only in the control group. Further characterization of the functional pathways using EzBioCloud showed that the 4 KEGG orthologs (Phosphotransferase system [PTS] sucrose-specific IIA, IIB, IIC components and PTS cellubiose-specific IIC component) were involved in the KEGG pathway of starch and sucrose metabolism. The two pathways of folate biosynthesis and oxidative phosphorylation were more abundant in the CIN2/3-CC group. Further confirmation of these results in larger samples can help to elucidate the potential association between the cervical microbiome and cervical cancer.

Relationship between Methylation of FHIT and CDH13 Gene Promoter Region and Liver Cancer

In order to demonstrate the relationship between methylation of fragile histidine triad (FHIT) and T-cadherin/H-cadherin (CDH13) genes and liver cancer, the methylation status of FHIT and CDH13 was detected in healthy individuals and in Mongolian and Han patients with liver cancer. The phenol-chloroform method was used to extract genomic DNA. The methylation specific polymerase chain reaction method was applied to detect the methylation status of FHIT and CDH13. The relationship between smoking and alcohol consumption and gene (FHIT and CDH13) methylation was analyzed. There was significant difference in methylation rate of FHIT (72.67%, 34.67%) and CDH13 (72.0%, 28.0%) between liver cancer patients and healthy individuals of Mongolian descent (P<0.05), as well as that of FHIT (68%, 30.67%) and CDH13 (64%, 26%) between liver cancer patients and healthy individuals of Han individuals (P<0.05). There was also a relationship between smoking and drinking and the methylation of FHIT and CDH13 (P<0.05). Thus, the methylation of FHIT and CDH13 had a relationship with liver cancer incidence. Smoking and alcohol ingestion may promote the methylation of FHIT and CDH13.

The Relevance of Gender in Tumor-Influencing Epigenetic Traits

Tumorigenesis as well as the molecular orchestration of cancer progression are very complex mechanisms that comprise numerous elements of influence and regulation. Today, many of the major concepts are well described and a basic understanding of a tumor's fine-tuning is given. Throughout the last decade epigenetics has been featured in cancer research and it is now clear that the underlying mechanisms, especially DNA and histone modifications, are important regulators of carcinogenesis and tumor progression. Another key regulator, which is well known but has been neglected in scientific approaches as well as molecular diagnostics and, consequently, treatment conceptualization for a long time, is the subtle influence patient gender has on molecular processes. Naturally, this is greatly based on hormonal differences, but from an epigenetic point of view, the diverse susceptibility to stress and environmental influences is of prime interest. In this review we present the current view on which and how epigenetic modifications, emphasizing DNA methylation, regulate various tumor diseases. It is our aim to elucidate gender and epigenetics and their interconnectedness, which will contribute to understanding of the prospect molecular orchestration of cancer in individual tumors.

Genomic and transcriptomic landscapes of Epstein-Barr virus in extranodal natural killer T-cell lymphoma

Extranodal natural killer T-cell lymphoma (nasal type; NKTCL) is an aggressive malignancy strongly associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. However, the role of EBV in NKTCL development is unclear, largely due to the lack of information about EBV genome and transcriptome in NKTCL. Here, using high-throughput sequencing, we obtained whole genome (n = 27) and transcriptome datasets (n = 18) of EBV derived from NKTCL tumor biopsies. We assembled 27 EBV genomes and detected an average of 1,152 single nucleotide variants and 44.8 indels (<50 bp) of EBV per sample. We also identified frequent focal EBV genome deletions and integrated EBV fragments in the host genome. Moreover, Phylogenetic analysis revealed that NKTCL-derived EBVs are closely clustered; transcriptome analysis revealed less activation of both latent and lytic genes and larger amount of T-cell epitope alterations in NKTCL, as compared with other EBV-associated cancers. Furthermore, we observed transcriptional defects of the BARTs miRNA by deletion, and the disruption of host NHEJ1 by integrated EBV fragment, implying novel pathogenic mechanisms of EBV. Taken together, we reported for the first time global mutational and transcriptional profiles of EBV in NKTCL clinical samples, revealing important somatic events of EBV and providing insights to better understanding of EBV’s contribution in tumorigenesis.