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Pandey GK, Vadlamudi S, Currin KW, Moxley AH, Nicholas JC, McAfee JC, Broadaway KA, Mohlke KL. Liver regulatory mechanisms of noncoding variants at lipid and metabolic trait loci. HGG Adv 2024; 5:100275. [PMID: 38297830 PMCID: PMC10881423 DOI: 10.1016/j.xhgg.2024.100275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified hundreds of risk loci for liver disease and lipid-related metabolic traits, although identifying their target genes and molecular mechanisms remains challenging. We predicted target genes at GWAS signals by integrating them with molecular quantitative trait loci for liver gene expression (eQTL) and liver chromatin accessibility QTL (caQTL). We predicted specific regulatory caQTL variants at four GWAS signals located near EFHD1, LITAF, ZNF329, and GPR180. Using transcriptional reporter assays, we determined that caQTL variants rs13395911, rs11644920, rs34003091, and rs9556404 exhibit allelic differences in regulatory activity. We also performed a protein binding assay for rs13395911 and found that FOXA2 differentially interacts with the alleles of rs13395911. For variants rs13395911 and rs11644920 in putative enhancer regulatory elements, we used CRISPRi to demonstrate that repression of the enhancers altered the expression of the predicted target and/or nearby genes. Repression of the element at rs13395911 reduced the expression of EFHD1, and repression of the element at rs11644920 reduced the expression of LITAF, SNN, and TXNDC11. Finally, we showed that EFHD1 is a metabolically active gene in HepG2 cells. Together, these results provide key steps to connect genetic variants with cellular mechanisms and help elucidate the causes of liver disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gautam K Pandey
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | | | - Kevin W Currin
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Anne H Moxley
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Jayna C Nicholas
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Jessica C McAfee
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - K Alaine Broadaway
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Karen L Mohlke
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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Zhao B, Wang S, Xue L, Wang Q, Liu Y, Xu Q, Xue Q. EFHD1 expression is correlated with tumor-infiltrating neutrophils and predicts prognosis in gastric cancer. Heliyon 2023; 9:e21062. [PMID: 37876466 PMCID: PMC10590971 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2023] [Revised: 10/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Gastric cancer (GC) ranks third in terms of mortality worldwide. The tumor microenvironment is critical for the progression of gastric cancer. This study investigated the association between EF-hand domain containing 1 (EFHD1) expression and its clinical significance in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of gastric cancer. Methods We used bioinformatic analyses to assess the relevance of EFHD1 mRNA in the TME of gastric carcinoma tissues and its relationship with clinical features. Therefore, we performed multiplex immunohistochemistry analyses to determine the potential role of the EFHD1 protein in the TME of gastric cancer. Results EFHD1 expression increased dramatically in gastric cancer tissues compared to levels in non-cancerous tissue samples (t = 6.246, P < 0.001). The EFHD1 protein presentation was associated with invasion depth (χ2 = 19.120, P < 0.001) and TNM stages (χ2 = 14.468, P = 0.002). Notably, EFHD1 protein expression was significantly related to CD66b + neutrophil infiltration of the intratumoral (r = 0.420, P < 0.001) and stromal (r = 0.367, P < 0.001) TME in gastric cancer. Additionally, Cox regression analysis revealed that EFHD1 was an independent prognostic predictor (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.262, P < 0.001) in patients with gastric cancer. Conclusions Our study revealed the pattern of EFHD1 overexpression in the TME of patients with gastric cancer and demonstrated its utility as a biomarker for unfavorable clinical outcomes, thereby providing a potential immunotherapy target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bin Zhao
- Department of Pathology, Nantong Tumor Hospital, Nantong Fifth People's Hospital, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Nantong University, Jiangsu, 226361, China
| | - Shanshan Wang
- Department of General Surgery, The Affiliated Suqian Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University and Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Group Suqian Hospital, Suqian, 223800, China
| | - Li Xue
- Department of Pathology, Nantong Tumor Hospital, Nantong Fifth People's Hospital, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Nantong University, Jiangsu, 226361, China
| | - Qingqing Wang
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University & Medical School of Nantong University, Jiangsu, 226001, China
| | - Yushan Liu
- Department of Pathology, Nantong Tumor Hospital, Nantong Fifth People's Hospital, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Nantong University, Jiangsu, 226361, China
| | - Qiang Xu
- Department of Pathology, Nantong Tumor Hospital, Nantong Fifth People's Hospital, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Nantong University, Jiangsu, 226361, China
| | - Qiu Xue
- Department of General Surgery, Nantong Tumor Hospital, Nantong Fifth People's Hospital, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Nantong University, Jiangsu, 226361, China
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Meng K, Hu Y, Wang D, Li Y, Shi F, Lu J, Wang Y, Cao Y, Zhang CZ, He QY. EFHD1, a novel mitochondrial regulator of tumor metastasis in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Cancer Sci 2023; 114:2029-2040. [PMID: 36747492 PMCID: PMC10154798 DOI: 10.1111/cas.15749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The biological function of many mitochondrial proteins in mechanistic detail has not been well investigated in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). A seven-mitochondrial-gene signature was generated by Lasso regression analysis to improve the prediction of prognosis of patients with ccRCC, using The Cancer Genome Atlas and Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium cohort. Among those seven genes, EFHD1 is less studied and its role in the progression of ccRCC remains unknown. The decreased expression of EFHD1 was validated in clinical samples and was correlated with unfavorable outcome. Overexpression of EFHD1 in ccRCC cells resulted in the reduction of mitochondrial Ca2+ , and the inhibition of cell migration and invasion in vitro and tumor metastasis in vivo. Mechanistically, EFHD1 physically bound to the core mitochondrial calcium transporter (mitochondrial calcium uniporter, MCU) through its N-terminal domain. The interaction between EFHD1 and MCU suppressed the uptake of Ca2+ into mitochondria, and deactivated the Hippo/YAP signaling pathway. Further data revealed that the ectopic expression of EFHD1 upregulated STARD13 to enhance the phosphorylation of YAP protein at Ser-127. The knockdown of STARD13 or the overexpression of MCU partly abrogated the EFHD1-mediated induction of phosphorylation of YAP at Ser-127 and suppression of cell migration. Taken together, the newly identified EFHD1-MCU-STARD13 axis participates in the modulation of the Hippo/YAP pathway and serves as a novel regulator in the progression of ccRCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kun Meng
- MOE Key Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Biology and Key Laboratory of Functional Protein Research of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Institute of Life and Health Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.,The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuyu Hu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Biology and Key Laboratory of Functional Protein Research of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Institute of Life and Health Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Dingkang Wang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Biology and Key Laboratory of Functional Protein Research of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Institute of Life and Health Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuying Li
- MOE Key Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Biology and Key Laboratory of Functional Protein Research of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Institute of Life and Health Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Fujin Shi
- MOE Key Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Biology and Key Laboratory of Functional Protein Research of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Institute of Life and Health Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiangli Lu
- Department of Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yang Wang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Biology and Key Laboratory of Functional Protein Research of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Institute of Life and Health Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yun Cao
- Department of Pathology, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chris Zhiyi Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Biology and Key Laboratory of Functional Protein Research of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Institute of Life and Health Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qing-Yu He
- MOE Key Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Biology and Key Laboratory of Functional Protein Research of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Institute of Life and Health Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.,The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
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Hou T, Jian C, Xu J, Huang AY, Xi J, Hu K, Wei L, Cheng H, Wang X. Identification of EFHD1 as a novel Ca(2+) sensor for mitoflash activation. Cell Calcium 2016; 59:262-70. [PMID: 26975899 DOI: 10.1016/j.ceca.2016.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2015] [Revised: 02/23/2016] [Accepted: 03/02/2016] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Mitochondrial flashes (mitoflashes) represent stochastic and discrete mitochondrial events that each comprises a burst of superoxide production accompanied by transient depolarization and matrix alkalinization in a respiratory mitochondrion. While mitochondrial Ca(2+) is shown to be an important regulator of mitoflash activity, little is known about its specific mechanism of action. Here we sought to determine possible molecular players that mediate the Ca(2+) regulation of mitoflashes by screening mitochondrial proteins containing the Ca(2+)-binding motifs. In silico analysis and targeted siRNA screening identified four mitoflash activators (MICU1, EFHD1, SLC25A23, SLC25A25) and one mitoflash inhibitor (LETM1) in terms of their ability to modulate mitoflash response to hyperosmotic stress. In particular, overexpression or down-regulation of EFHD1 enhanced or depressed mitoflash activation, respectively, under various conditions of mitochondrial Ca(2+) elevations. Yet, it did not alter mitochondrial Ca(2+) handling, mitochondrial respiration, or ROS-induced mitoflash production. Further, disruption of the two EF-hand motifs of EFHD1 abolished its potentiating effect on the mitoflash responses. These results indicate that EFHD1 functions as a novel mitochondrial Ca(2+) sensor underlying Ca(2+)-dependent activation of mitoflashes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Chongshu Jian
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jiejia Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - August Yue Huang
- Center for Bioinformatics, State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jianzhong Xi
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China; Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Keping Hu
- Research Center for Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
| | - Liping Wei
- Center for Bioinformatics, State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Heping Cheng
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Xianhua Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Cardiometabolic Molecular Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
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