Zinc Finger transcription factors are crucial in modulating various cellular processes, including differentiation. Chromatin reader Zinc Finger MYND (Myeloid, Nervy, and DEAF-1) type containing 8 (ZMYND8), an All-Trans Retinoic Acid (ATRA)-responsive gene, was previously shown to play a crucial role in promoting the expression of neuronal-lineage committed genes. Here, we report that ZMYND8 promotes neuronal differentiation by positively regulating canonical MAPT protein-coding gene isoform, a key player in the axonal development of neurons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLong noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as critical regulators of biological processes. However, the aberrant expression of an isoform from the same lncRNA gene could lead to RNA with altered functions due to changes in their conformations, leading to diseases. Here, we describe a detailed characterization of the gene that encodes long intergenic non-protein-coding RNA 01016 (, also known as ) with a focus on its structure, exon usage, and expression in human and macaque tissues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe major challenge in chemotherapy lies in the gain of therapeutic resistance properties of cancer cells. The relatively small fraction of chemo-resistant cancer cells outgrows and are responsible for tumor relapse, with acquired invasiveness and stemness. We demonstrate that zinc-finger MYND type-8 (ZMYND8), a putative chromatin reader, suppresses stemness, drug resistance, and tumor-promoting genes, which are hallmarks of cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrug re-purposing might be a fast and efficient way of drug development against the novel coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We applied a bioinformatics approach using molecular dynamics and docking to identify FDA-approved drugs that can be re-purposed to potentially inhibit the non-structural protein 9 (Nsp9) replicase and spike proteins in SARS-CoV-2. We performed virtual screening of FDA-approved compounds, including antiviral, anti-malarial, anti-parasitic, anti-fungal, anti-tuberculosis, and active phytochemicals against the Nsp9 replicase and spike proteins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase 1 () is traditionally believed to be a housekeeping gene; however, recent reports suggest that it is upregulated in several cancers and is associated with clinical outcomes. is located on chromosome X and encodes the HPRT enzyme, which functions in recycling nucleotides to supply for DNA and RNA synthesis in actively dividing cells. Here, we used transcriptomic analyses to interrogate its expression across all known cancer types and elucidated its role in regulating gene expression in breast cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenome-wide RNA sequencing has shown that only a small fraction of the human genome is transcribed into protein-coding mRNAs. While once thought to be "junk" DNA, recent findings indicate that the rest of the genome encodes many types of non-coding RNA molecules with a myriad of functions still being determined. Among the non-coding RNAs, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) and enhancer RNAs (eRNA) are found to be most copious.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent technical and other advances in genomics provide unique opportunities to improve our understanding of human physiology and disease predisposition through a detailed analysis of gene structure and expression by examining data in public genome and gene-expression repositories. Yet, the vast majority of human genes remain understudied. This is particularly true of genes for long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLong noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have recently gained considerable attention as key players in biological regulation; however, the mechanisms by which lncRNAs govern various disease processes remain mysterious and are just beginning to be understood. The ease of next-generation sequencing technologies has led to an explosion of genomic information, especially for the lncRNA class of noncoding RNAs. LncRNAs exhibit the characteristics of mRNAs, such as polyadenylation, 5' methyl capping, RNA polymerase II-dependent transcription, and splicing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNanotechnology has been the latest approach for diagnosis and treatment for cancer, which opens up a new alternative therapeutic drug delivery option to treat disease. Nanoparticles (NPs) display a broad role in cancer diagnosis and has various advantages over the other conventional chemotherapeutic drug delivery. NPs possess more specific and efficient drug delivery to the targeted tissue, cell, or organs and minimize the risk of side effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn T lymphocytes, the Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome protein (WASP) and WASP-interacting-protein (WIP) regulate T cell antigen receptor (TCR) signaling, but their role in lymphoma is largely unknown. Here we show that the expression of WASP and WIP is frequently low or absent in anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) compared to other T cell lymphomas. In anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive (ALK+) ALCL, WASP and WIP expression is regulated by ALK oncogenic activity via its downstream mediators STAT3 and C/EBP-β.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objective: A steep rise in the incidences of neurodegenerative disorders could be the combined effect of several non-genetic factors such as increased life expectancy, environmental pollutants, lifestyle, and dietary habits, as population-level genetic change require multiple generations. Emerging evidence suggests that chronic over-nutrition induces brain metabolic stress and neuroinflammation, and are individually known to promote neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and Huntington's disease (HD). Although the association of metabolic disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerosis with the dietary habits is well known, neuronal implications of diet and nutritional factors is still in its infancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLong noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are implicated in several biological processes, including but not limited to cardiovascular physiology, reproduction, differentiation, metabolism, DNA repair, and inflammation. Under normal physiological conditions, expression of lncRNAs is tissue-specific and tightly regulated. In contrast, prevalent cancer types exhibit aberrant expression of lncRNAs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCold Spring Harb Mol Case Stud
May 2017
Gene-expression profiling and next-generation sequencing have defined diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common lymphoma diagnosis, as a heterogeneous group of subentities. Despite ongoing explosions of data illuminating disparate pathogenic mechanisms, however, the five-drug chemoimmunotherapy combination R-CHOP remains the frontline standard treatment. This has not changed in 15 years, since the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab was added to the CHOP backbone, which first entered use in the 1970s.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIncreasing evidence suggests that Rho family GTPases could have a critical role in the biology of T-cell lymphoma. In ALK-rearranged anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), a specific subtype of T-cell lymphoma, the Rho family GTPases Cdc42 and Rac1 are activated by the ALK oncogenic activity. In vitro studies have shown that Cdc42 and Rac1 control rather similar phenotypes of ALCL biology such as the proliferation, survival, and migration of lymphoma cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAltered histone acetylation is associated with several diseases, including cancer. We report here that, unlike in most cancers, histones are found to be highly hyperacetylated in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC; oral cancer) patient samples. Mechanistically, overexpression, as well as enhanced autoacetylation, of p300 induced by nucleophosmin (NPM1) and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) causes the hyperacetylation, which is nitric oxide (NO) signal dependent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucleophosmin (NPM1) is a multifunctional protein involved in the regulation of centrosome duplication, ribosome biogenesis, genomic stability, histone chaperone function, and transcription. Overexpression of NPM1 is associated with cancers of diverse histological origins. Here, we have found that p300-mediated acetylation of NPM1 modulates its subcellular localization and augments its oncogenic potential.
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