Population-enriched innate immune variants may identify candidate gene targets at the intersection of cancer and cardio-metabolic disease.

Both cancer and cardio-metabolic disease disparities exist among specific populations in the US. For example, African Americans experience the highest rates of breast and prostate cancer mortality and the highest incidence of obesity. Native and Hispanic Americans experience the highest rates of liver cancer mortality.

High-fat diet induced obesity promotes inflammation, oxidative stress, and hepatotoxicity in female FVB/N mice.

Although obesity and subsequent liver injury are increasingly prevalent in women, female mouse models have generally shown resistance to high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity. We evaluated control and HFD-fed male and female FVB/N mice, a strain well-suited to transgenic analyses, for phenotypic, histological, and molecular markers related to control of glucose, lipids, and inflammation in serum, liver, and perigonadal white adipose tissues. Unlike many mouse models, HFD-fed FVB/N females gained more perigonadal and mesenteric fat mass and overall body weight than their male counterparts, with increased hepatic expression of lipogenic PPARγ target genes (Cd36, Fsp27, and Fsp27β), oxidative stress genes and protein (Nqo1 and CYP2E1), inflammatory gene (Mip-2), and the pro-fibrotic gene Pai-1, along with increases in malondialdehyde and serum ALT levels.

Experimental data demonstrating the effects of silver nanoparticles on basement membrane gene and protein expression in cultured colon, mammary and bronchial epithelia.

This data article is related to the research article entitled "Silver nanoparticles alter epithelial basement membrane integrity, cell adhesion molecule expression and TGF-beta secretion", available in the journal [1]. This Data in Brief consists of data that describe changes in the expression of basement membrane (BM)-associated genes and proteins in three non-transformed epithelial cell lines following acute (6 h) and chronic (24 h plus 7-day chase) exposure to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Human BEAS2B (lung), MCF10AI (breast), and CCD-18Co (colon) cultured epithelia were analyzed for protein expression by LC-MS/MS and for gene expression by pathway-focused QRT-PCR arrays of 168 focal adhesion, integrin, and extracellular matrix (ECM) genes known to be localized to the plasma membrane, the BM/ECM, or secreted into the extracellular space.

Protective Innate Immune Variants in Racial/Ethnic Disparities of Breast and Prostate Cancer.

Individuals of African descent are disproportionately affected by specific complex diseases, such as breast and prostate cancer, which are driven by both biological and nonbiological factors. In the case of breast cancer, there is clear evidence that psychosocial factors (environment, socioeconomic status, health behaviors, etc.) have a strong influence on racial disparities.