Background: Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) is the most common malignant brain tumor in infants, and more than 60% of children with ATRT die from their tumor. ATRT is associated with mutational inactivation/deletion of , a member of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, suggesting that epigenetic events play a critical role in tumor development and progression. Moreover, disruption of SWI/SNF allows unopposed activity of epigenetic repressors, which contribute to tumorigenicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough global life expectancy has increased over the past 20 years due to advancements in managing infectious diseases, one-fifth of people still die from infections. In response to this ongoing threat, significant efforts are underway to develop vaccines and antimicrobial agents. However, pathogens evolve resistance mechanisms, complicating their control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive type of primary brain tumor, and the presence of glioma stem cells (GSCs) has been linked to its resistance to treatments and recurrence. Additionally, aberrant glycosylation has been implicated in the aggressiveness of cancers. However, the influence and underlying mechanism of N-glycosylation on the GSC phenotype and GBM malignancy remain elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFacioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is an inherited myopathy, characterized by progressive and asymmetric muscle atrophy, primarily affecting muscles of the face, shoulder girdle, and upper arms before affecting muscles of the lower extremities with age and greater disease severity. FSHD is a disabling condition, and patients may also present with various extramuscular symptoms. FSHD is caused by the aberrant expression of double homeobox 4 () in skeletal muscle, arising from compromised epigenetic repression of the D4Z4 array.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochemical crosstalk between two or more histone modifications is often observed in epigenetic enzyme regulation, but its functional significance in cells has been difficult to discern. Previous enzymatic studies revealed that Lys14 acetylation of histone H3 can inhibit Lys4 demethylation by lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1). In the present study, we engineered a mutant form of LSD1, Y391K, which renders the nucleosome demethylase activity of LSD1 insensitive to Lys14 acetylation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnim Cells Syst (Seoul)
March 2024
Myeloid ecotropic virus insertion site 1 () is a HOX co-factor necessary for organ development and normal hematopoiesis. Recently, has been linked to the development and progression of various cancers. However, its role in gliomagenesis particularly on glioma stem cells (GSCs) remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVirtually all patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma develop resistance to MAPK inhibitors largely through nonmutational events. Although the epigenetic landscape is shown to be altered in therapy-resistant melanomas and other cancers, a specific targetable epigenetic mechanism has not been validated. Here, we evaluated the corepressor for element 1-silencing transcription factor (CoREST) epigenetic repressor complex and the recently developed bivalent inhibitor corin within the context of melanoma phenotype plasticity and therapeutic resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn 8-year-old female Domestic Shorthair presented with signs of intracranial disease. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head showed an extra-axial space-occupying mass within the cranial vault with a similar intensity lesion within the overlying temporalis muscle. Postmortem examination found masses within the head, lung, liver, spleen, and kidney consistent with malignant melanoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAging is a strong risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC). It is well established that gut microbial dysbiosis can play a role in the etiology of CRC. Although the composition of the gut microbial community changes with age and is reported to become more pro-inflammatory, it is unclear whether such changes are also pro-tumorigenic for the colon.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDifferentiating between canine inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and intestinal T-cell lymphoma by histopathological examination of endoscopically-derived intestinal biopsies can be challenging and involves an invasive procedure requiring specialized equipment and training. A rapid, non-invasive method of diagnosis, such as blood or faecal analysis for a conserved and stable biomarker, would be a useful adjunct or replacement. Studies on dogs and humans with various types of lymphoma have shown altered microRNA (miRNA) expression patterns in blood, faeces and tissues indicating their potential use as biomarkers of disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCellular aging is characterized by disruption of the nuclear lamina and its associated heterochromatin. How these structural changes within the nucleus contribute to age-related degeneration of the organism is unclear. Genes lacking CpG islands (CGI genes) generally associate with heterochromatin when they are inactive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer is a major reason for veterinary consultation, especially in companion animals. Cancer surveillance plays a key role in prevention but opportunities for such surveillance in companion animals are limited by the lack of suitable veterinary population health infrastructures. In this paper we describe a pathology-based animal tumour registry (PTR) developed within the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET) built from electronic pathology records (EPR) submitted to this network.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCase Summary: A 10-year-old male neutered Russian Blue cat was presented with a 2-month history of progressive non-ambulatory paraparesis. Spinal MRI revealed a well-demarcated, compressive intradural extramedullary mass at the level of T1 vertebra. The mass had subtle hyperintensity on T2-weighted images, was isointense on T1-weighted images and had diffuse, marked enhancement following gadolinium administration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been widely studied as mucosal vaccine delivery carriers against many infectious diseases for heterologous expression of protein antigens. There are three antigen expression strategies for LAB: cytoplasmic expression (CE), cell surface display (SD), and extracellular secretion (ES). Despite the generally higher protein expression level and many observations of antigen-specific immunogenicity in CE, its application as a mucosal vaccine has been overlooked relative to SD and ES because of the antigens enclosed by the LAB cell wall.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent genomic data analyses have revealed important underlying logics in eukaryotic gene regulation, such as CpG islands (CGIs)-dependent dual-mode gene regulation. In mammals, genes lacking CGIs at their promoters are generally regulated by interconversion between euchromatin and heterochromatin, while genes associated with CGIs constitutively remain as euchromatin. Whether a similar mode of gene regulation exists in non-mammalian species has been unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbstract: The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) molecular method and the Crystal Diagnostic Xpress (CDx) immunoassay for detecting Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in air samples collected from abattoirs in Texas. The 70 air samples were collected from two small and two large meat processing plants in the spring and summer with a wetted wall cyclone air sampler. The samples were divided equally into two parts: one part was used for the qPCR assay, and the other part was enriched for 18 and 36 h and evaluated with the CDx immunoassay.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrophectoderm (TE) lineage development is pivotal for proper implantation, placentation, and healthy pregnancy. However, only a few TE-specific transcription factors (TFs) have been systematically characterized, hindering our understanding of the process. To elucidate regulatory mechanisms underlying TE development, here we map super-enhancers (SEs) in trophoblast stem cells (TSCs) as a model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the version of this Article originally published, Supplementary Fig. 6j showed incorrect values for the LS and AG4 glutathione samples, and Fig. 5c and Supplementary Fig.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 10-year-old male neutered Persian cat was presented with an abdominal mass and history of weakness. Blood smear examination found marked elliptocytosis, and serum biochemical analysis revealed hypokalemia, hypochloremia, increased creatine kinase activity, and a high aldosterone concentration. Cytologic examination of the mass revealed neoplastic endocrine cells with moderate criteria of malignancy, favoring adrenocortical neoplasia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Due to the increasing incidence of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and rising health care costs, health care insurance companies seek ways to shift skin surgery for BCC from secondary to primary care.
Objectives: To study the differences in complete excision of BCC by general practitioners (GPs), dermatologists, and plastic surgeons.
Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study of pathology records of 2,986 standard excisions of primary BCCs performed by a GP, dermatologist, or plastic surgeon in the area of Southwest Netherlands between 2008 and 2014.
Overexpression of MYC oncogene is highly prevalent in many malignancies such as aggressive triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) and it is associated with very poor outcome. Despite decades of research, attempts to effectively inhibit MYC, particularly with small molecules, still remain challenging due to the featureless nature of its protein structure. Herein, we describe the engineering of the dominant-negative MYC peptide (OmoMYC) linked to a functional penetrating 'Phylomer' peptide (FPPa) as a therapeutic strategy to inhibit MYC in TNBC.
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