Possible association between a polymorphism of EPAS1 gene and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn: a case-control study

Abstract Objective: To explore possible genes related to the development of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). Methods: The authors identified 285 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 11 candidate genes (BMPR2, EPAS1, PDE3A, VEGFA, ENG, NOTCH3, SOD3, CPS1, ABCA3, ACVRL1, and SMAD9), using an Illumina Asian Screening Array-24 v1.0 BeadChip Array. The FastLmmC and R package was used for statistical analyses. The chi-square test and Cochrane-Armitage trend test were used to compare the allele and genotype frequencies between the groups and to test the genetic models, respectively. Results: A total of 45 PPHN infants and 294 control subjects were analyzed. The most common cause of PPHN was meconium aspiration syndrome. Among the 285 SNPs, 17 SNPs from 6 candidate genes (BMPR2, EPAS1, PDE3A, VEGFA, ENG, and NOTCH3) were significantly associated with PPHN (P < 0.05). After using the Bonferroni correction (P < 0.00018), only the rs17034984 SNP located in intron 1 of the EPAS1 gene remained significantly different between the PPHN and control subjects (P = 0.00014). The frequency of the TC/TT genotype of rs17034984 in the gene with the dominant model was significant in the patients with PPHN (OR = 5.38, 95% CI: 2.15-13.49). The T allele frequency of rs17034984 in the gene showed a significant difference compared with the control subjects (OR = 4.89, 95% CI: 2.03-11.82). Conclusions: The present study suggests that the rs17034984 variant of EPAS1 gene is associated with PPHN.

Effects of siRNA on EPAS1 activity and proliferation of hypoxic pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells in rats / 解放军医学杂志

Objective This study explored whether EPAS1 gene is involved in the proliferation of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) during hypoxia when EPAS1 gene expression was interfered by small interfering RNA (siRNA).Methods The rat primary pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells were cultured and identified by immunofluorescence.The specific lipidosomes of EPAS1 siRNA were constructed and transfected into PASMCs,and the best targets were selected from the three interfering targets.The transfected PASMCs were cultured in hypoxia (37℃,5％ CO2,2％ O2) or normoxia (37℃,5％ CO2,20％ O2) for 24h,48h and 72h,respectively.The PASMCs proliferation was detected by CCK-8 assay.The protein expression of EPAS 1 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were determined by Western blotting to investigate the effect of silencing EPAS1 gene expression on the proliferation of PASMCs under hypoxic condition.Results The specific liposomes ofEPAS1 siRNA were successfully constructed and transfected into PASMCs,and the best interfering target were selected from the three interference targets.The proliferation of PASMCs was increased and the protein expression of VEGF was up-regulated in the PASMCs under hypoxic condition.Under hypoxic or normoxic condition,PASMCs proliferation and VEGF protein expression of PASMCs were suppressed by EPAS 1 siRNA.Conclusion EPAS 1 gene might be involved in the proliferation of rat PASMCs by regulating VEGF protein level under hypoxic condition.