RESUMO
Diabetes complications such as nephropathy, retinopathy, or cardiovascular disease arise from vascular dysfunction. In this context, it has been observed that past hyperglycemic events can induce long-lasting alterations, a phenomenon termed "metabolic memory." In this study, we evaluated the genome-wide gene expression and chromatin accessibility alterations caused by transient high-glucose exposure in human endothelial cells (ECs) in vitro. We found that cells exposed to high glucose exhibited substantial gene expression changes in pathways known to be impaired in diabetes, many of which persist after glucose normalization. Chromatin accessibility analysis also revealed that transient hyperglycemia induces persistent alterations, mainly in non-promoter regions identified as enhancers with neighboring genes showing lasting alterations. Notably, activation of the NRF2 pathway through NRF2 overexpression or supplementation with the plant-derived compound sulforaphane, effectively reverses the glucose-induced transcriptional and chromatin accessibility memories in ECs. These findings underscore the enduring impact of transient hyperglycemia on ECs' transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility profiles, emphasizing the potential utility of pharmacological NRF2 pathway activation in mitigating and reversing the high-glucose-induced transcriptional and epigenetic alterations.
Assuntos
Epigênese Genética , Glucose , Fator 2 Relacionado a NF-E2 , Transdução de Sinais , Fator 2 Relacionado a NF-E2/metabolismo , Fator 2 Relacionado a NF-E2/genética , Humanos , Glucose/metabolismo , Epigênese Genética/efeitos dos fármacos , Transdução de Sinais/efeitos dos fármacos , Transdução de Sinais/genética , Hiperglicemia/metabolismo , Hiperglicemia/genética , Cromatina/metabolismo , Cromatina/genética , Células Endoteliais/metabolismo , Células Endoteliais/efeitos dos fármacos , Transcrição Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , Regulação da Expressão Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , Isotiocianatos/farmacologia , Células Endoteliais da Veia Umbilical Humana/metabolismo , Células Endoteliais da Veia Umbilical Humana/efeitos dos fármacos , Sulfóxidos/farmacologiaRESUMO
Massive testing is a cornerstone in efforts to effectively track infections and stop COVID-19 transmission, including places with good vaccination coverage. However, SARS-CoV-2 testing by RT-qPCR requires specialized personnel, protection equipment, commercial kits, and dedicated facilities, which represent significant challenges for massive testing in resource-limited settings. It is therefore important to develop testing protocols that are inexpensive, fast, and sufficiently sensitive. Here, we optimized the composition of a buffer (PKTP), containing a protease, a detergent, and an RNase inhibitor, which is compatible with the RT-qPCR chemistry, allowing for direct SARS-CoV-2 detection from saliva without extracting RNA. PKTP is compatible with heat inactivation, reducing the biohazard risk of handling samples. We assessed the PKTP buffer performance in comparison to the RNA-extraction-based protocol of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in saliva samples from 70 COVID-19 patients finding a good sensitivity (85.7% for the N1 and 87.1% for the N2 target) and correlations (R = 0.77, p < 0.001 for N1, and R = 0.78, p < 0.001 for N2). We also propose an auto-collection protocol for saliva samples and a multiplex reaction to minimize the PCR reaction number per patient and further reduce costs and processing time of several samples, while maintaining diagnostic standards in favor of massive testing.
