Comparative analysis of the occupancy of Histone H3 Lysine 4 methylation in the cells treated with TGFß and Interferonγ.

In this current study, we have compared our H3K4me3 Chip-Sequencing data in PC3 cells in response to 6 h and 24 h TGFß stimulation with the IFNγ stimulated/unstimulated HeLa S3 cells Since both TGFß and IFNγ play an essential role in tumorigenesis both as a tumor promoter and tumor suppressor and known to antagonize each other's signalling, it would be of utmost importance to find out the regions undergoing histone modification changes in response to TGFß and IFNγ and compare them to explore the genes common to both as well as the specific for each ligand. Our study has compared the genes showing H3K4me3 occupancy in response to both TGFß and IFNγ. Several genes were found to be shared between the TGFß and IFNγ. DAVID Functional enrichment analysis in the TGFß and IFNγ dataset revealed association of genes with different biological processes such as miRNA-mediated gene silencing, positive regulation of ERK cascade, hypoxia-induced apoptosis repression, translational regulation and molecular functions such as TGFßR activity, GPCR activity, TGFß binding activity. Further analysis of these genes can reveal fascinating insights into epigenetic regulation by growth factor stimulation.

GSK-J4: An H3K27 histone demethylase inhibitor, as a potential anti-cancer agent.

Aberrant epigenetic modifications are emerging as potent drivers of tumor initiation and progression. The deregulation of H3K27me3 marks has shown to play an important role in cancer progression in several cancers. The H3K27me3 mark is associated with gene silencing. The reversible nature of these epigenetic aberrations makes them an important target for treating cancer. GSK-J4 is a histone demethylase inhibitor that inhibits the JMJD3/UTX enzyme, which results in the upregulation of H3K27me3 levels. In this review, the anti-cancer properties of GSK-J4 have been summarized, the various molecular pathways targeted, in-vivo studies, and drug combination studies in different cancer models. GSK-J4 targeted pathways like apoptosis, cell cycle, invasion, migration, DNA damage repair, metabolism, oxidative stress, stemness, etc. GSK-J4 is a promising candidate alone and in combination with other conventional anti-cancer drugs against different cancer types.

Combination Treatment of a Phytochemical and a Histone Demethylase Inhibitor-A Novel Approach towards Targeting TGFß-Induced EMT, Invasion, and Migration in Prostate Cancer.

Minimizing side effects, overcoming cancer drug resistance, and preventing metastasis of cancer cells are of growing interest in current cancer therapeutics. Phytochemicals are being researched in depth as they are protective to normal cells and have fewer side effects. Hesperetin is a citrus bioflavonoid known to inhibit TGFß-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), migration, and invasion of prostate cancer cells. Targeting epigenetic modifications that cause cancer is another class of upcoming therapeutics, as these changes are reversible. Global H3K27me3 levels have been found to be reduced in invasive prostate adenocarcinomas. Combining a demethylase inhibitor and a known anti-cancer phytochemical is a unique approach to targeting cancer to attain the aforementioned objectives. In the current study, we used an H3K27 demethylase (JMJD3/KDM6B) inhibitor to study its effects on TGFß-induced EMT in prostate cancer cells. We then gave a combined hesperetin and GSK-J4 treatment to the PC-3 and LNCaP cells. There was a dose-dependent increase in cytotoxicity and inhibition of TGFß-induced migration and invasion of prostate cancer cells after GSK-J4 treatment. GSK-J4 not only induced trimethylation of H3K27 but also induced the trimethylation of H3K4. Surprisingly, there was a reduction in the H3K9me3 levels. GSK-J4 alone and a combination of hesperetin and GSK-J4 treatment effectively inhibit the important hallmarks of cancer, such as cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, by altering the epigenetic landscape of cancer cells.

TGF-ß at the crossroads of multiple prognosis in breast cancer, and beyond.

Transforming growth factor ß (TGF-ß), a pluripotent cytokine and a multifunctional growth factor has a crucial role in varied biological mechanisms like invasion, migration, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, apoptosis, wound healing, and immunosuppression. Moreover, it also has an imperative role both in normal mammary gland development as well as breast carcinogenesis. TGF-ß has shown to have a paradoxical role in breast carcinogenesis, by transitioning from a growth inhibitor to a growth promoter with the disease advancement. The inter-communication and crosstalk of TGF-ß with different signaling pathways has strengthened the likelihood to explore it as a comprehensive biomarker. In the last two decades, TGF-ß has been studied extensively and has been found to be a promising biomarker for early detection, disease monitoring, treatment selection, and tumor progression making it beneficial for disease management. In this review, we focus on the signaling pathways and biological activities of the TGF-ß family in breast cancer pathogenesis and its role as a circulatory and independent biomarker for breast cancer progression and metastasis. Moreover, this review highlights TGF-ß as a drug target, and the underlying mechanisms through which it is involved in tumorigenesis that will aid in the development of varied therapies targeting the different stages of breast cancer.

Global Gene Expression Regulation Mediated by TGFß Through H3K9me3 Mark.

Background: Epigenetic alterations play an important part in carcinogenesis. Different biological responses, including cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, invasion, and senescence, are affected by epigenetic alterations in cancer. In addition, growth factors, such as transforming growth factor beta (TGFß) are important regulators of tumorigenesis. Our understanding of the interplay between the epigenetic bases of tumorigenesis and growth factor signaling in tumorigenesis is rudimentary. Some studies suggest a link between TGFß signaling and the heterochromatinizing histone mark H3K9me3. There is evidence for signal-dependent interactions between R-Smads and histone methyltransferases. However, the effects of TGFß signaling on genome wide H3K9me3 landscape remains unknown. Our research examines TGFß -induced genome-wide H3K9me3 in prostate cancer. Method: Chromatin-Immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing was performed to analyze genome-wide association of H3K9me3 epigenetic mark. DAVID Functional annotation tool was utilized to understand the involvement of different Biological Processes and Molecular Function. MEME-ChIP tool was also used to analyze known and novel DNA-binding motifs. Results: H3K9me3 occupancy appears to increase at intronic regions after short-term (6 hours) TGFß stimulation and at distal intergenic regions during long-term stimulation (24 hours). We also found evidence for a possible association of SLC transporters with H3K9me3 mark in presence of TGFß during tumorigenesis. No direct correlation was found between the occupancy of H3K9me3 mark and the expression of various genes. The epigenetic mechanisms-mediated regulation of gene expression by TGFß was concentrated at promoters rich in SRY and FOXJ3 binding sites. Conclusion: Our results point toward a positive association of oncogenic function of TGFß and the H3K9me3 mark and provide a context to the role of H3K9me3 in TGFß-induced cell migration and cell adhesion. Interestingly, these functions of TGFß through H3K9me3 mark regulation seem to depend on transcriptional activation in contrast to the conventionally known repressive nature of H3K9me3.

Global Histone H3 Lysine 4 Trimethylation (H3K4me3) Landscape Changes in Response to TGFß.

TGFß expression acts as a biomarker of poor prognosis in prostate cancer. It plays a dual functional role in prostate cancer. In the early stages of the tumor, it acts as a tumor suppressor while at the later stages of tumor development, it promotes metastasis. The molecular mechanisms of action of TGFß are largely understood through the canonical and non-canonical signal transduction pathways. Our understanding of the mechanisms that establish transient TGFß stimulation into stable gene expression patterns remains incomplete. Epigenetic marks like histone H3 modifications are directly linked with gene expression and they play an important role in tumorigenesis. In this report, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation-sequencing (ChIP-Seq) to identify the genome-wide regions that undergo changes in histone H3 Lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) occupancy in response to TGFß stimulation. We also show that TGFß stimulation can induce acute epigenetic changes through the modulation of H3K4me3 signals at genes belonging to special functional categories in prostate cancer. TGFß induces the H3K4me3 on its own ligands like TGFß, GDF1, INHBB, GDF3, GDF6, BMP5 suggesting a positive feedback loop. The majority of genes were found to be involved in the positive regulation of transcription from the RNA polymerase II promoter in response to TGFß. Other functional categories were intracellular protein transport, brain development, EMT, angiogenesis, antigen processing, antigen presentation via MHC class II, lipid transport, embryo development, histone H4 acetylation, positive regulation of cell cycle arrest, and genes involved in mitotic G2 DNA damage checkpoints. Our results link TGFß stimulation to acute changes in gene expression through an epigenetic mechanism. These findings have broader implications on epigenetic bases of acute gene expression changes caused by growth factor stimulation.