Project description:Rationale: Even after quitting smoking, the risk of the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer remains significantly higher compared to never-smokers. Objectives: Based on the knowledge that COPD and most lung cancers start in the small airway epithelium (SAE), we hypothesized that smoking modulates miRNA expression in the SAE linked to the pathogenesis of smoking-induced airway disease, and that some of these changes persist after smoking cessation. Methods: SAE was collected from 10th to 12th order bronchi using fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Affymetrix miRNA 2.0 arrays were used to assess miRNA expression in the SAE from 10 healthy never-smokers and 10 healthy smokers, before and after they quit for 3 months. Smoking status was determined by urine nicotine and cotinine measurement. Results: There were significant differences in the expression of 34 miRNAs between healthy smokers and healthy never-smokers (p<0.01, fold-change >1.5), with functions associated with lung development, airway epithelium differentiation, inflammation and cancer. After quitting smoking for 3 months, 12 out of the 34 miRNAs did not return to normal levels, with Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway the top enriched pathway of the target genes of the persistent deregulated miRNAs. Conclusions: In the context that many of these persistent smoking-dependent miRNAs are associated with differentiation, inflammation diseases or lung cancer, it is likely that persistent smoking-related changes in small airway epithelium miRNAs play a role in the subsequent development of these disorders.
Project description:B cells were found to be directly associated with the onset and development of many smoking-induced diseases. However, the in vivo molecular response of B cells underlying the female cigarette smoking remains unknown. Using the genome-wide Affymetrix HG-133A GeneChip® microarray, we compared the gene expression profiles of peripheral circulating B cells between 39 smoking and 40 non-smoking healthy US white females.
Project description:Smoking is a major risk factor for Urothelial carcinoma (UC). However the complex mechanisms, how smoking promotes carcinogenesis and tumour progression, remain obscure. A microarray based approached was therefore performed to detect the smoking derived gene expression alteration in non-malignant and malignant urothelial tissues from patients with superficial or invasive UC. Smoking enhanced cell migration and response to tissue damages. In non-malignant tissues smoking induced immune response and altered the cytoskeleton. In urothelial carcinoma, smoking altered extracellular and chromosome structures. Smoking affected tissues from patients with invasive carcinomamore strongly, up-regulating particularly growth factors and oncogenes in non-malignant tissue of patients with invasive but not with superficial carcinoma. In former smokers, comparable changes were seen in tissues form patients with invasive disease while they were minor or reversed in tissue of patients with superficial disease. Best but not complete tissue repair was suggestedfor non-malignant tissue from patients with superficial tumours. we used microarray techniques to define gene expression profile which may explain the contribution of smoking to urothelial carcinoma.
Project description:Rationale: Even after quitting smoking, the risk of the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer remains significantly higher compared to never-smokers. Objectives: Based on the knowledge that COPD and most lung cancers start in the small airway epithelium (SAE), we hypothesized that smoking modulates miRNA expression in the SAE linked to the pathogenesis of smoking-induced airway disease, and that some of these changes persist after smoking cessation. Methods: SAE was collected from 10th to 12th order bronchi using fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Affymetrix miRNA 2.0 arrays were used to assess miRNA expression in the SAE from 10 healthy never-smokers and 10 healthy smokers, before and after they quit for 3 months. Smoking status was determined by urine nicotine and cotinine measurement. Results: There were significant differences in the expression of 34 miRNAs between healthy smokers and healthy never-smokers (p<0.01, fold-change >1.5), with functions associated with lung development, airway epithelium differentiation, inflammation and cancer. After quitting smoking for 3 months, 12 out of the 34 miRNAs did not return to normal levels, with Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway the top enriched pathway of the target genes of the persistent deregulated miRNAs. Conclusions: In the context that many of these persistent smoking-dependent miRNAs are associated with differentiation, inflammation diseases or lung cancer, it is likely that persistent smoking-related changes in small airway epithelium miRNAs play a role in the subsequent development of these disorders. MicroRNA profiling identified 34 miRNAs up-regulated by cigarette smoking in human small airway epithelium. Even after quitting smoking for 3 months, 12 miRNAs didnât return to normal level.
Project description:Background: Epigenetics is involved in various human diseases. Smoking is one of the most common environmental factors causing epigenetic changes. The DNA methylation changes and mechanisms after quitting smoking have not yet been defined. The present study examined the changes in DNA methylation level before and after short-term smoking cessation and explored the potential mechanism. Methods: Whole blood and clinical data were collected in 8 patients before and after short-term smoking cessation, DNA methylation was assessed, and differentially methylated sites were analyzed, followed by a comprehensive analysis of the differentially methylated sites with clinical data. GO/KEGG enrichment and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network identified the hub genes. The differentially methylated sites were detected by GEO2R between former smoking and current smoking in GSE50660 from the GEO database. Then, a Venn analysis was carried out using the differentially methylated sites. GO/KEGG enrichment analysis was performed on the genes corresponding to the common DNA methylation sites, the PPI network was constructed, and hub genes were predicted. The enriched genes associated with the cell cycle were selected, and the gene expression was analyzed in pan-cancer based on the TCGA database. Results: Most of the DNA methylation levels were decreased after short-term smoking cessation; a total of 694 hypermethylated CPG sites and 3184 hypomethylated CPG sites were identified. The DNA methylation levels altered according to the clinical data (body weight, expiratory, and tobacco dependence score). Enrichment analysis, construction of PPI network, and pan-cancer analysis suggested that smoking cessation may be involved in various biological processes. Conclusions: Smoking cessation leads to epigenetic changes, mainly observed in the decline of most DNA methylation levels. Bioinformatics further identified the biologically relevant changes after short-term smoking cessation.
Project description:We found that mainstream cigarette smoking (4 cigarettes/day, 5 days/week for 2 weeks using Kentucky Research Cigarettes 3R4F) resulted in >20% decrease in the percentage of normal Paneth cell population in Atg16l1 T300A mice but showed minimal effect in wildtype littermate control mice, indicating that Atg16l1 T300A polymorphism confers sensitivity to cigarette smoking-induced Paneth cell damage. We performed cohousing experiments to test if Paneth cell phenotype is horizontally transmissible as is microbiota. Atg16l1 T300A and littermate controls that were exposed to cigarette smoking were used as microbiota donors, and these donor mice were exposed to smoking for 2 weeks prior to cohousing. Separate groups of Atg16l1 T300A and littermate controls that were not exposed to cigarette smoking were used as microbiota recipients. The microbiota recipients were co-housed with microbiota donors of the same genotype for 4 weeks, during this period the donors continued to be exposed to cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking was performed using smoking chamber with the dosage and schedule as described above. At the end of the experiment, the fecal microbiota composition was analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing.
Project description:Cigarette smoke is associated with the majority of lung cancers: however, 25% of lung cancer patients are non-smokers, and half of all newly diagnosed lung cancer patients are former smokers. Lung tumors exhibit distinct epidemiological, clinical, pathological, and molecular features depending on smoking status, suggesting divergent mechanisms underlie tumorigenesis in smokers and non-smokers. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are integral contributors to tumorigenesis and mediate biological responses to smoking. Based on the hypothesis that smoking-specific miRNA differences in lung adenocarcinomas reflect distinct tumorigenic processes selected by different smoking and non-smoking environments, we investigated the contribution of miRNA disruption to lung tumor biology and patient outcome in the context of smoking status. Results: We discovered novel and distinct smoking-status-specific patterns of miRNA and miRNA-mediated gene networks, and identified miRNAs that were prognostically significant in a smoking-dependent manner. Conclusions: We conclude that miRNAs disrupted in a smoking-status-dependent manner affect distinct cellular pathways and differentially influence lung cancer patient prognosis in current, former and never smokers. Our findings may represent promising biologically relevant markers for lung cancer prognosis or therapeutic intervention.