Project description:The etiology and pathogenesis of non-syndromic cleft lip and palate (NSCL/P) are largely unknown. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) are thought to play important roles in NSCL/P, but reports on the underlying processes are currently unavailable. Our study focused on children diagnosed with NSCL/P alone. Based on the morphology, patients were categorized as either cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) or cleft palate-only (CPO). When patients received surgery for NSCL/P, tissue excised from the trimmed wound edge was reserved to serve as experimental samples; adjacent normal tissue was used as a positive control. Target lncRNAs in the collected tissues were identified using microarray and quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining and RT-qPCR were used to verify the target mRNAs. Pathway, gene ontology (GO) enrichment, and TargetScan prediction were employed to construct endogenous RNA networks (ceRNA networks) and explore their potential functions. RNA-Seq analysis revealed 24 upregulated and 43 downregulated lncRNAs in the CL/P and CPO groups compared with those in the control group; of these, MALAT1and NEAT1 were screened and validated using RT-qPCR. Common NSCL/P risk factors positively correlated with MALAT1 and NEAT1 expression (ORMALAT1 = 28.111, 95% CI: 4.054-194.923; ORNEAT1 = 30.556, 95% CI: 4.422-211.142; P < 0.05). Bioinformatics predicted four ceRNA networks: MALAT1-hsa-miR-1224-3p-SP1, MALAT1-hsa-miR-6734-5p/hsa-miR-1224-3p-WNT10A, NEAT1-hsa-miR-140-3p.1-CXCR4, and NEAT1-hsa-miR-3129-5p/hsa-miR-199a-3p/hsa-miR-199b-3p-ZEB1. GO enrichment focused on the potential functions of ceRNA networks, including biosynthesis of organic cyclic compounds, formation of membrane-enclosed and organelle lumens, and Wnt-protein binding. The results of RT-qPCR were consistent with those of IHC staining with regard to expression of related mRNAs. MALAT1 and NEAT1, which are upregulated in NSCL/P, are associated with the severity of NSCL/P. This study provides a new insight into NSCL/P pathogenesis and suggests that MALAT1 and NEAT1 act as potential therapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers for NSCL/P.
Project description:Genome-wide DNA methylation profilinf from 67 non syndromic cleft lip and palate samples and controls using whole-blood DNA and Illumina Infinium Human Methylation 450K Bead array, in which over 485000 CpGs sites were analysed per sample
Project description:Non-syndromic cleft lip/palate (NSCL/P) is a complex, frequent congenital malformation, determined by the interplay between genetic and environmental factors during embryonic development. Previous findings have appointed an aetiological overlap between NSCL/P and cancer, and alterations in similar biological pathways may underpin both conditions. Here, using a combination of transcriptomic profiling and functional approaches, we report that NSCL/P dental pulp stem cells exhibit dysregulation of a co-expressed gene network mainly associated with DNA double-strand break repair and cell cycle control (p = 2.88x10-2 – 5.02x10-9). This network included important genes for these cellular processes, such as BRCA1, RAD51, and MSH2, which are predicted to be regulated by transcription factor E2F1. Functional assays support these findings, revealing that NSCL/P cells accumulate DNA double-strand breaks upon exposure to H2O2. Furthermore, we show that E2f1, Brca1 and Rad51 involved in DNA repair are co-expressed in the developing embryonic orofacial primordia, and may act as a molecular hub playing a role in lip and palate morphogenesis. In conclusion, we show that cellular defences against DNA damage may take part in the pathogenesis of NSCL/P, in accordance with the hypothesis of aetiological overlap between this malformation and cancer. These results provide more information regarding the aetiology of NSCL/P and have the potential tocan potentially assist incontribute to the development of future preventive strategies.
Project description:Non-syndromic cleft lip/palate (NSCL/P) is a complex, frequent congenital malformation, determined by the interplay between genetic and environmental factors during embryonic development. Previous findings have appointed an aetiological overlap between NSCL/P and cancer, and alterations in similar biological pathways may underpin both conditions. Here, using a combination of transcriptomic profiling and functional approaches, we report that NSCL/P dental pulp stem cells exhibit dysregulation of a co-expressed gene network mainly associated with DNA double-strand break repair and cell cycle control (p = 2.88x10-2 M-bM-^@M-^S 5.02x10-9). This network included important genes for these cellular processes, such as BRCA1, RAD51, and MSH2, which are predicted to be regulated by transcription factor E2F1. Functional assays support these findings, revealing that NSCL/P cells accumulate DNA double-strand breaks upon exposure to H2O2. Furthermore, we show that E2f1, Brca1 and Rad51 involved in DNA repair are co-expressed in the developing embryonic orofacial primordia, and may act as a molecular hub playing a role in lip and palate morphogenesis. In conclusion, we show that cellular defences against DNA damage may take part in the pathogenesis of NSCL/P, in accordance with the hypothesis of aetiological overlap between this malformation and cancer. These results provide more information regarding the aetiology of NSCL/P and have the potential tocan potentially assist incontribute to the development of future preventive strategies. In order to analyze differences in gene expression between NSCL/P samples and controls we used 7 NSCL/P RNA samples extracted from dental pulp stem cells cultures and 6 control RNA samples also from dental pulp stem cells cultures, all in the same culture conditions. RNA samples were used in gene expression microarrays (Affymetrix HuGene 1.0 st chips).