Search

The Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is a proven intervention to treat hypertension, yet its mechanism is not clearly known. We investigated the change in protein abundance patterns in urine extracellular vesicles (uEV’s) following DASH diet implementation.A pilot study was carried out to compare uEVs isolated using three different methods: a low centrifugation (P20), high centrifugation (P100), and a combination of both (P20 and P100). Uromodulin was removed by size exclusion chromatography and low ionic strength washing. Mass spectrometry analysis identified 1,593 proteins in the combined fraction (P20+P100), 1434 in the P20 fraction and 1229 in the P100 fraction. The combined fraction was chosen for further analysis. Statistical analysis was carried out using R and Limma to identify all proteins that changed before and during 11 days of DASH intervention (p < 0.05) as well as between individual timepoints.Nine hypertensive volunteers were admitted for a 14-day supervised transition from American style diet to DASH diet. First-void urine was collected on days 0, 5, 11 for uEV processing. In total, 1800 proteins were identified across all 27 DASH samples with 22 proteins upregulated and 25 down regulated between day 0 and both days 5 and 11. These included increased abundance of SLC12A3 (NCC) and reduced abundance of Aquaporine 2.These changes could explain the increased urine volume and reduced sodium reabsorption that lead to blood pressure reduction following consumption of the high potassium and low sodium DASH diet. uEVs may serve as a surrogate to a more invasive procedure.Translational StatementMyriad studies have characterized blood pressure reduction following DASH diet implementation, yet its precise mechanism is unclear. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the effect of DASH nutritional changes, on kidney ion channel composition using proteomic analysis of urinary EVs. Using this innovative tool as a substitute for an invasive procedure, we show that the expression of Aquaporine2 increases and NCC decreases in response to DASH which may account for its antihypertensive effect. Our results indicate that urinary EV are a potential biomarker for DASH compliance, and targeting aquaporine2 may be an effective innovative therapeutic strategy for blood pressure reduction.

Fanconi anemia (FA), a model syndrome of genome instability, is caused by a deficiency in DNA interstrand crosslink (ICL) repair resulting in chromosome breakage1–3. The FA repair pathway comprises at least 22 FANC proteins including BRCA1 and BRCA24–6, and protects against carcinogenic endogenous and exogenous aldehydes7–10. Individuals with FA are hundreds to thousands-fold more likely to develop head and neck (HNSCC), esophageal and anogenital squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) with a median onset age of 31 years11. The aggressive nature of these tumors and poor patient tolerance of platinum and radiation-based therapy have been associated with short survival in FA11–16. Molecular studies of SCCs from individuals with FA (FA SCCs) have been limited, and it is unclear how they relate to sporadic HNSCCs primarily driven by tobacco and alcohol exposure or human papillomavirus (HPV) infection17. Here, by sequencing FA SCCs, we demonstrate that the primary genomic signature of FA-deficiency is the presence of a high number of structural variants (SVs). SVs are enriched for small deletions, unbalanced translocations, and fold-back inversions that arise in the context of TP53 loss. The SV breakpoints preferentially localize to early replicating regions, common fragile sites, tandem repeats, and SINE elements. SVs are often connected forming complex rearrangements. Resultant genomic instability underlies elevated copy number alteration (CNA) rates of key HNSCC-associated genes, including PIK3CA, MYC, CSMD1, PTPRD, YAP1, MXD4, and EGFR. In contrast to sporadic HNSCC, we find no evidence of HPV infection in FA HNSCC, although positive cases were identified in gynecologic tumors. A murine allograft model of FA pathway-deficient SCC was enriched in SVs, exhibited dramatic tumor growth advantage, more rapid epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and enhanced autonomous inflammatory signaling when compared to an FA pathway-proficient model. In light of the protective role of the FA pathway against SV formation uncovered here, and recent findings of FA pathway insufficiency in the setting of increased formaldehyde load resulting in hematopoietic stem cell failure and carcinogenesis18–20, we propose that high copy-number instability in sporadic HNSCC may result from functional overload of the FA pathway by endogenous and exogenous DNA crosslinking agents. Our work lays the foundation for improved FA patient treatment and demonstrates that FA SCC is a powerful model to study tumorigenesis resulting from DNA crosslinking damage.

Fanconi anemia (FA), a model syndrome of genome instability, is caused by a deficiency in DNA interstrand crosslink (ICL) repair resulting in chromosome breakage. The FA repair pathway comprises at least 22 FANC proteins including BRCA1 and BRCA2 and protects against carcinogenic endogenous and exogenous aldehydes. Individuals with FA are hundreds to thousands-fold more likely to develop head and neck (HNSCC), esophageal and anogenital squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) with a median onset age of 31 years. The aggressive nature of these tumors and poor patient tolerance of platinum and radiation-based therapy have been associated with short survival in FA. Molecular studies of SCCs from individuals with FA (FA SCCs) have been limited, and it is unclear how they relate to sporadic HNSCCs primarily driven by tobacco and alcohol exposure or human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Here, by sequencing FA SCCs, we demonstrate that the primary genomic signature of FA-deficiency is the presence of a high number of structural variants (SVs). SVs are enriched for small deletions, unbalanced translocations, and fold-back inversions that arise in the context of TP53 loss. The SV breakpoints preferentially localize to early replicating regions, common fragile sites, tandem repeats, and SINE elements. SVs are often connected forming complex rearrangements. Resultant genomic instability underlies elevated copy number alteration (CNA) rates of key HNSCC-associated genes, including PIK3CA, MYC, CSMD1, PTPRD, YAP1, MXD4, and EGFR. In contrast to sporadic HNSCC, we find no evidence of HPV infection in FA HNSCC, although positive cases were identified in gynecologic tumors. A murine allograft model of FA pathway-deficient SCC was enriched in SVs, exhibited dramatic tumor growth advantage, more rapid epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and enhanced autonomous inflammatory signaling when compared to an FA pathway-proficient model. In light of the protective role of the FA pathway against SV formation uncovered here, and recent findings of FA pathway insufficiency in the setting of increased formaldehyde load resulting in hematopoietic stem cell failure and carcinogenesis, we propose that high copy-number instability in sporadic HNSCC may result from functional overload of the FA pathway by endogenous and exogenous DNA crosslinking agents. Our work lays the foundation for improved FA patient treatment and demonstrates that FA SCC is a powerful model to study tumorigenesis resulting from DNA crosslinking damage. Citation Format: Andrew L. Webster, Mathijs A. Sanders, Krupa Patel, Ralf Dietrich, Raymond J. Noonan, Francis P. Lach, Ryan R. White, Audrey M. Goldfarb, Kevin Hadi, Matthew M. Edwards, Frank X. Donovan, Moonjung Jung, Sunandini Sridhar, Olivier Fedrigo, Huasong Tian, Joel Rosiene, Thomas Heineman, Jennifer Kennedy, Lorenzo Bean, Rasim O. Rosti, Rebecca Tryon, Ashlyn-Maree Gonzalez, Allana Rosenberg, Ji-Dung Luo, Thomas Carrol, Eunike Velleuer, Jeff C. Rastatter, Susanne I. Wells, Jordi Surrallés, Grover Bagby, Margaret L. MacMillan, John E. Wagner, Maria Cancio, Farid Boulad, Theresa Scognamiglio, Roger Vaughan, Amnon Koren, Marcin Imielinski, Settara Chandrasekharappa, Arleen D. Auerbach, Bhuvanesh Singh, David Kutler, Peter J. Campbell, Agata Smogorzewska. Fanconi anemia pathway deficiency drives copy number variation in squamous cell carcinoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 6196.

Humoral immunity in mammals relies on the function of two developmentally and functionally distinct B cell subsets - B1 and B2 cells. While B2 cells are responsible for the adaptive response to environmental antigens, B1 cells regulate the production of polyreactive and low affinity antibodies for innate humoral immunity. The molecular mechanism of B cell specification into different subsets is understudied. In this study, we identified lysine methyltransferase NSD2 (MMSET/WHSC1) as a critical regulator of B1 cell development. In contrast to its minor impact on B2 cells, deletion of the catalytic domain of NSD2 in primary B cells impairs the generation of B1 lineage. Thus, NSD2, a histone H3 K36 dimethylase, is the first-in-class epigenetic regulator of a B cell lineage in mice.

Humoral immunity in mice and man relies on the function of two developmentally and functionally distinct B cell subsets - B1 and B2 cells. While B2 cells are responsible for most of the adaptive response to environmental antigens, B1 cells, which are comprised of phenotypically distinct B1a and B1b cells, are carriers of the innate humoral immunity that relies on production of poly-reactive and low affinity antibodies. The molecular mechanism of B cell specification into different subsets is not well established. Here we identified lysine methyltransferase MMSET/NSD2 as a critical regulator of the B1 cell population. We show that NSD2 deficiency in B cell precursors prevents generation of the B1 cell compartment, while having a minor impact on B2 cells. Our data revealed MMSET/NSD2, which catalyzes histone H3 lysine 36 di-methylation, as the first in class epigenetic master regulator of a major B cell lineage in mice.