Epigenome-Wide DNA Methylation Profiling in Colorectal Cancer and Normal Adjacent Colon Using Infinium Human Methylation 450K.

The aims were to profile the DNA methylation in colorectal cancer (CRC) and to explore cancer-specific methylation biomarkers. Fifty-four pairs of CRCs and the adjacent normal tissues were subjected to Infinium Human Methylation 450K assay and analysed using ChAMP R package. A total of 26,093 differentially methylated probes were identified, which represent 6156 genes; 650 probes were hypermethylated, and 25,443 were hypomethylated. Hypermethylated sites were common in CpG islands, while hypomethylated sites were in open sea. Most of the hypermethylated genes were associated with pathways in cancer, while the hypomethylated genes were involved in the PI3K-AKT signalling pathway. Among the identified differentially methylated probes, we found evidence of four potential probes in CRCs versus adjacent normal; HOXA2 cg06786372, OPLAH cg17301223, cg15638338, and TRIM31 cg02583465 that could serve as a new biomarker in CRC since these probes were aberrantly methylated in CRC as well as involved in the progression of CRC. Furthermore, we revealed the potential of promoter methylation ADHFE1 cg18065361 in differentiating the CRC from normal colonic tissue from the integrated analysis. In conclusion, aberrant DNA methylation is significantly involved in CRC pathogenesis and is associated with gene silencing. This study reports several potential important methylated genes in CRC and, therefore, merit further validation as novel candidate biomarker genes in CRC.

Two Sides of the Same Coin: The Roles of KLF6 in Physiology and Pathophysiology.

The Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) family of proteins control several key biological processes that include proliferation, differentiation, metabolism, apoptosis and inflammation. Dysregulation of KLF functions have been shown to disrupt cellular homeostasis and contribute to disease development. KLF6 is a relevant example; a range of functional and expression assays suggested that the dysregulation of KLF6 contributes to the onset of cancer, inflammation-associated diseases as well as cardiovascular diseases. KLF6 expression is either suppressed or elevated depending on the disease, and this is largely due to alternative splicing events producing KLF6 isoforms with specialised functions. Hence, the aim of this review is to discuss the known aspects of KLF6 biology that covers the gene and protein architecture, gene regulation, post-translational modifications and functions of KLF6 in health and diseases. We put special emphasis on the equivocal roles of its full-length and spliced variants. We also deliberate on the therapeutic strategies of KLF6 and its associated signalling pathways. Finally, we provide compelling basic and clinical questions to enhance the knowledge and research on elucidating the roles of KLF6 in physiological and pathophysiological processes.

Proteogenomics: From next-generation sequencing (NGS) and mass spectrometry-based proteomics to precision medicine.

One of the best-established area within multi-omics is proteogenomics, whereby the underpinning technologies are next-generation sequencing (NGS) and mass spectrometry (MS). Proteogenomics has contributed significantly to genome (re)-annotation, whereby novel coding sequences (CDS) are identified and confirmed. By incorporating in-silico translated genome variants in protein database, single amino acid variants (SAAV) and splice proteoforms can be identified and quantified at peptide level. The application of proteogenomics in cancer research potentially enables the identification of patient-specific proteoforms, as well as the association of the efficacy or resistance of cancer therapy to different mutations. Here, we discuss how NGS/TGS data are analyzed and incorporated into the proteogenomic framework. These sequence data mainly originate from whole genome sequencing (WGS), whole exome sequencing (WES) and RNA-Seq. We explain two major strategies for sequence analysis i.e., de novo assembly and reads mapping, followed by construction of customized protein databases using such data. Besides, we also elaborate on the procedures of spectrum to peptide sequence matching in proteogenomics, and the relationship between database size on the false discovery rate (FDR). Finally, we discuss the latest development in proteogenomics-assisted precision oncology and also challenges and opportunities in proteogenomics research.

Draft Genome Sequence of Pasteurella multocida subsp. multocida Strain PMTB, Isolated from a Buffalo.

Pasteurella multocida serotypes B:2 and E:2 are the main causative agents of ruminant hemorrhagic septicemia in Asia and Africa, respectively. Pasteurella multocida strain PMTB was isolated from a buffalo with hemorrhagic septicemia and has been determined to be serotype B:2. Here we report the draft genome sequence of strain PMTB.