Comprehensive mutation screening for 10 genes in Chinese patients suffering very early onset inflammatory bowel disease
WORLD JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY
Authors: Xiao, Yuan; Wang, Xin-Qiong; Yu, Yi; Guo, Yan; Xu, Xu; Gong, Ling; Zhou, Tong; Li, Xiao-Qin; Xu, Chun-Di
Abstract
AIM: To perform sequencing analysis in patients with very early-onset inflammatory bowel disease (VEO-IBD) to determine the genetic basis for VEO-IBD in Chinese pediatric patients. METHODS: A total of 13 Chinese pediatric patients with VEO-IBD were diagnosed from May 2012 and August 2014. The relevant clinical characteristics of these patients were analyzed. Then DNA in the peripheral blood from patients was extracted. Next generation sequencing (NGS) based on an Illumina-Miseq platform was used to analyze the exons in the coding regions of 10 candidate genes: IL-10, IL-10RA, IL-10RB, NOD2, FUT2, IL23R, GPR35, GPR65, TNFSF15, and ADAM30. The Sanger sequencing was used to verify the variations detected in NGS. RESULTS: Out of the 13 pediatric patients, ten were diagnosed with Crohn's disease, and three diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Mutations in IL-10RA and IL-10RB were detected in five patients. There were four patients who had single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with IBD. Two patients had IL-10RA and FUT2 polymorphisms, and two patients had IL-10RB and FUT2 polymorphisms. Gene variations were not found in the rest four patients. Children with mutations had lower percentile body weight ( 1.0% vs 27.5%, P = 0.002) and hemoglobin ( 87.4 g/L vs 108.5 g/L, P = 0.040) when compared with children without mutations. Although the age of onset was earlier, height was shorter, and the response to treatment was poorer in the mutation group, there was no significant difference in these factors between groups. CONCLUSION: IL-10RA and IL-10RB mutations are common in Chinese children with VEO-IBD. Patients with mutations have an earlier disease onset, lower body weight and hemoglobin, and poorer
Acidic tumor microenvironment and pH-sensing G protein-coupled receptors
FRONTIERS IN PHYSIOLOGY
Authors: Justus, Calvin R.; Dong, Lixue; Yang, Li V.
Abstract
The tumor microenvironment is acidic due to glycolytic cancer cell metabolism, hypoxia, and deficient blood perfusion. It is proposed that acidosis in the tumor microenvironment is an important stress factor and selection force for cancer cell somatic evolution. Acidic pH has pleiotropic effects on the proliferation, migration, invasion, metastasis, and therapeutic response of cancer cells and the function of immune cells, vascular cells, and other stromal cells. However, the molecular mechanisms by which cancer cells and stromal cells sense and respond to acidic pH in the tumor microenvironment are poorly understood. In this article the role of a family of pH-sensing G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in tumor biology is reviewed. Recent studies show that the pH-sensing GPCRs, including GPR4, GPR65 (TDAG8), GPR68 (OGR1), and GPR132 (G2A), regulate cancer cell metastasis and proliferation, immune cell function, inflammation, and blood vessel formation. Activation of the proton-sensing GPCRs by acidosis transduces multiple downstream G protein signaling pathways. Since GPCRs are major drug targets, small molecule modulators of the pH-sensing GPCRs are being actively developed and evaluated. Research on the pH-sensing GPCRs will continue to provide important insights into the molecular interaction between tumor and its acidic microenvironment and may identify new targets for cancer therapy and chemoprevention.