Epithelial PIK3R1 (p85) and TP53 Regulate Survivin Expression during Adaptation to Ileocecal Resection
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PATHOLOGY
Authors: Cohran, Valeria; Managlia, Elizabeth; Bradford, Emily M.; Goretsky, Tatiana; Li, Ting; Katzman, Rebecca B.; Cheresh, Paul; Brown, Jeffrey B.; Hawkins, Jennifer; Liu, Shirley X. L.; De Plaen, Isabelle G.; Weitkamp, Jorn-Hendrik; Helmrath, Michael; Zhang, Zheng; Barrettt, Terrence A.
Abstract
Intestinal adaptation to small-bowel resection (SBR) after necrotizing enterocolitis expands absorptive surface areas and promotes enteral autonomy. Survivin increases proliferation and blunts apoptosis. The current study examines survivin in intestinal epithelial cells after ileocecal resection. Wild-type and epithelial Pik3r1 (p85 alpha)-deficient mice underwent sham surgery or 30% resection. RNA and protein were isolated from small bowel to determine levels of beta-catenin target gene expression, activated caspase-3, survivin, p85 alpha, and Trp53. Healthy and post-resection human infant small-bowel sections were analyzed for survivin, Ki-67, and TP53 by immunohistochemistry. Five days after ileocecal resection, epithelial levels of survivin increased relative to sham-operated on mice, which correlated with reduced cleaved caspase-3, p85 alpha, and Trp53. At baseline, p85 alpha-deficient intestinal epithelial cells had Less Trp53 and more survivin, and relative responses to resection were blunted compared with wild-type. In infant small bowel, survivin in transit amplifying cells increased 71% after SBR. Resection increased proliferation and decreased numbers of TP53-positive epithelial cells. Data suggest that ileocecal resection reduces p85 alpha, which lowers TP53 activation and releases survivin promoter repression. The subsequent increase in survivin among transit amplifying cells promotes epithelial cell proliferation and lengthens crypts. These findings suggest that SBR reduces p85 alpha and TP53, which increases survivin and intestinal epithelial cell expansion during therapeutic adaptation in patients with short bowel syndrome.
Novel Genetic Variants for Cartilage Thickness and Hip Osteoarthritis
PLOS GENETICS
Authors: Castano-Betancourt, Martha C.; Evans, Dan S.; Ramos, Yolande F. M.; Boer, Cindy G.; Metrustry, Sarah; Liu, Youfang; den Hollander, Wouter; van Rooij, Jeroen; Kraus, Virginia B.; Yau, Michelle S.; Mitchell, Braxton D.; Muir, Kenneth; Hofman, Albert; Doherty, Michael; Doherty, Sally; Zhang, Weiya; Kraaij, Robert; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Barrett-Connor, Elizabeth; Maciewicz, Rose A.; Arden, Nigel; Nelissen, Rob G. H. H.; Kloppenburg, Margreet; Jordan, Joanne M.; Nevitt, Michael C.; Slagboom, Eline P.; Hart, Deborah J.; Lafeber, Floris; Styrkarsdottir, Unnur; Zeggini, Eleftheria; Evangelou, Evangelos; Spector, Tim D.; Uitterlinden, Andre G.; Lane, Nancy E.; Meulenbelt, Ingrid; Valdes, Ana M.; van Meurs, Joyce B. J.
Abstract
Osteoarthritis is one of the most frequent and disabling diseases of the elderly. Only few genetic variants have been identified for osteoarthritis, which is partly due to large phenotype heterogeneity. To reduce heterogeneity, we here examined cartilage thickness, one of the structural components of joint health. We conducted a genome-wide association study of minimal joint space width (mJSW), a proxy for cartilage thickness, in a discovery set of 13,013 participants from five different cohorts and replication in 8,227 individuals from seven independent cohorts. We identified five genome-wide significant (GWS, P <= 5.0x10(-8)) SNPs annotated to four distinct loci. In addition, we found two additional loci that were significantly replicated, but results of combined meta-analysis fell just below the genome wide significance threshold. The four novel associated genetic loci were located in/near TGFA (rs2862851), PIK3R1 (rs10471753), SLBP/FGFR3 (rs2236995), and TREH/DDX6 (rs496547), while the other two (DOT1L and SUPT3H/RUNX2) were previously identified. A systematic prioritization for underlying causal genes was performed using diverse lines of evidence. Exome sequencing data (n = 2,050 individuals) indicated that there were no rare exonic variants that could explain the identified associations. In addition, TGFA, FGFR3 and PIK3R1 were differentially expressed in OA cartilage lesions versus non-lesioned cartilage in the same individuals. In conclusion, we identified four novel loci (TGFA, PIK3R1, FGFR3 and TREH) and confirmed two loci known to be associated with cartilage thickness. The identified associations were not caused by rare exonic variants. This is the first report linking TGFA to human OA, which may serve as a new target for future therapies.