The number of patients suffering from gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is rising fast in the United States and several western countries. Chronic GERD is characterized by the increased exposure of epithelial cells to stress and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which leads to the development of esophageal metaplasia, known as Barrett's esophagus (BE). BE is the main known risk factor for the development of gastro-esophageal and esophageal Barrett's associated adenocarcinomas (BACs). The incidence of these tumors is rising faster than any other malignancy in the United States. Unfortunately, the mortality rates for BACs approach incidence rate underscoring the need to understand its molecular pathobiology in order to develop better strategies for combating this deadly disease. Our genomic and epigenomic analysis of BACs has led to identification of several novel molecular alterations. Using integrated analysis approaches, we have identified silencing of glutathione peroxidase 7 (GPX7) in two-thirds of BACs. GPX7 is a recently identified member of the GPX family. We found that promoter DNA hypermethylation plays a critical role in silencing GPX7 expression. Our preliminary data indicate that GPX7 acts as anti-oxidant and can regulate the levels of ROS in the cell. In addition, we have shown that the re-constitution of the expression of GPX7 in esophageal adenocarcinoma cell lines suppresses their tumor growth in xenografted animal model. These data suggest that GPX7 can provide anti-oxidant and tumor growth suppressor properties to epithelia cells. In the first aim, we plan to determine and investigate the anti-oxidative functions of GPX7. In the second aim, we will investigate the interplay of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms in regulating GPX7 expression in Barrett's tumorigenesis. We will also examine the integrity of the methylation machinery and investigate the roles of DNA and histone methylation in the transcriptional regulation of GPX7.
Our third aim will investigate the tumor growth suppressor functions of GPX7 and its effect in regulating the cell cycle. We will also perform immunohistochemical analysis of GPX7 expression on tumor tissue microarrays to determine the histopathological and clinical values of loss of GPX7 expression. We expect that completion of this proposal will provide important molecular and pathobiological information that can have significant impact on the clinical management of patients with Barrett's associated adenocarcinomas.

Public Health Relevance

We have recently characterized silencing of GPX7 expression as a frequent finding in Barrett's associated adenocarcinomas. In this proposal, we plan to characterize the mechanisms of silencing GPX7 expression and its role in Barrett's tumorigenesis in order to identify its biological, diagnostic, prognostic, and possibly therapeutic values.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA106176-10
Application #
8403770
Study Section
Clinical, Integrative and Molecular Gastroenterology Study Section (CIMG)
Program Officer
Rinaudo, Jo Ann S
Project Start
2003-09-01
Project End
2014-12-31
Budget Start
2013-01-01
Budget End
2013-12-31
Support Year
10
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$309,088
Indirect Cost
$110,955
Name
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Department
Surgery
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
004413456
City
Nashville
State
TN
Country
United States
Zip Code
37212
Peng, DunFa; Guo, Yan; Chen, Heidi et al. (2017) Integrated molecular analysis reveals complex interactions between genomic and epigenomic alterations in esophageal adenocarcinomas. Sci Rep 7:40729
Belkhiri, Abbes; El-Rifai, Wael (2014) 5-Methylcytosine hydroxylation-mediated LINE-1 hypomethylation: a novel mechanism of proto-oncogenes activation in colorectal cancer? Gut 63:538-9
Peng, DunFa; Hu, TianLing; Soutto, Mohammed et al. (2014) Glutathione peroxidase 7 has potential tumour suppressor functions that are silenced by location-specific methylation in oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Gut 63:540-51
Peng, Dun-Fa; Hu, Tian-Ling; Soutto, Mohammed et al. (2014) Loss of glutathione peroxidase 7 promotes TNF-?-induced NF-?B activation in Barrett's carcinogenesis. Carcinogenesis 35:1620-8
Saad, Rama; Chen, Zheng; Zhu, Shoumin et al. (2013) Deciphering the unique microRNA signature in human esophageal adenocarcinoma. PLoS One 8:e64463
Peng, Dunfa; Belkhiri, Abbes; Hu, Tianling et al. (2012) Glutathione peroxidase 7 protects against oxidative DNA damage in oesophageal cells. Gut 61:1250-60
Peng, Dun-Fa; Hu, Tian-Ling; Schneider, Barbara G et al. (2012) Silencing of glutathione peroxidase 3 through DNA hypermethylation is associated with lymph node metastasis in gastric carcinomas. PLoS One 7:e46214
Soutto, Mohammed; Belkhiri, Abbes; Piazuelo, M Blanca et al. (2011) Loss of TFF1 is associated with activation of NF-?B-mediated inflammation and gastric neoplasia in mice and humans. J Clin Invest 121:1753-67
Zaika, Elena; Wei, Jinxiong; Yin, Dengping et al. (2011) p73 protein regulates DNA damage repair. FASEB J 25:4406-14
Ueda, Yukiko; Hajri, Tahar; Peng, DunFa et al. (2011) Reduction of 8-iso-prostaglandin F2? in the first week after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. Obesity (Silver Spring) 19:1663-8

Showing the most recent 10 out of 26 publications