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MicroRNA expression in serum samples of sulfur mustard veterans as a diagnostic gateway to improve care.

ABSTRACT: Sulfur mustard is a vesicant chemical warfare agent, which has been used during Iraq-Iran-war. Many veterans and civilians still suffer from long-term complications of sulfur mustard exposure, especially in their lung. Although the lung lesions of these patients are similar to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), there are some differences due to different etiology and clinical care. Less is known on the molecular mechanism of sulfur mustard patients and specific treatment options. microRNAs are master regulators of many biological pathways and proofed to be stable surrogate markers in body fluids. Based on that microRNA expression for serum samples of sulfur mustard patients were examined, to establish specific microRNA patterns as a basis for diagnostic use and insight into affected molecular pathways. Patients were categorized based on their long-term complications into three groups and microRNA serum levels were measured. The differentially regulated microRNAs and their corresponding gene targets were identified. Cell cycle arrest, ageing and TGF-beta signaling pathways showed up to be the most deregulated pathways. The candidate microRNA miR-143-3p could be validated on all individual patients. In a ROC analysis miR-143-3p turned out to be a suitable diagnostic biomarker in the mild and severe categories of patients. Further microRNAs which might own a link to the biology of the sulfur mustard patients are miR-365a-3p, miR-200a-3p, miR-663a. miR-148a-3p, which showed up only in a validation study, might be linked to the airway complications of the sulfur mustard patients. All the other candidate microRNAs do not directly link to COPD phenotype or lung complications. In summary the microRNA screening study characterizes several molecular differences in-between the clinical categories of the sulfur mustard exposure groups and established some useful microRNA biomarkers. qPCR raw data is available via the Gene Expression Omnibus https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE110797.

SUBMITTER: Gharbi S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5864010 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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MicroRNA expression in serum samples of sulfur mustard veterans as a diagnostic gateway to improve care.

Gharbi Sedigheh S Khateri Shahriar S Soroush Mohammad Reza MR Shamsara Mehdi M Naeli Parisa P Najafi Ali A Korsching Eberhard E Mowla Seyed Javad SJ

PloS one 20180322 3

Sulfur mustard is a vesicant chemical warfare agent, which has been used during Iraq-Iran-war. Many veterans and civilians still suffer from long-term complications of sulfur mustard exposure, especially in their lung. Although the lung lesions of these patients are similar to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), there are some differences due to different etiology and clinical care. Less is known on the molecular mechanism of sulfur mustard patients and specific treatment options. micr ...[more]

PMID: 29566027

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Project description:Sulfur mustard (SM) is a potent vesicant that targets epithelial cells and tissues. Most vesicant research has been performed using bona fide SM; however, some studies have used simulants, most notably half mustard (2-chloroethyl ethylsulfide; CEES) and nitrogen mustard (mechlorethamine; NM). Although CEES and NM have similarities to SM and can cause vesication, there are distinct differences in the chemical structures and physical properties of these compounds that may impact their toxic effects. Microarray analysis of cultured primary human epidermal keratinocytes (HEK) exposed to each of these vesicants was performed to directly compare the transcriptional responses induced by these vesicants. HEK were exposed in triplicate to concentrations ranging from 0-1000 µM for SM and NM and 0-4000 µM for CEES. Cells were harvested at 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 24 h and the RNA isolated for microarray analysis. Transcriptional responses were phenotypically anchored to cell morphology. The dataset was filtered by exposure and timepoint, and an analysis of variance was performed using dose as the factor. The top 500 genes ranked by p-value were analyzed using gene ontology algorithms to identify biological pathways significantly affected by each vesicant. At 2 h post-exposure, p53 signaling, Erk/MAPK signaling, and BMP signaling were significantly affected by all three vesicants. At 4 h post-exposure, p53 signaling , B cell activating factor, and glucocorticoid receptor signaling were significantly affected by all three vesicants. At 8 h post-exposure, there were no significant pathways commonly affected by all three vesicants. These results suggest that, although there are similarities in the transcriptional responses to each of these vesicants, the transcriptional responses appear to differ over time. Thus, extrapolation of results obtained with one vesicant to other vesicants may be complex and may have important implications for the development of vesicant therapeutics.

Dataset Information

MicroRNA expression in serum samples of sulfur mustard veterans as a diagnostic gateway to improve care.

Publications

MicroRNA expression in serum samples of sulfur mustard veterans as a diagnostic gateway to improve care.

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