@article{FetivaLissGertzmannetal.2023, author = {Fetiva, Maria Camila and Liss, Franziska and Gertzmann, D{\"o}rthe and Thomas, Julius and Gantert, Benedikt and Vogl, Magdalena and Sira, Nataliia and Weinstock, Grit and Kneitz, Susanne and Ade, Carsten P. and Gaubatz, Stefan}, title = {Oncogenic YAP mediates changes in chromatin accessibility and activity that drive cell cycle gene expression and cell migration}, series = {Nucleic Acids Research}, volume = {51}, journal = {Nucleic Acids Research}, number = {9}, doi = {10.1093/nar/gkad107}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-350218}, pages = {4266-4283}, year = {2023}, abstract = {YAP, the key protein effector of the Hippo pathway, is a transcriptional co-activator that controls the expression of cell cycle genes, promotes cell growth and proliferation and regulates organ size. YAP modulates gene transcription by binding to distal enhancers, but the mechanisms of gene regulation by YAP-bound enhancers remain poorly understood. Here we show that constitutive active YAP5SA leads to widespread changes in chromatin accessibility in untransformed MCF10A cells. Newly accessible regions include YAP-bound enhancers that mediate activation of cycle genes regulated by the Myb-MuvB (MMB) complex. By CRISPR-interference we identify a role for YAP-bound enhancers in phosphorylation of Pol II at Ser5 at MMB-regulated promoters, extending previously published studies that suggested YAP primarily regulates the pause-release step and transcriptional elongation. YAP5SA also leads to less accessible 'closed' chromatin regions, which are not directly YAP-bound but which contain binding motifs for the p53 family of transcription factors. Diminished accessibility at these regions is, at least in part, a consequence of reduced expression and chromatin-binding of the p53 family member ΔNp63 resulting in downregulation of ΔNp63-target genes and promoting YAP-mediated cell migration. In summary, our studies uncover changes in chromatin accessibility and activity that contribute to the oncogenic activities of YAP.}, language = {en} } @article{KressEgenolfSommeretal.2023, author = {Kreß, Luisa and Egenolf, Nadine and Sommer, Claudia and {\"U}{\c{c}}eyler, Nurcan}, title = {Cytokine expression profiles in white blood cells of patients with small fiber neuropathy}, series = {BMC Neuroscience}, volume = {24}, journal = {BMC Neuroscience}, number = {1}, doi = {10.1186/s12868-022-00770-4}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-300619}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Background The role of cytokines in the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and prognosis of small fiber neuropathy (SFN) is incompletely understood. We studied expression profiles of selected pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in RNA from white blood cells (WBC) of patients with a medical history and a clinical phenotype suggestive for SFN and compared data with healthy controls. Methods We prospectively recruited 52 patients and 21 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Study participants were characterized in detail and underwent complete neurological examination. Venous blood was drawn for routine and extended laboratory tests, and for WBC isolation. Systemic RNA expression profiles of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-2, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) and the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4, IL-10, transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF) were analyzed. Protein levels of IL-2, IL-8, and TNF were measured in serum of patients and controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC)-curve analysis was used to determine the accuracy of IL-2, IL-8, and TNF in differentiating patients and controls. To compare the potential discriminatory efficacy of single versus combined cytokines, equality of different AUCs was tested. Results WBC gene expression of IL-2, IL-8, and TNF was higher in patients compared to healthy controls (IL-2: p = 0.02; IL-8: p = 0.009; TNF: p = 0.03) and discriminated between the groups (area under the curve (AUC) ≥ 0.68 for each cytokine) with highest diagnostic accuracy reached by combining the three cytokines (AUC = 0.81, sensitivity = 70\%, specificity = 86\%). Subgroup analysis revealed the following differences: IL-8 and TNF gene expression levels were higher in female patients compared to female controls (IL-8: p = 0.01; TNF: p = 0.03). The combination of TNF with IL-2 and TNF with IL-2 and IL-8 discriminated best between the study groups. IL-2 was higher expressed in patients with moderate pain compared to those with severe pain (p = 0.02). Patients with acral pain showed higher IL-10 gene expression compared to patients with generalized pain (p = 0.004). We further found a negative correlation between the relative gene expression of IL-2 and current pain intensity (p = 0.02). Serum protein levels of IL-2, IL-8, and TNF did not differ between patients and controls. Conclusions We identified higher systemic gene expression of IL-2, IL-8, and TNF in SFN patients than in controls, which may be of potential relevance for diagnostics and patient stratification.}, language = {en} }