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Zhang, Yong

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Zhang

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Yong

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Zhang, Yong
Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.b5bcd845-e10d-4511-9f9d-efb1363a65a9

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    Novel Tumor Suppressor Function of Glucocorticoid-Induced TNF Receptor GITR in Multiple Myeloma
    (Public Library of Science, 2013) Liu, Yang; Quang, Phong; Braggio, Esteban; Ngo, Hai; Badalian-Very, Gayane; Flores, Ludmila; Zhang, Yong; Sacco, Antonio; Maiso, Patricia; Azab, Abdel Kareem; Azab, Feda; Carrasco, Ruben; Rollins, Barrett; Roccaro, Aldo M.; Ghobrial, Irene M.
    Glucocorticoid-induced TNF receptor (GITR) plays a crucial role in modulating immune response and inflammation, however the role of GITR in human cancers is poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated that GITR is inactivated during tumor progression in Multiple Myeloma (MM) through promoter CpG island methylation, mediating gene silencing in primary MM plasma cells and MM cell lines. Restoration of GITR expression in GITR deficient MM cells led to inhibition of MM proliferation in vitro and in vivo and induction of apoptosis. These findings were supported by the presence of induction of p21 and PUMA, two direct downstream targets of p53, together with modulation of NF-κB in GITR-overexpressing MM cells. Moreover, the unbalanced expression of GITR in clonal plasma cells correlated with MM disease progression, poor prognosis and survival. These findings provide novel insights into the pivotal role of GITR in MM pathogenesis and disease progression.
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    Global Epigenetic Regulation of MicroRNAs in Multiple Myeloma
    (Public Library of Science, 2014) Zhang, Wenjing; Wang, Yaoyu E.; Zhang, Yu; Leleu, Xavier; Reagan, Michaela Ruth; Zhang, Yong; Mishima, Yuji; Glavey, Siobhan; Manier, Salomon; Sacco, Antonio; Jiang, Bo; Roccaro, Aldo M.; Ghobrial, Irene
    Epigenetic changes frequently occur during tumorigenesis and DNA hypermethylation may account for the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes in cancer cells. Studies in Multiple Myeloma (MM) have shown variable DNA methylation patterns with focal hypermethylation changes in clinically aggressive subtypes. We studied global methylation patterns in patients with relapsed/refractory MM and found that the majority of methylation peaks were located in the intronic and intragenic regions in MM samples. Therefore, we investigated the effect of methylation on miRNA regulation in MM. To date, the mechanism by which global miRNA suppression occurs in MM has not been fully described. In this study, we report hypermethylation of miRNAs in MM and perform confirmation in MM cell lines using bisulfite sequencing and methylation-specific PCR (MSP) in the presence or absence of the DNA demethylating agent 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine. We further characterized the hypermethylation-dependent inhibition of miR-152, -10b-5p and -34c-3p which was shown to exert a putative tumor suppressive role in MM. These findings were corroborated by the demonstration that the same miRNAs were down-regulated in MM patients compared to healthy individuals, alongside enrichment of miR-152-, -10b-5p, and miR-34c-3p-predicted targets, as shown at the mRNA level in primary MM cells. Demethylation or gain of function studies of these specific miRNAs led to induction of apoptosis and inhibition of proliferation as well as down-regulation of putative oncogene targets of these miRNAs such as DNMT1, E2F3, BTRC and MYCBP. These findings provide the rationale for epigenetic therapeutic approaches in subgroups of MM.