Loss of macroH2A1 Decreases Mitochondrial Metabolism

Aging-US published a Special Collection on Eye Disease which included "Loss of macroH2A1 decreases mitochondrial metabolism and reduces the aggressiveness of uveal melanoma cells" which reported that uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular tumour in adults. Most accurate prognostic factor of UM is classification by gene expression profiling. These authors recently showed a strong prognostic role of the expression levels of histone variant macroH2A1 in UM patients. Mitochondrial function was assayed through qPCR and HPLC analyses. Correlation between mitochondrial gene expression and cancer aggressiveness was studied using a bioinformatics approach. Dr. Giovanni Li Volti and Dr. Manlio Vinciguerra said, "Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular tumour in adults." Metastasis is a frequent occurrence in uveal and cutaneous melanomas with a 5 years survival of 15%. By far the most common site of UM metastasis is the liver, reported in 87% of cases. Epigenetic mechanisms controlling gene expression have long been known to have a role in cancer development. In UM these include DNA methylation at CpG islands leading to decrease expression of p16/INK4a tumour suppressor protein. The Volti/Vinciguerra Research Team concluded in their Aging-US Research Output, "we suggest that strategies aiming at decreasing the expression of histone variant macroH2A1 [32], might effectively hamper the aggressiveness of UM cells, by inhibiting their mitochondrial phosphorylation. This could be a novel promising therapeutic strategy against UM [51]." Full Text - https://www.aging-us.com/article/103241/text Correspondence to: Giovanni Li Volti email: livolti@unict.it and Manlio Vinciguerra email: manlio.vinciguerra@fnusa.cz Keywords: macroH2A1, histones, uveal melanoma, metabolism, epigenetics About Aging-US Launched in 2009, Aging-US publishes papers of general interest and biological significance in all fields of aging research as well as topics beyond traditional gerontology, including, but not limited to, cellular and molecular biology, human age-related diseases, pathology in model organisms, cancer, signal transduction pathways (e.g., p53, sirtuins, and PI-3K/AKT/mTOR among others), and approaches to modulating these signaling pathways. To learn more about Aging-US, please visit http://www.Aging-US.com or connect with @AgingJrnl Aging-US is published by Impact Journals, LLC please visit http://www.ImpactJournals.com or connect with @ImpactJrnls Media Contact 18009220957x105 MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM