Blood DNA methylation profiling identifies cathepsin Z dysregulation in pulmonary arterial hypertension.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38184627.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-44683-0 and PMC identifier 10771427.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterised by pulmonary vascular remodelling causing premature death from right heart failure. Established DNA variants influence PAH risk, but susceptibility from epigenetic changes is unknown. We addressed this through epigenome-wide association study (EWAS), testing 865,848 CpG sites for association with PAH in 429 individuals with PAH and 1226 controls. Three loci, at Cathepsin Z (CTSZ, cg04917472), Conserved oligomeric Golgi complex 6 (COG6, cg27396197), and Zinc Finger Protein 678 (ZNF678, cg03144189), reached epigenome-wide significance (p < 10<sup>-7</sup>) and are hypermethylated in PAH, including in individuals with PAH at 1-year follow-up. Of 16 established PAH genes, only cg10976975 in BMP10 shows hypermethylation in PAH. Hypermethylation at CTSZ is associated with decreased blood cathepsin Z mRNA levels. Knockdown of CTSZ expression in human pulmonary artery endothelial cells increases caspase-3/7 activity (p < 10<sup>-4</sup>). DNA methylation profiles are altered in PAH, exemplified by the pulmonary endothelial function modifier CTSZ, encoding protease cathepsin Z.
Medical subject headings
- Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension