• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6685-6690
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• 2015

Background: Genetic studies have shown a possible relationship between the rs16969968 polymorphism in CHRNA5 and the risk of lung cancer. However, the results have been conflicting. Thus we rigorously conducted a meta-analysis to clarify any association. Materials and Methods: A total of 10 case-control studies involving 17,962 lung cancer cases and 77,216 control subjects were analysed. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to measure the strength of the association. Results: We found the CHRNA5 rs16969968 polymorphism to be associated with the risk of lung cancer (AA vs GG: OR=1.60, 95%CI=1.51-1.71). On stratified analysis by smoking status, a statistically significant increased risk was observed in the smoking group (AA vs GG: OR=1.80, 95%CI=1.61-2.01). However, this polymorphism was not associated with lung cancer risk in Asians (AA vs GG: OR=0.95, 95%CI=0.35-2.59), whereas it was linked to increased risk of lung cancer among Caucasians (AA vs GG: OR=1.65, 95%CI=1.55-1.76). Conclusions: Our meta-analysis provided statistical evidence for a strong association between rs16969968 polymorphism and the risk of lung cancer, especially in smokers and Caucasians. Application of this relationship may contribute to identification of individuals at high risk of lung cancer and indicate a chemoprevention target.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 2021

This study aimed to investigate whether neurotransmitter receptors in the nervous system were also expressed in oral keratinocytes. Expressions of various neurotransmitter receptor genes in immortalized mouse oral keratinocyte (IMOK) cells were examined by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. IMOK cells expressed calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor subunit genes Ramp1 and Ramp3 and glutamate receptor subunit genes Grina, Gria3, Grin1, Grin2a, and Grin2d. Moreover, IMOK cells expressed Adrb2 and Chrna5 that encode beta 2 adrenergic receptor and cholinergic receptor nicotinic alpha 5 for sympathetic and parasympathetic neurotransmitters, respectively. The expression of Bdkrb1 and Ptger4, which encode receptors for bradykinin and prostaglandin E2 involved in inflammatory responses, was also observed at low levels. Expressions of Ramp1 and Grina in the mouse gingival epithelium were also confirmed by immunohistochemistry. When the function of neurotransmitter receptors expressed on IMOK cells was tested by intracellular calcium response, CGRP, glutamate, and cholinergic receptors did not respond to their agonists, but the bradykinin receptor responded to bradykinin. Collectively, oral keratinocytes express several neurotransmitter receptors, suggesting the potential regulation of oral epithelial homeostasis by the nervous system.

• Interdisciplinary Bio Central
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1.1-1.8
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• 2013

High quality publicly-available transcriptomic data representing relationships in gene expression across a diverse set of biological conditions is used as a context network to explore transcriptomics of the CNS. The context network, 18367Hu-matrix, contains pairwise Pearson correlations for 22,215 human genes across18,637 human tissue samples1. To do this, we compute a network derived from biological samples from CNS cells and tissues, calculate clusters of co-expressed genes from this network, and compare the significance of these to clusters derived from the larger 18367Hu-matrix network. Sorting and visualization uses the publicly available software, MetaOmGraph (http://www.metnetdb.org/MetNet_MetaOm-Graph.htm). This identifies genes that characterize particular disease conditions. Specifically, differences in gene expression within and between two designations of glial cancer, astrocytoma and glioblastoma, are evaluated in the context of the broader network. Such gene groups, which we term outlier-networks, tease out abnormally expressed genes and the samples in which this expression occurs. This approach distinguishes 48 subnetworks of outlier genes associated with astrocytoma and glioblastoma. As a case study, we investigate the relationships among the genes of a small astrocytoma-only subnetwork. This astrocytoma-only subnetwork consists of SVEP1, IGF1, CHRNA3, and SPAG6. All of these genes are highly coexpressed in a single sample of anaplastic astrocytoma tumor (grade III) and a sample of juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma. Three of these genes are also associated with nicotine. This data lead us to formulate a testable hypothesis that this astrocytoma outlier-network provides a link between some gliomas/astrocytomas and nicotine.