Browsing by Author "Tabasum, Saba"

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    Cutaneous Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition Activator ZEB1 Regulates Wound Angiogenesis and Closure in a Glycemic Status–Dependent Manner
    (American Diabetes Association, 2019-11) Singh, Kanhaiya; Sinha, Mithun; Pal, Durba; Tabasum, Saba; Gnyawali, Surya C.; Khona, Dolly; Sarkar, Subendu; Mohanty, Sujit K.; Soto-Gonzalez, Fidel; Khanna, Savita; Roy, Sashwati; Sen, Chandan K.; Surgery, School of Medicine
    Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and wound vascularization are two critical interrelated processes that enable cutaneous wound healing. Zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1), primarily studied in the context of tumor biology, is a potent EMT activator. ZEB1 is also known to contribute to endothelial cell survival as well as stimulate tumor angiogenesis. The role of ZEB1 in cutaneous wounds was assessed using Zeb1+/− mice, as Zeb1−/− mice are not viable. Quantitative stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) proteomics was used to elucidate the effect of elevated ZEB1, as noted during hyperglycemia. Under different glycemic conditions, ZEB1 binding to E-cadherin promoter was investigated using chromatin immunoprecipitation. Cutaneous wounding resulted in loss of epithelial marker E-cadherin with concomitant gain of ZEB1. The dominant proteins downregulated after ZEB1 overexpression functionally represented adherens junction pathway. Zeb1+/− mice exhibited compromised wound closure complicated by defective EMT and poor wound angiogenesis. Under hyperglycemic conditions, ZEB1 lost its ability to bind E-cadherin promoter. Keratinocyte E-cadherin, thus upregulated, resisted EMT required for wound healing. Diabetic wound healing was improved in ZEB+/− as well as in db/db mice subjected to ZEB1 knockdown. This work recognizes ZEB1 as a key regulator of cutaneous wound healing that is of particular relevance to diabetic wound complication.
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    Genome-wide DNA hypermethylation opposes healing in patients with chronic wounds by impairing epithelial-mesenchymal transition
    (The American Society for Clinical Investigation, 2022) Singh, Kanhaiya; Rustagi, Yashika; Abouhashem, Ahmed S.; Tabasum, Saba; Verma, Priyanka; Hernandez, Edward; Pal, Durba; Khona, Dolly K.; Mohanty, Sujit K.; Kumar, Manishekhar; Srivastava, Rajneesh; Guda, Poornachander R.; Verma, Sumit S.; Mahajan, Sanskruti; Killian, Jackson A.; Walker, Logan A.; Ghatak, Subhadip; Mathew-Steiner, Shomita S.; Wanczyk, Kristen E.; Liu, Sheng; Wan, Jun; Yan, Pearlly; Bundschuh, Ralf; Khanna, Savita; Gordillo, Gayle M.; Murphy, Michael P.; Roy, Sashwati; Sen, Chandan K.; Surgery, School of Medicine
    An extreme chronic wound tissue microenvironment causes epigenetic gene silencing. An unbiased whole-genome methylome was studied in the wound-edge tissue of patients with chronic wounds. A total of 4,689 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were identified in chronic wound-edge skin compared with unwounded human skin. Hypermethylation was more frequently observed (3,661 DMRs) in the chronic wound-edge tissue compared with hypomethylation (1,028 DMRs). Twenty-six hypermethylated DMRs were involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Bisulfite sequencing validated hypermethylation of a predicted specific upstream regulator TP53. RNA-Seq analysis was performed to qualify findings from methylome analysis. Analysis of the downregulated genes identified the TP53 signaling pathway as being significantly silenced. Direct comparison of hypermethylation and downregulated genes identified 4 genes, ADAM17, NOTCH, TWIST1, and SMURF1, that functionally represent the EMT pathway. Single-cell RNA-Seq studies revealed that these effects on gene expression were limited to the keratinocyte cell compartment. Experimental murine studies established that tissue ischemia potently induces wound-edge gene methylation and that 5'-azacytidine, inhibitor of methylation, improved wound closure. To specifically address the significance of TP53 methylation, keratinocyte-specific editing of TP53 methylation at the wound edge was achieved by a tissue nanotransfection-based CRISPR/dCas9 approach. This work identified that reversal of methylation-dependent keratinocyte gene silencing represents a productive therapeutic strategy to improve wound closure.
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    Identification of a physiologic vasculogenic fibroblast state to achieve tissue repair
    (Springer Nature, 2023-02-28) Pal, Durba; Ghatak, Subhadip; Singh, Kanhaiya; Abouhashem, Ahmed Safwat; Kumar, Manishekhar; El Masry, Mohamed S.; Mohanty, Sujit K.; Palakurti, Ravichand; Rustagi, Yashika; Tabasum, Saba; Khona, Dolly K.; Khanna, Savita; Kacar, Sedat; Srivastava, Rajneesh; Bhasme, Pramod; Verma, Sumit S.; Hernandez, Edward; Sharma, Anu; Reese, Diamond; Verma, Priyanka; Ghosh, Nandini; Gorain, Mahadeo; Wan, Jun; Liu, Sheng; Liu, Yunlong; Castro, Natalia Higuita; Gnyawali, Surya C.; Lawrence, William; Moore, Jordan; Perez, Daniel Gallego; Roy, Sashwati; Yoder, Mervin C.; Sen, Chandan K.; Surgery, School of Medicine
    Tissue injury to skin diminishes miR-200b in dermal fibroblasts. Fibroblasts are widely reported to directly reprogram into endothelial-like cells and we hypothesized that miR-200b inhibition may cause such changes. We transfected human dermal fibroblasts with anti-miR-200b oligonucleotide, then using single cell RNA sequencing, identified emergence of a vasculogenic subset with a distinct fibroblast transcriptome and demonstrated blood vessel forming function in vivo. Anti-miR-200b delivery to murine injury sites likewise enhanced tissue perfusion, wound closure, and vasculogenic fibroblast contribution to perfused vessels in a FLI1 dependent manner. Vasculogenic fibroblast subset emergence was blunted in delayed healing wounds of diabetic animals but, topical tissue nanotransfection of a single anti-miR-200b oligonucleotide was sufficient to restore FLI1 expression, vasculogenic fibroblast emergence, tissue perfusion, and wound healing. Augmenting a physiologic tissue injury adaptive response mechanism that produces a vasculogenic fibroblast state change opens new avenues for therapeutic tissue vascularization of ischemic wounds.