Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 28, 2022; 28(40): 5845-5864
Published online Oct 28, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i40.5845
Expression of the methylcytosine dioxygenase ten-eleven translocation-2 and connexin 43 in inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer
Mohammad El-Harakeh, Jessica Saliba, Kawthar Sharaf Aldeen, May Haidar, Layal El Hajjar, Mireille Kallassy Awad, Jana G Hashash, Margret Shirinian, Marwan El-Sabban
Mohammad El-Harakeh, Kawthar Sharaf Aldeen, May Haidar, Layal El Hajjar, Marwan El-Sabban, Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107, Lebanon
Mohammad El-Harakeh, Mireille Kallassy Awad, UR GPF Laboratory of Biodiversity and Functional Genomics, Faculty of Science, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, Beirut 1107, Lebanon
Jessica Saliba, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut 1533, Lebanon
Jessica Saliba, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Balamand, Dekwaneh, Sin el Fil 1552, Lebanon
Jana G Hashash, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107, Lebanon
Margret Shirinian, Department of Experimental Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107, Lebanon
Author contributions: El-Harakeh M, Saliba J, Haidar M, and Sharaf Aldeen K equally contributed to the study; El-Sabban M conceived and designed the study; Hashash JG, Awad MK, Shirinian M, and El-Sabban M provided the material and resources for the experiments; El-Harakeh M, Haidar M, Sharaf Aldeen K, and El Hajjar L performed the experiments; Saliba J and El-Harakeh M analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; Shirinian M and Hashash JG critically reviewed the manuscript; Saliba J and El-Sabban M revised the manuscript; All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: Archived formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) colon blocks (ulcerative colitis, sporadic colon adenocarcinoma and normal) were obtained from the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC). All patients’ identifiers were kept confidential and all samples were anonymous, hence exempted from ethics committee approval.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the American University of Beirut, No. 18-03-476.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: Raw data are available upon reasonable request.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Marwan El-Sabban, PhD, Professor, Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Bliss Street, Beirut 1107, Lebanon. me00@aub.edu.lb
Received: February 6, 2022
Peer-review started: February 6, 2022
First decision: April 10, 2022
Revised: May 6, 2022
Accepted: June 13, 2022
Article in press: June 13, 2022
Published online: October 28, 2022
Core Tip

Core Tip: Chronic inflammation of the colon is a risk factor for colorectal cancer. Intestinal inflammation has been associated with reduced gap junction-mediated intercellular communication and downregulation connexins [mainly connexin 43 (Cx43)]. The involvement of the demethylating enzyme ten-eleven translocation-2 (TET-2) (methylcytosine dioxygenase) in the inflammatory process has motivated the investigation of Cx43 and TET-2 expression in colitis and colorectal carcinoma. In vitro and in vivo data report on the upregulation of Cx43 in inflammatory states and a downregulation of TET-2. In human samples of colon adenocarcinoma, both TET-2 and Cx43 were downregulated, potentially implicating them in the malignant transformation of inflamed intestinal tissues.