Bhat V, Srinathan S, Pasini E, Angeli M, Chen E, Baciu C, Bhat M. Epigenetic basis of hepatocellular carcinoma: A network-based integrative meta-analysis. World J Hepatol 2018; 10(1): 155-165 [PMID: 29399289 DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v10.i1.155]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Mamatha Bhat, FRCP(C), MD, MSc, Lecturer, Staff Physician, Multi Organ Transplant Program, University Health Network, 585 University Avenue, Toronto M5G2N2, Ontario, Canada. mamatha.bhat@uhn.ca
Research Domain of This Article
Mathematical & Computational Biology
Article-Type of This Article
Meta-Analysis
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Venkat Bhat, Department of Psychiatry, University Health Network and University of Toronto, Toronto M5G2N2, Canada
Sujitha Srinathan, Elisa Pasini, Marc Angeli, Emily Chen, Cristina Baciu, Mamatha Bhat, Multi Organ Transplant Program, University Health Network, Toronto M5G2N2, Canada
Mamatha Bhat, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, University Health Network and University of Toronto, Toronto M5G2N2, Canada
Author contributions: Bhat V, Pasini E, Baciu C and Bhat M contributed to study design and writing of manuscript; Srinathan S, Pasini E and Angeli M contributed to data collection; Baciu C and Pasini E contributed to data analysis and interpretation of data; all authors critically reviewed final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors deny any conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Mamatha Bhat, FRCP(C), MD, MSc, Lecturer, Staff Physician, Multi Organ Transplant Program, University Health Network, 585 University Avenue, Toronto M5G2N2, Ontario, Canada. mamatha.bhat@uhn.ca
Telephone: +1-416-3404800 Fax: +1-416-3404043
Received: November 5, 2017 Peer-review started: November 5, 2017 First decision: November 15, 2017 Revised: November 17, 2017 Accepted: December 5, 2017 Article in press: December 7, 2017 Published online: January 27, 2018
Core Tip
Core tip: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a high-fatality cancer with limited screening biomarkers and therapeutic options. It arises in the context of chronic liver disease, having accumulated epigenetic changes over time. The goal of this study was to perform an integrative network-based meta-analysis of all genome-wide DNA methylation data in HCC. Using bioinformatics tools, we identified the most important aberrantly methylated genes and associated pathways. G-protein receptor signaling was the most significantly associated with HCC based on differential methylation of involved genes, which is consistent with the implication of the Ras/Raf/MAPK and mTOR pathways. The identification of novel epigenetically modified genes such as HIST1H2AJ within known pathways suggests targeting of the epigenome as a potential therapeutic avenue for HCC.
