Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Biol Chem. Feb 26, 2016; 7(1): 178-187
Published online Feb 26, 2016. doi: 10.4331/wjbc.v7.i1.178
High levels of homocysteine downregulate apolipoprotein E expression via nuclear factor kappa B
Violeta G Trusca, Adina D Mihai, Elena V Fuior, Ioana M Fenyo, Anca V Gafencu
Violeta G Trusca, Elena V Fuior, Ioana M Fenyo, Anca V Gafencu, Department of Genomics, Transcriptomics and Molecular Therapies, Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology, “Nicolae Simionescu” of the Romanian Academy, 050568 Bucharest, Romania
Adina D Mihai, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Trusca VG and Mihai AD performed the research; Trusca VG, Fuior EV, Fenyo IM and Gafencu AV wrote the paper; Gafencu AV designed the experiments, provided the reagents and analyzed the data.
Supported by The grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, National Research Council - Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding, No. PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0591 (grant awarded to Gafencu AV); the Romanian Academy, and the strategic grant financed by the European Social Found within the Sectorial Operational Program Human Resources Development 2007-2013, No. POSDRU/159/1.5/S/133391 (Fenyo IM and Trusca VG).
Conflict-of-interest statement: Violeta G Trusca, Adina D Mihai, Elena V Fuior, Ioana M Fenyo, Anca V Gafencu, authors of the manuscript “High levels of homocysteine downregulate apolipoprotein E expression via nuclear factor kappa B” declare to have no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: Not applicable.
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: Anca V Gafencu, PhD, Department of Genomics, Transcriptomics and Molecular Therapies, Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology, “Nicolae Simionescu” of the Romanian Academy, 8, BP Hasdeu Street, 050568 Bucharest, Romania. anca.gafencu@icbp.ro
Telephone: +40-21-3194518 Fax: +40-21-3194519
Received: May 29, 2015
Peer-review started: June 2, 2015
First decision: July 27, 2015
Revised: October 12, 2015
Accepted: November 3, 2015
Article in press: November 4, 2015
Published online: February 26, 2016
Core Tip

Core tip: This original manuscript investigates the effect of high homocysteine (Hcy) levels on apoE expression, and the signaling pathways involved in this gene regulation. Our novel findings show that high doses of Hcy decrease apolipoprotein E (apoE) expression. We revealed that this regulation involves nuclear factor kappa B activation, via MAPK/ERK kinase. The Hcy-mediated decrease of apoE expression in peripheral tissues may aggravate atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative diseases and renal dysfunctions. Thus, the current manuscript may be of interest for scientists working in the field of cardiovascular disease and related inflammatory disorders.