Feng Jin

Metabolic reprogramming in breast tumors is linked to increases in putative oncogenic metabolites that may contribute to malignant transformation. We previously showed that accumulation of the oncometabolite, 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), in breast tumors was associated with MYC signaling, but not with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations, suggesting a distinct mechanism for increased 2HG in breast cancer. Here, we determined that D-2HG is the predominant enantiomer in human breast tumors and show that the D-2HG–producing mitochondrial enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase, iron-containing protein 1 (ADHFE1), is a breast cancer oncogene that decreases patient survival. We found that MYC upregulates ADHFE1 through changes in iron metabolism while coexpression of both ADHFE1 and MYC strongly enhanced orthotopic tumor growth in MCF7 cells. Moreover, ADHFE1 promoted metabolic reprogramming with increased formation of D-2HG and reactive oxygen, a reductive glutamine metabolism, and modifications of the epigenetic landscape, leading to cellular dedifferentiation, enhanced mesenchymal transition, and phenocopying alterations that occur with high D-2HG levels in cancer cells with IDH mutations. Together, our data support the hypothesis that ADHFE1 and MYC signaling contribute to D-2HG accumulation in breast tumors and show that D-2HG is an oncogenic metabolite and potential driver of disease progression.

Smoking is a major risk factor for the development of bladder cancer; however, the functional consequences of the carcinogens in tobacco smoke and bladder cancer–associated metabolic alterations remain poorly defined. We assessed the metabolic profiles in bladder cancer smokers and non-smokers and identified the key alterations in their metabolism. LC/MS and bioinformatic analysis were performed to determine the metabolome associated with bladder cancer smokers and were further validated in cell line models. Smokers with bladder cancer were found to have elevated levels of methylated metabolites, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, DNA adducts, and DNA damage. DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) expression was significantly higher in smokers than non-smokers with bladder cancer. An integromics approach, using multiple patient cohorts, revealed strong associations between smokers and high-grade bladder cancer. In vitro exposure to the tobacco smoke carcinogens, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) led to increase in levels of methylated metabolites, DNA adducts, and extensive DNA damage in bladder cancer cells. Cotreatment of bladder cancer cells with these carcinogens and the methylation inhibitor 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine rewired the methylated metabolites, DNA adducts, and DNA damage. These findings were confirmed through the isotopic-labeled metabolic flux analysis. Screens using smoke-associated metabolites and DNA adducts could provide robust biomarkers and improve individual risk prediction in bladder cancer smokers. Noninvasive predictive biomarkers that can stratify the risk of developing bladder cancer in smokers could aid in early detection and treatment. Cancer Prev Res; 10(10); 588–97. ©2017 AACR.

CRISPR/Cas9 technology enables efficient loss-of-function analysis of human genes using somatic cells. Studies of essential genes, however, require conditional knockout (KO) cells. Here, we describe the generation of inducible CRISPR KO human cell lines for the subunits of the telosome/shelterin complex, TRF1, TRF2, RAP1, TIN2, TPP1 and POT1, which directly interact with telomeres or can bind to telomeres through association with other subunits. Homozygous inactivation of several subunits is lethal in mice, and most loss-of-function studies of human telomere regulators have relied on RNA interference-mediated gene knockdown, which suffers its own limitations. Our inducible CRISPR approach has allowed us to more expediently obtain large numbers of KO cells in which essential telomere regulators have been inactivated for biochemical and molecular studies. Our systematic analysis revealed functional differences between human and mouse telomeric proteins in DNA damage responses, telomere length and metabolic control, providing new insights into how human telomeres are maintained.

Ultrafast electronic relaxation dynamics in cyclohexene are studied using femtosecond photoelectron imaging spectroscopy. Transient photoelectron kinetic energy distributions and photoelectron angular distributions are obtained and analyzed. Photoelectron bands are discussed and assigned to the ionization of the related electronic states. The formation process of cyclopentylcarbene, together with the ultrafast relaxation of the involved electronic states, is evidenced by the transient photoelectron images. The lifetime for the observed carbene is very short and determined to be 395 (±67) fs. The ionization dynamics of the produced cyclopentylcarbene are also discussed via an analysis of the corresponding photoelectron band.

Halon-1301 (CF3Br) can make Br radicals with UV radiation, which poses a great threat to the ozone layer in the atmosphere. Necessary methods should be taken for the degradation of the exhausts of Halon-1301. In this paper, density functional (D.F1) theory at B3LYP/6-311G++ (d, p) level are employed for the study of dissociation properties and spectra of Halon-1301 in external electric field, including bond length, total energy, HOMO-LUMO energy gap, infrared spectra and dissociation potential energy surface (PES). The obtained results show that, with gradually increasing the external field from 0 to 0. 03 a. u. along the molecular axis Z (C-Br bond direction), the total energy decreases, while the dipole moment decreases at the beginning and then increases. With the climbing of the field, HOMO-LUMO energy gap increases, and C-Br bond length increases while C-F bond length decreases. The variations of vibrational frequency and intensity of molecular IR spectra in external electric field are also investigated. Further studies show that with increasing the external electric field from 0 to 0. 03 a. u., the dissociation PES along C-Br bond becomes unbound with disappearing of the barrier for the dissociation. The external electric field of 0. 03 a. u. is sufficient to induce the degradation of CF3Br with C-Br bond breaking. Such results provide an important reference for the degradation of Halons via the external electric field.

A complementary measurement method based on a home-built double-sided velocity map imaging setup is introduced. This method can simultaneously obtain time-resolved photoelectron imaging and fragment ion imaging. It has been successfully applied to investigate the ultrafast dynamics of the second singlet electronically excited state (S₂) in m-xylene. Time-resolved photoelectron and ion signals derived from the initial populated S₂ state are tracked following two-photon absorption of a pump pulse. Time-of-flight mass spectra (TOFMS) show that there are dominant parent ions and one fragment ions with methyl loss during such a process. According to the measured photoelectron images and fragment ions images, transient kinetic energy distributions and angular distributions of the generated photoelectrons and fragments are obtained and analyzed. Compared to stand-alone photoelectron imaging, the obtained fragment ion imaging is powerful for further understanding the mechanisms especially when the dissociation occurs during the pump-probe ionization. Two competing channels intersystem crossing T₃←S₂ and internal conversion S₁←S₂ are attributed to the deactivation of the S₂ state. A lifetime of ∼50 fs for the initially excited S₂ state, of ∼276 fs for the secondary populated S₁ state, and of 5.76 ps for the T₃ state is inferred.

The ozone layer which absorbs harmful solar UV radiation is an essential umbrella for human. However, a large number of exhausts of Freon released by human activity into the atmosphere pose a great threat to the ozone layer. The UV sunlight radiation induced Freon dissociation produces chlorine radicals, which are found to be the main culprit for destroying the atmospheric ozone. In this paper, multiphoton ionization and dissociation dynamics of Freon-113 (CF2ClCFCl2) induced by femtosecond laser pulse are studied by time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with velocity map imaging technique. Fragment mass spectra of Freon-113 are measured by time-of-flight mass spectrometry. No parent ions are discovered in the time-of-flight mass spectra, and all the detected ions are from the fragmentation induced by the laser pulse. Daughter ions CFCl2+, CF2Cl+, C2F3Cl2+ are found to be the three major fragmentation ions in the multi-photon ionization and dissociation. Several photodissociation channels are discussed and concluded by further analysis and calibration (via the ratio of mass to charge) of the measured time-of-flight mass spectra. Three main photodissociation mechanisms are found as follows: 1) C2F3Cl3+→C2F3Cl2++Cl with breaking C--Cl bond and directly producing the Cl radical; 2) C2F3Cl3+ →CFCl2++CF2Cl with breaking the C--C; 3) C2F3Cl3+ →CF2Cl++CFCl2 with breaking the C--C bond. Ion images of the three main fragments C2F3Cl2+, CFCl2+ and CF2Cl+ are measured by the velocity map imaging setup. The speed distributions of these three fragment ions are obtained from the velocity map imaging. The speed distribution of C2F3Cl2+ with breaking C--Cl bond can be fitted by two Gaussian distributions while the speed distributions of both CFCl2+ and CF2Cl+ with breaking the C--C bond can be well fitted by one Gaussian distribution. The different fittings reflect different production channels. The detailed photodissociation dynamics is obtained by analyzing the kinetic energy distribution and angular distribution of the fragment ions. Additionally, density functional theory calculations on high-precision level are also performed on photodissociation dynamics for further analysis and discussion. An in-depth understanding of dissociation dynamics of freon can provide theoretical reference and experimental basis for further controlling the dissociation process that can do destruction to the ozone layer.