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Environmental Factors, Epigenetics, and Cancer

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2020) | Viewed by 7773

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
Interests: environmental exposures; gene–environment interactions; epigenetics; cancer epidemiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to inform you that a Topical Collection on environmental factors, epigenetics, and cancer in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is being organized. For detailed information on the journal, please see:

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph.

While some cancers are inherited, most are thought to be due in large part to lifestyle and environmental exposures. However, it is not well understood how most of these factors affect cancer risk. It is known that epigenetic changes often occur in cancer development and that epigenetics can be responsive to environmental factors. Thus, epigenetics sits at the intersection of nature and nurture and can function as a molecular link between environmental exposures and cancer risk. The study of environmental factors, epigenetics, and cancer draws interest from researchers with diverse backgrounds, ranging from cancer epidemiologists and environmental health scientists to molecular biologists, and will have a significant impact on public health.

This Topical Collection is open to the collective subject area of environmental factors, epigenetics, and cancer. The keywords listed below provide an outline of some of the possible areas of interest.

Dr. Hannah Lui Park
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Environmental exposures
  • Environmental toxicants
  • Epigenetics
  • Cancer prevention
  • Epidemiology
  • Risk factors
  • DNA methylation
  • Histone modifications
  • ncRNA

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1526 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Profiles in Community Members Exposed to the World Trade Center Disaster
by Alan A. Arslan, Stephanie Tuminello, Lei Yang, Yian Zhang, Nedim Durmus, Matija Snuderl, Adriana Heguy, Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, Yongzhao Shao and Joan Reibman
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(15), 5493; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155493 - 30 Jul 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3929
Abstract
The primary goal of this pilot study was to assess feasibility of studies among local community members to address the hypothesis that complex exposures to the World Trade Center (WTC) dust and fumes resulted in long-term epigenetic changes. We enrolled 18 WTC-exposed cancer-free [...] Read more.
The primary goal of this pilot study was to assess feasibility of studies among local community members to address the hypothesis that complex exposures to the World Trade Center (WTC) dust and fumes resulted in long-term epigenetic changes. We enrolled 18 WTC-exposed cancer-free women from the WTC Environmental Health Center (WTC EHC) who agreed to donate blood samples during their standard clinical visits. As a reference WTC unexposed group, we randomly selected 24 age-matched cancer-free women from an existing prospective cohort who donated blood samples before 11 September 2001. The global DNA methylation analyses were performed using Illumina Infinium MethylationEpic arrays. Statistical analyses were performed using R Bioconductor package. Functional genomic analyses were done by mapping the top 5000 differentially expressed CpG sites to the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) Pathway database. Among cancer-free subjects, we observed substantial methylation differences between WTC-exposed and unexposed women. The top 15 differentially methylated gene probes included BCAS2, OSGIN1, BMI1, EEF1A2, SPTBN5, CHD8, CDCA7L, AIDA, DDN, SNORD45C, ZFAND6, ARHGEF7, UBXN8, USF1, and USP12. Several cancer-related pathways were enriched in the WTC-exposed subjects, including endocytosis, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), viral carcinogenesis, as well as Ras-associated protein-1 (Rap1) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling. The study provides preliminary data on substantial differences in DNA methylation between WTC-exposed and unexposed populations that require validation in further studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Factors, Epigenetics, and Cancer)
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16 pages, 1330 KiB  
Article
Rationale, Study Design, and Cohort Characteristics for the Markers for Environmental Exposures (MEE) Study
by Rachel McFarland Lucia, Wei-Lin Huang, Andrea Alvarez, Daphne Thampy, Melodie Elyasian, Amanda Hidajat, Kailynn Yang, Danielle Forman, Asana Pebdani, Irene Masunaka, Susie Brain, Diane Heditsian, Vivian Lee, Deborah Goodman, Trina M. Norden-Krichmar, Andrew O. Odegaard, Argyrios Ziogas and Hannah Lui Park
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(5), 1774; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051774 - 9 Mar 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3246
Abstract
Environmental factors have been linked to many diseases and health conditions, but reliable assessment of environmental exposures is challenging. Developing biomarkers of environmental exposures, rather than relying on self-report, will improve our ability to assess the association of such exposures with disease. Epigenetic [...] Read more.
Environmental factors have been linked to many diseases and health conditions, but reliable assessment of environmental exposures is challenging. Developing biomarkers of environmental exposures, rather than relying on self-report, will improve our ability to assess the association of such exposures with disease. Epigenetic markers, most notably DNA methylation, have been identified for some environmental exposures, but identification of markers for additional exposures is still needed. The rationale behind the Markers for Environmental Exposures (MEE) Study was to (1) identify biomarkers, especially epigenetic markers, of environmental exposures, such as pesticides, air/food/water contaminants, and industrial chemicals that are commonly encountered in the general population; and (2) support the study of potential relationships between environmental exposures and health and health-related factors. The MEE Study is a cross-sectional study with potential for record linkage and follow-up. The well-characterized cohort of 400 postmenopausal women has generated a repository of biospecimens, including blood, urine, and saliva samples. Paired data include an environmental exposures questionnaire, a breast health questionnaire, dietary recalls, and a food frequency questionnaire. This work describes the rationale, study design, and cohort characteristics of the MEE Study. In addition to our primary research goals, we hope that the data and biorepository generated by this study will serve as a resource for future studies and collaboration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Factors, Epigenetics, and Cancer)
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