- Webinar Speakers
Dr. Toshikazu Ushijima
Chief of Division of Epigenomics,
National Cancer Center Research Institute, JapanDr. Toshikazu Ushijima is the Chief of Division of Epigenomics, National Cancer Center Research Institute. He has been leading the field of inflammation and epigenetics since establishing the concept of epigenetic field cancerization, identifying molecular mechanisms of aberrant DNA methylation induction, and bringing the findings into cancer risk diagnosis. He was awarded the Bälz prize and Princess Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund prize.
- Webinar Abstract
Many types of adult cancers are induced by chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation is known to accelerate age-related methylation, and also induce aberrant DNA methylation of unique genomic regions [Yamashita, Clin Epigenet, 11:191, 2019]. The accumulation level of aberrant DNA methylation in normal tissue can be correlated with cancer risk, forming an epigenetic field for cancerization.
The accumulation level in the stomach is a powerful indicator to predict cancer risk, evidenced by a multicenter prospective clinical study [Asada, Gut, 64:388, 2015; Maeda, Gut, 66:1721, 2017]. Mechanistically, TET expression was down-regulated by increased expression of multiple miRNAs due to NF-κB activation, and DNMT activity was increased by exposure to nitric oxide. Simultaneous TET down-regulation and DNMT activation induced strong aberrant DNA methylation, while either event induced only minimal aberrant DNA methylation [Takeshima, J. Clin Invest, 130:5370, 2020].
In this webinar, Dr. Ushijima will share his experience on how to find novel truths from unwanted or garbage data, and to bring basic findings to clinical applications.
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