The classical function of acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC3.1.1.7) is the termination of transmission at cholinergic synapses and neuromuscular junctions by hydrolyzing the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Researchers led by Dr. ZHANG Xuejun from Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, found that AChE expression was increased in a number of cell lines induced apoptosis and they have been working on the role of AChE in the apoptosis pathway for many years.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancer worldwide and one of the most common cause of cancer mortality, especially in East Asia. In 2011, Zhao and colleagues found that AChE was significantly down-regulated in the cancer tissues of HCC patients and the over-expressed ACHE could inhibit the growth of HCC cell. Their work proved that ACHE could function as a tumor growth suppressor in HCC cells.
Zhang’s group demonstrated the existence of a NAT with the capacity to modulate AChE gene expression. Furthermore, they identified an inverse relationship between AChE antisense (AChE-AS) and AChE sense expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatoma cells. These observations indicated that AChE-AS participates in the regulation of AChE expression. Furthermore, they demonstrated that the sense/antisense regulation was due to histone modification of chromatin in the AChE promoter and was involved in the elevated expression of AChE in cells treated with apoptosis-inducing agents. Thus, the sense-antisense interaction of AChE may play an important role in tumorigenesis and development.
This study entitled “A natural antisense transcript regulates acetylcholinesterase gene expression via epigenetic modification in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.” was published online in International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology on September 17th, 2014. This study was funded by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality.
Author contact:
Xuejun Zhang
Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology,Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Shanghai200031, China
Phone: 86-21-54921403
E-mail: xjzhang@sibcb.ac.cn
Fig. An inverse relationship was identified between AChE-AS and AChE expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatoma cells. (Image provided by Dr. ZHANG Xuejun’s group)
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