Wilms' tumour (WT) is a pediatric tumor of the kidney that arises via failure of the fetal developmental program. The absence of identifiable mutations in the majority of WTs suggests the frequent involvement of epigenetic aberrations in WT. We therefore conducted a genome-wide analysis of promoter hypermethylation in WTs and identified hypermethylation at chromosome 5q31 spanning 800 kilobases (kb) and more than 50 genes. The methylated genes all belong to α-, β-, and γ-protocadherin (PCDH) gene clusters (Human Genome Organization nomenclature PCDHA@, PCDHB@, and PCDHG@, respectively). This demonstrates that long-range epigenetic silencing (LRES) occurs in developmental tumors as well as in adult tumors. Bisulfite polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that PCDH hypermethylation is a frequent event found in all Wilms' tumor subtypes. Hypermethylation is concordant with reduced PCDH expression in tumors. WT precursor lesions showed no PCDH hypermethylation, suggesting that de novo PCDH hypermethylation occurs during malignant progression. Discrete boundaries of the PCDH domain are delimited by abrupt changes in histone modifications; unmethylated genes flanking the LRES are associated with permissive marks which are absent from methylated genes within the domain. Silenced genes are marked with non-permissive histone 3 lysine 9 dimethylation. Expression analysis of embryonic murine kidney and differentiating rat metanephric mesenchymal cells demonstrates that Pcdh expression is developmentally regulated and that Pcdhg@ genes are expressed in blastemal cells. Importantly, we show that PCDHs negatively regulate canonical Wnt signalling, as short-interfering RNA–induced reduction of PCDHG@ encoded proteins leads to elevated β-catenin protein, increased β-catenin/T-cell factor (TCF) reporter activity, and induction of Wnt target genes. Conversely, over-expression of PCDHs suppresses β-catenin/TCF-reporter activity and also inhibits colony formation and growth of cancer cells in soft agar. Thus PCDHs are candidate tumor suppressors that modulate regulatory pathways critical in development and disease, such as canonical Wnt signaling.

Human interleukin 13 (IL-13) is a cytokine that has a profound effect on primary immune cells by inducing immunoglobulin production, proliferation of B cells, and the differentiation of cells of the monocytic lineage. IL-13 can inhibit the production of inflammatory cytokines by both macrophages and monocytes. Previously, IL-13 expression has been reported only in cells of the T-cell lineage and the mast cell line HMC-1. We now report the presence of IL-13 mRNA and protein in human alveolar macrophages (AMs) analyzed by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA), respectively, and IL-13 protein in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of subjects with pulmonary fibrosis. We have investigated 13 patients from 49 to 75 yr of age with forms of pulmonary fibrosis, and eight healthy volunteers from 24 to 61 yr of age. Their AMs were obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and purified by adherence. The proportion of BAL purified AMs expressing IL-13 mRNA was increased in those subjects with fibrotic lung disease, in comparison with those from control subjects (11 of 13 versus 2 of 8, P < 0.01). IL-13 protein was detectable in the BALF of 8 of 13 patients with pulmonary fibrosis, but in none of the control subjects. AMs of four subjects with systemic sclerosis were cultured and IL-13 protein was increased in the culture supernatants when compared to the control subjects, although this did not reach significance. These findings show that IL-13 mRNA is not only a product of T cells, but is also expressed in both normal AMs and those from subjects with pulmonary fibrosis, and that at least some of the IL-13 mRNA is translated into protein and secreted in subjects with pulmonary fibrosis. We hypothesize that IL-13 may be expressed by normal human AMs as part of the homeostatic control process but its production may be increased in the presence of inflammatory lung disease.

The Wilms' tumour suppressor gene, WT1, is mutated in 10-15% of Wilms' tumours and encodes zinc-finger proteins with diverse cellular functions critical for nephrogenesis, genitourinary development, haematopoiesis and sex determination. Here we report that a novel alternative WT1 transcript, AWT1, is co-expressed with WT1 in renal and haematopoietic cells. AWT1 maintains WT1 exonic structure between exons 2 and 10, but deploys a new 5'-exon located in intron 1 of WT1. The AWT1 gene predicts proteins of approximately 33 kDa, comprising all exon 5 and exon 9 splicing variants previously characterized for WT1. Although WT1 is not genomically imprinted in kidney, we have previously shown monoallelic expression of a WT1 antisense transcript (WT1-AS) that is consistent with genomic imprinting. Here we demonstrate that both WT1-AS and the novel AWT1 transcript are imprinted in normal kidney with expression confined to the paternal allele. Wilms' tumours display biallelic AWT1 expression, indicating relaxation of imprinting of AWT1 in a subset of WTs. Our findings define human chromosome 11p13 as a new imprinted locus, and also suggest a possible molecular basis for the strong bias of paternal allele mutations and variable penetrance observed in syndromes with inherited WT1 mutations.

Many mammalian genes contain overlapping antisense RNAs, but the functions and mechanisms of action of these transcripts are mostly unknown. WT1 is a well-characterized developmental gene that is mutated in Wilms' tumor (WT) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and has an antisense transcript (WT1-AS), which we have previously found to regulate WT1 protein levels. In this study, we show that WT1-AS is present in multiple spliceoforms that are usually expressed in parallel with WT1 RNA in human and mouse tissues. We demonstrate that the expression of WT1-AS correlates with methylation of the antisense regulatory region (ARR) in WT1 intron 1, displaying imprinted monoallelic expression in normal kidney and loss of imprinting in WT. However, we find no evidence for imprinting of mouse Wt1-as. WT1-AS transcripts are exported into the cytoplasm and form heteroduplexes with WT1 mRNA in the overlapping region in WT1 exon 1. In AML, there is often abnormal splicing of WT1-AS, which may play a role in the development of this malignancy. These results show that WT1 encodes conserved antisense RNAs that may have an important regulatory role in WT1 expression via RNA:RNA interactions, and which can become deregulated by a variety of mechanisms in cancer.

Wilms tumors (WTs) have a complex etiology, displaying genetic and epigenetic changes, including loss of imprinting (LOI) and tumor suppressor gene silencing. To identify new regions of epigenetic perturbation in WTs, we screened kidney and tumor DNA using CpG island (CGI) tags associated with cancer-specific DNA methylation changes. One such tag corresponded to a paralog of the glioma pathogenesis-related 1/related to testis-specific, vespid, and pathogenesis proteins 1 (GLIPR1/RTVP-1) gene, previously reported to be a tumor-suppressor gene silenced by hypermethylation in prostate cancer. Here we report methylation analysis of the GLIPR1/RTVP-1 gene in WTs and normal fetal and pediatric kidneys. Hypomethylation of the GLIPR1/RTVP-1 5'-region in WTs relative to normal tissue is observed in 21/24 (87.5%) of WTs analyzed. Quantitative analysis of GLIPR1/RTVP-1 expression in 24 WTs showed elevated transcript levels in 16/24 WTs (67%), with 12 WTs displaying in excess of 20-fold overexpression relative to fetal kidney (FK) control samples. Immunohistochemical analysis of FK and WT corroborates the RNA expression data and reveals high GLIPR1/RTVP-1 in WT blastemal cells together with variable levels in stromal and epithelial components. Hypomethylation is also evident in the WT precursor lesions and nephrogenic rests (NRs), supporting a role for GLIPR1/RTVP-1 deregulation early in Wilms tumorigenesis. Our data show that, in addition to gene dosage changes arising from LOI and hypermethylation-induced gene silencing, gene activation resulting from hypomethylation is also prevalent in WTs.

The Wilms' tumor suppressor gene (WT1) encodes a zinc finger transcription factor that is vital during development of several organs including metanephric kidneys. Despite the critical regulatory role of WT1, the pathways and mechanisms by which WT1 orchestrates development remain elusive. To identify WT1 target genes, we performed a genomewide expression profiling analysis in cells expressing inducible WT1. We identified a number of direct WT1 target genes, including the epidermal growth factor (EGF)-family ligands epiregulin and HB-EGF, the chemokine CX3CL1, and the transcription factors SLUG and JUNB. The target genes were validated using quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, small interfering RNA knockdowns, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and luciferase reporter analyses. Immunohistochemistry of fetal kidneys confirmed that a number of the WT1 target genes had overlapping expression patterns with the highly restricted spatiotemporal expression of WT1. Finally, using an in vitro embryonic kidney culture assay, we found that the addition of recombinant epiregulin, amphiregulin, CX3CL1, and interleukin-11 significantly enhanced ureteric bud branching morphogenesis. Our genome-wide screen implicates WT1 in the transcriptional regulation of the EGF-family of growth factors as well as the CX3CL1 chemokine during nephrogenesis.

We have shown previously that AWT1 and WT1-AS are functionally imprinted in human kidney. In the adult kidney, expression of both transcripts is restricted to the paternal allele, with the silent maternal allele retaining methylation at the WT1 antisense regulatory region (WT1 ARR). Here, we report characterization of the WT1 ARR differentially methylated region and show that it contains a transcriptional silencer element acting on both the AWT1 and WT1-AS promoters. DNA methylation of the silencer results in increased transcriptional repression, and the silencer is also shown to be an in vitro and in vivo target site for the imprinting regulator protein CTCF. Binding of CTCF is methylation-sensitive and limited to the unmethylated silencer. Potentiation of the silencer activity is demonstrated after CTCF protein is knocked down, suggesting a novel silencer-blocking activity for CTCF. We also report assessment of WT1 ARR methylation in developmental and tumour tissues, including the first analysis of Wilms' tumour precursor lesions, nephrogenic rests. Nephrogenic rests show increases in methylation levels relative to foetal kidney and reductions relative to the adult kidney, together with biallelic expression of AWT1 and WT1-AS. Notably, the methylation status of CpG residues within the CTCF target site appears to distinguish monoallelic and biallelic expression states. Our data suggest that failure of methylation spreading at the WT1 ARR early in renal development, followed by imprint erasure, occurs during Wilms' tumourigenesis. We propose a model wherein imprinting defects at chromosome 11p13 may contribute to Wilms' tumourigenesis.

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