Seminar in Hayama held in February, 2010

JSPS A3 Foresight Program Seminar
-Epigenetic Signatures in Gastric Carcinogenesis-

Date February 21-24, 2010
Venue Shonan Village Center (Hayama, Kanagawa)

Summary

JSPS A3 foresight program 2010 seminar was held on February 21-24, 2010 at Shonan Village Center, Hayama, Kanagawa. This meeting highlighted epigenetic signatures in gastric carcinogenesis via molecular and epidemiological analysis. A total of 39 scientists (15 senior and 24 young) from 3 nations attended this seminar, and all of the participants talked their current findings by oral presentation. Each senior speaker was given for 20 minutes and junior was 10 minutes in speech, and discussion time was allocated for 5 minutes in all speakers. There was an enthusiastic discussion in the meeting. It was noted that six young chairpersons (2 persons each from 3 nations) nominated in this meeting presided over their sessions of oral presentation for young scientists. The enthusiasm of the young scientists in the oral presentation and discussion in English may brighten the future of epigenetic/genetic/epidemiological analyses in gastric carcinogenesis. Finally, discussion on collaborative researches was held at the end of this meeting. According to the 4 research activities determined in the kickoff meeting 2009, the participants including young scientists were divided into 4 groups and then further discussed about collaborative researches among 3 nations. We summarized in each group, and then discussed about collaboration in all the participants. At this meeting, we were able to discuss and promote our collaborative researches among 3 nations.

Program

Feb. 22 (Mon)

Senior Speakers

Chairperson:
Yasuhito Yuasa
Toshikazu Ushijima (National Cancer Center Research Institute): DNA methylation as a cancer risk marker that reflects our past life style.
Yoshimitsu Akiyama (Tokyo Medical and Dental University): Methylation of GATA4 and GATA5 transcription factor genes and loss of their functions in gastric cancers.
Dajun Deng (Peking University School of Oncology): Methylation patterns of individual CpG sites within p16 CpG islands in human gastric mucosa with different pathological changes
Wei-Guo Zhu (Peking University Health Science Center): SIRT2, a class III HDAC, is involved in promoting tumor growth.
Chairperson:
Dajun Deng
Yingxuan Chen (Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine): Decreased ERK and JNK signaling contribute to gene overexpression in “senescent” CD4+CD28- T cells through epigenetic mechanisms.
Woo Ho Kim (Seoul National University College of Medicine): Epigenetic change of p-cadherin, a therapeutic target.
Gyeong Hoon Kang (Seoul National University College of Medicine): DNA methylation changes in gastric cancer and its premalignant lesions.
Chairperson:
Woo Ho Kim
Se Jin Jang (Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine): RASSF1A gene hypermethylation in lung cancer cells and tissues in association with overexpression of miR-200c.
Yasuhito Yuasa (Tokyo Medical and Dental University): Epigenetic epidemiology of gastric cancer.
Wei-cheng You (Peking University School of Oncology): Prevention of Gastric Cancer and Its Precursors in Linqu County.
Kai-feng Pan (Peking University School of Oncology): Genetic and Epigenetic Studies in a Chinese Population with High Risk of Gastric Carcinoma.
Chairperson:
Wei-cheng You
Daehee Kang (Seoul National University College of Medicine): Molecular epidemiology of gastric cancer development: genetic and epigenetic risk factors.
Hiroshi Fukamachi (Tokyo Medical and Dental University): Identification of cancer stem cells in human gastric cancers.

Junior Speakers

Chairpersons:
Chang Do Jee
Hyang Sook Seol
Minkyo Song (Seoul National University College of Medicine): DNA methylation in relation to epidemiologic factors in cardia and noncardia gastric adenocarcinomas.
Ji-Yeob Choi (Inje University College of Medicine): Epigenetic alteration as a biomarker for the prediction of the response to adjuvant chemotherapy in gastric cancer.
Naoko Hattori (National Cancer Center Research Institute): Identification of a Gene Silenced in Rat Mammary Carcinomas by a Combination of DNA Methylation Microarray and Chemical Genomic Screening.
Keun Hur (National Cancer Center Research Institute): Inducers of inflammation, and their potential to induce DNA methylation.
Takeshi Otsubo (Tokyo Medical and Dental University): Epigenetic silencing of SOX2 by aberrant DNA methylation and microRNA-126 expression in gastric cancers.

Feb. 23 (Tue)

Senior Speaker

Chairperson:
Woo Ho Kim
Yong Sung Kim (Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology): MeMAC, MeDIP-seq based Methylome Analysis of Circulation DNA.

Junior Speakers

Chairpersons:
Chang Do Jee
Hyang Sook Seol
Xiuhong Wang (Peking University School of Oncology): Polycomb CBX7 Directly Controls Trimethylation of Histone H3 at Lysine 9 at the p16 Locus.
Zhaojun Liu (Peking University School of Oncology): SRF methylation correlated with metastasis of primary gastric carcinoma negatively.
Xi Wang (Peking University Health Science Center): Histone modification and gene transcriptional regulation.
Donglai Wang (Peking University Health Science Center): Regulating activity and stability of SIRT1 through methylation by SET9.
Chairpersons:
Baozhen Zhang
Xi Wang
Shuliang Zhao (Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine): The role of proliferating cell nuclear antigen in DNA methylation in colorectal cancer.
So-Hyun Shin (Seoul National University College of Medicine): Genomewide high throughput analysis for promoter methylation in gastric cancer identifies novel methylation markers.
Nam-hee Jung (Seoul National University College of Medicine): Detection of circulating methylated DNAs in blood samples from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma or gastric carcinomas.
Han-Chul Lee (Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology): Identification of Hypomethylated Genes in Gastric Cancers using High-density CpG Array.
Jong-Lyul Park (Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology): Evaluation of Methylation Markers in Serum DNA for Blood Test of Gastric Cancer.
Jin Kim (Seoul National University College of Medicine): Aberrant DNA methylation and epigenetic inactivation of EBF3 in gastric carcinoma.
Chang Do Jee (Seoul National University College of Medicine): Promoter hypermethylation of the SFRP4 gene predicts the poor outcome in patients with gastric carcinoma.
Chairpersons:
Naoko Hattori
Takeshi Otsubo
Yutaka Hashimoto (Tokyo Medical and Dental University): Involvement of epigenetically silenced microRNA-181c in gastric carcinogenesis.
Pichayanoot Rotkrua (Tokyo Medical and Dental University): MiR-9 down-regulates CDX2 expression in gastric cancer cells.
Jie-Ting Tang (Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine): MicroRNA 345 is deregulated as a novel methylation- sensitive microRNA in human colorectal cancer.
Isao Oze (Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute): Impact of multiple alcohol dehydrogenase gene polymorphisms on risk of upper aerodigestive tract cancers in a Japanese population.
Baozhen Zhang (Peking University School of Oncology): Methylation status of CDH1 was correlated with single nucleotide polymorphism within its promoter among gastric cancer patients.
Yang Zhang (Peking University School of Oncology): Correlation of cyclooxygenase-2 methylation with expression, and precancerous gastric lesions in a Chinese population.
Ayako Mimata (Tokyo Medical and Dental University): Pathological changes in E-cadherin knockout mouse stomachs.
Shu Shimada (Tokyo Medical and Dental University): Stomach-specific inactivation of E-cadherin and p53 in mice.
Hyang Sook Seol (Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine): Isolation of cancer stem cells from human gastric, colonic and lung cancers and identification of CSC epigenetic signatures.

Group Discussion on Collaborative Research Themes

R-1 Risk factors of GC accounting for host epigenetic alterations among three nations
R-2 Investigation of mechanisms of gene-specific silencing of tumor-suppressor genes during gastric carcinogenesis
R-3 DNA methylome and its applications on subtyping of gastric carcinomas
R-4 Epigenetic changes in GC stem cells

Photo : Photos and acknowledgment