Tommasi Stella, Brocchieri Luciano, Tornaletti Silvia, Besaratinia Ahmad
Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, and.
Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; and.
Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2025 Feb;72(2):206-218. doi: 10.1165/rcmb.2024-0207OC.
Despite the ongoing epidemic of youth vaping, the long-term health consequences of electronic cigarette use are largely unknown. We report the effects of vaping versus smoking on the oral cell methylome of healthy young vapers and smokers relative to nonusers. Whereas vapers and smokers differ in the number of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) (831 vs. 2,863), they share striking similarities in the distribution and patterns of DNA methylation, chromatin states, transcription factor binding motifs, and pathways. There is substantial overlap in DMR-associated genes between vapers and smokers, with the shared subset of genes enriched for transcriptional regulation, signaling, tobacco use disorders, and cancer-related pathways. Of significance is the identification of a common hypermethylated DMR at the promoter of (hypermethylated in cancer 1), a tumor suppressor gene frequently silenced in smoking-related cancers. Our data support a potential link between epigenomic dysregulation in youth vapers and disease risk. These novel findings have significant implications for public health and tobacco product regulation.
尽管青少年电子烟吸食现象持续蔓延，但电子烟使用对健康的长期影响在很大程度上仍不明确。我们报告了与不使用者相比，吸电子烟与吸烟对健康年轻电子烟使用者和吸烟者口腔细胞甲基化组的影响。尽管电子烟使用者和吸烟者的差异甲基化区域（DMR）数量不同（分别为831个和2863个），但他们在DNA甲基化、染色质状态、转录因子结合基序和信号通路的分布及模式上有着显著相似之处。电子烟使用者和吸烟者的DMR相关基因存在大量重叠，共享的基因子集在转录调控、信号传导、烟草使用障碍和癌症相关通路方面高度富集。值得注意的是，在肿瘤抑制基因（癌症中高甲基化1）的启动子区域发现了一个共同的高甲基化DMR，该基因在与吸烟相关的癌症中常被沉默。我们的数据支持青少年电子烟使用者的表观基因组失调与疾病风险之间存在潜在联系。这些新发现对公共卫生和烟草产品监管具有重要意义。
