Wim Vanden Berghe

Wim Vanden Berghe
University of Antwerp | UA · Department of Biomedical sciences

PhD
Kinase signaling and epigenetic modulation by phytochemicals, steroids, iron for improved therapeutic outcome in cancer

About

349
Publications
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Introduction
Prof. Wim Vanden Berghe obtained his PhD at the University of Ghent in 1999 in the Faculty of Science Biochemistry-Biotechnology. After postdoctoral research at various research institutions (University of Montpellier, Stellenbosch and Oxford), Wim Vanden Berghe was appointed professor of Epigenetics in 2009 in the lab for Protein chemistry, proteomics and epigenetic signaling (PPES) at the University of Antwerp and UGent. With his current research, he is looking for new epigenetic ways to prevent or inhibit diseases with the help of nutrition or bioactive substances isolated from plants that inhibit aging-related inflammatory processes in cancer, atherosclerosis obesity, diabetes or neurodegeneration.

Publications

Publications (349)
Article
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Non-thermal plasma (NTP) has shown promising anti-cancer effects, but there is still limited knowledge about the underlying cell death mechanisms induced by NTP and inherent differences between NTP treatment modalities. This study aimed to investigate four major regulated cell death (RCD) pathways, namely apoptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis, and fer...
Article
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Introduction The Cuban population is genetically diverse, and information on the prevalence of genetic variants is still limited. As complex admixture processes have occurred, we hypothesized that the frequency of pharmacogenetic variants and drug responses may vary within the country. The aims of the study were to describe the frequency distributi...
Article
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Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) encephalitis and meningitis are potential central nervous system (CNS) complications following primary VZV infection or reactivation. With Type-I interferon (IFN) signalling being an important first line cellular defence mechanism against VZV infection by the peripheral tissues, we here investigated the triggering of in...
Article
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The paraoxonase (PON) gene family (including PON1, PON2, and PON3), is known for its anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties, protecting against metabolic diseases such as obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). In this study, the influence of common and rare PON variants on both conditions was investig...
Article
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Environment and lifestyle can affect the epigenome passed down from generation to generation. A mother’s nutrition can impact the methylation levels of her offspring’s epigenome, but it’s unclear which genes may be affected by malnutrition during gestation or early development. In this study, we examined the levels of methylated GC in the promoter...
Article
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Heterozygous de novo mutations in the Activity-Dependent Neuroprotective Homeobox (ADNP) gene underlie Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome (HVDAS). Most of these mutations are situated in the last exon and we previously demonstrated escape from nonsense-mediated decay by detecting mutant ADNP mRNA in patient blood. In this study, wild-type and ADNP mut...
Article
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Purpose Traditional fermented beverages are a valuable cultural, economic, and social heritage of Latin American societies that deserve to be preserved and strengthened with sustainable development and respect for diversity. Therefore, this article will demonstrate, through scientific literature, the importance for indigenous societies and the nutr...
Article
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Background Helsmoortel–Van der Aa syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which patients present with autism, intellectual disability, and frequent extra-neurological features such as feeding and gastrointestinal problems, visual impairments, and cardiac abnormalities. All patients exhibit heterozygous de novo nonsense or frameshift stop mutat...
Article
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Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are the leading cause of antibiotic prescriptions, primarily due to the risk for secondary bacterial infections. In this study, we examined whether Echinacea could reduce the need for antibiotics by preventing RTIs and their complications, and subsequently investigated its safety profile. A comprehensive search o...
Article
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Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a primary cause of cervical and head-and-neck cancers. The HPV genome enters the nucleus during mitosis when the nuclear envelope disassembles. Given that lamins maintain nuclear integrity during interphase, we asked to what extent their loss would affect early HPV infection. To address this question, we infe...
Thesis
Renowned for their biodiversity and ecological importance, the Galapagos Islands face the challenge of maintaining a balance between the natural environment and anthropogenic influences. A major challenge is water pollution, which, despite various reports, is still lacking an integrative aquatic study. This knowledge gap was addressed in this study...
Article
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Mutations in ADNP result in Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome. Here, we describe the first de novo intronic deletion, affecting the splice-acceptor site of the first coding ADNP exon in a five-year-old girl with developmental delay and autism. Whereas exome sequencing failed to detect the non-coding deletion, genome-wide CpG methylation analysis reve...
Article
Background: Chronic cancer-related pain remains underdiagnosed and undertreated, although it affects 40% of cancer survivors. Recent insights suggest that cytokine signaling between immune, neuro, and glial cells contributes to chronic pain. Objectives: This study systematically reviewed cytokine levels and their relation to chronic cancer-relat...
Article
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Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) is a growing epidemic with an estimated prevalence of 20%–30% in Europe and the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. The onset and progression of MASLD are orchestrated by an interplay of the metabolic environment with genetic and epigenetic factors. Emerging evidence...
Article
Metabolic Dysfunction Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) is a growing epidemic with an estimated prevalence of 20%-30% in Europe and the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. The onset and progression of MASLD are orchestrated by an interplay of the metabolic environment with genetic and epigenetic factors. Emerging evidence...
Preprint
Full-text available
Heterozygous de novo mutations in the Activity-Dependent Neuroprotective Homeobox ( ADNP ) gene underlie Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome (HVDAS). Most of these mutations are situated in the last exon and we previously demonstrated escape from nonsense-mediated decay by detecting mutant ADNP mRNA in patient blood. In this study, wild-type and ADNP m...
Article
Full-text available
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is characterized by a constant accumulation of lipids in the liver. This hepatic lipotoxicity is associated with a dysregulation of the first step in lipid catabolism, known as beta oxidation, which occurs in the mitochondrial matrix. Eventually, this dysregulation will lead to mitoch...
Article
A species' success during the invasion of new areas hinges on an interplay between the demographic processes common to invasions and the specific ecological context of the novel environment. Evolutionary genetic studies of invasive species can investigate how genetic bottlenecks and ecological conditions shape genetic variation in invasions, and ou...
Article
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that results from the interplay of genetic and environmental factors, which increase the comorbidity risk of obesity, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, arterial hypertension, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. In this article, we review various high-impact studies which link epigenetics with metabolic syndr...
Preprint
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This study examines the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Amazonian Kichwa (AK) breastfeeding mothers and infants, focusing on cultural influences on early nutrition patterns. Using a descriptive, observational, and cross-sectional approach, thirty women self-identified as AK women and their infants from two rural and one urban area in Ecuador...
Thesis
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Plectranthus neochilus Schltr. is a plant recently introduced in Cuba and its cultivation has spread throughout the island due to its ethnopharmacological benefits that are different from those reported internationally. In order to clarify such incongruence, the present study had the general objective of evaluating the neuropharmacological activity...
Cover Page
Full-text available
Plectranthus neochilus Schltr. is a plant recently introduced in Cuba and its cultivation has spread throughout the island due to its ethnopharmacological benefits that are different from those reported internationally. In order to clarify such incongruence, the present study had the general objective of evaluating the neuropharmacological activity...
Article
Full-text available
HLA-C, a gene located within the major histocompatibility complex, has emerged as a prominent target in biomedical research due to its involvement in various diseases, including cancer and autoimmune disorders; even though its recent addition to the MHC, the interaction between HLA-C and KIR is crucial for immune responses, particularly in viral in...
Article
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Aging is a gradual, continuous series of natural changes in biological, physiological, immunological, environmental, psychological, behavioral, and social processes. Aging entails changes in the immune system characterized by a decrease in thymic output of naïve lymphocytes, an accumulated chronic antigenic stress notably caused by chronic infectio...
Article
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Introduction Hepatic lipid accumulation and mitochondrial dysfunction are hallmarks of metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), yet molecular parameters underlying MAFLD progression are not well understood. Differential methylation within the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been suggested to be associated with dysfunctional mitochondria, als...
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(1) Background: Filipendula ulmaria (L.) Maxim. (Rosaceae) (meadowsweet) is widely used in phytotherapy against inflammatory diseases. However, its active constituents are not exactly known. Moreover, it contains many constituents, such as flavonoid glycosides, which are not absorbed, but metabolized in the colon by gut microbiota, producing potent...
Article
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Environmental epigenetics has become a key research focus in global climate change studies and environmental pollutant investigations impacting aquatic ecosystems. Specifically, triggered by environmental stress conditions, intergenerational DNA methylation changes contribute to biological adaptive responses and survival of organisms to increase th...
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Background Individuals affected with autism often suffer additional co-morbidities such as intellectual disability. The genes contributing to autism cluster on a relatively limited number of cellular pathways, including chromatin remodeling. However, limited information is available on how mutations in single genes can result in such pleiotropic cl...
Article
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Aims: To evaluate the prevalence and type of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), together with associated risk factors, among Cuban COVID-19 patients treated with chloroquine (CQ), lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r), or interferon α2b (IFN α2b), according to the Cuban protocol. Materials and methods: A prospective descriptive analysis of ADRs was performed...
Article
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Plasminogen activator, urokinase (PLAU) is involved in cell migration, proliferation and tissue remodeling. PLAU upregulation is associated with an increase in aggressiveness, metastasis, and invasion of several cancer types, including breast cancer. In patients, this translates into decreased sensitivity to hormonal treatment, and poor prognosis....
Article
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Aims: To gain insights into the underlying mechanisms of NTP therapy sensitivity and resistance, using the first-ever NTP-resistant cell line derived from sensitive melanoma cells (A375). Methods: Melanoma cells were exposed to NTP and re-cultured for 12 consecutive weeks before evaluation against the parental control cells. Whole transcriptome...
Article
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Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a growing epidemic and the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. It consists of a spectrum of liver disorders ranging from simple steatosis to NASH which predisposes patients to further fibrosis, cirrhosis and even hepatocarcinoma. Despite much research, an approved treatment is still lack...
Article
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Objectives To evaluate the effect of French Maritime Pine Bark Extract (PBE; Pycnogenol®) on immune, oxidative stress and neurochemical biomarkers in paediatric Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as compared to methylphenidate (MPH) and placebo. Results Paediatric ADHD patients (n = 88, 70 % male, mean age 10.1 years) were randomised...
Preprint
Full-text available
Heterozygous de novo mutations in the Activity-Dependent Neuroprotective Homeobox ( ADNP ) protein were found to be the common cause underlying the Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome (HVDAS). With most of the patient mutations situated in the last exon, we previously demonstrated the predicted escape from nonsense-mediated decay by detecting mutant AD...
Article
Full-text available
Despite recent advances in melanoma treatment, there are still patients that either do not respond or develop resistance. This unresponsiveness and/or acquired resistance to therapy could be explained by the fact that some melanoma cells reside in a dedifferentiated state. Interestingly, this dedifferentiated state is associated with greater sensit...
Preprint
Full-text available
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the prime elicitor of cervical and head-and-neck cancers. The HPV genome enters the nucleus during mitosis when the nuclear envelope dismantles. Since lamins safeguard nuclear integrity during interphase, we asked to what extent their loss would affect early HPV infection. We challenged human cervical cancer...
Article
Full-text available
Melanoma arises from pigment-producing cells called melanocytes located in the basal layers of the epidermis of the skin. Cytoglobin (CYGB) is a ubiquitously expressed hexacoordinated globin that is highly enriched in melanocytes and frequently downregulated during melanomagenesis. Previously, we showed that non-thermal plasma (NTP)-produced reacti...
Article
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BACKGROUND CD155 immune checkpoint has recently emerged as a compelling immunotherapeutic target. Epigenetic DNA methylation changes are recognized as key molecular mechanisms in cancer development. Hence, the identification of methylation markers that are sensitive and specific for breast cancer may improve early detection and predict prognosis. W...
Article
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Liver diseases are considered a severe public health problem involving disorders that alter liver function. Since the liver plays an essential role in the metabolism and detoxification of substances that enter the organism, it is susceptible to damage caused by xenobiotic agents such as viruses, alcohol, and drugs. Acetaminophen is an over‐the‐coun...
Article
Background: For public health policy, this study aimed to identify the oral microbiota in babies of the Amazonian Kichwa (AK) population of Ecuador born vaginally during the first six months of life. Method: The study was descriptive, observational, cross-sectional, where the bacterial communities of infants were analyzed. Twenty-five infants se...
Article
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SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is effective in preventing severe Covid-19, but efficacy in reducing viral load and transmission wanes over time. In addition, the emergence of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants increases the threat of uncontrolled dissemination and additional antiviral therapies are urgently needed for effective containment. In previous in vitro stu...
Article
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Absence of the Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP) causes autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability, commonly referred to as the Fragile X syndrome. FMRP is a negative regulator of protein translation and is essential for neuronal development and synapse formation. FMRP is a target for several post-translational modifications (P...
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Scope: While cocoa flavanol (CF) consumption improves cardiovascular risk biomarkers, molecular mechanisms underlying their protective effects are not understood. Objective: To investigate nutri(epi)genomic effects of CF and identify regulatory networks potential mediating vascular health benefits. Methods and results: Twenty healthy middle-ag...
Article
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Plectranthus neochilus Schltr. (Lamiaceae) is a plant recently introduced in Cuba. Worldwide , it is an ethnomedicinal alternative for its use against microbial infections, but the Cuban population use the extracts to treat sleep disorders. To address this apparent incongruity, four collections (from different seasonal conditions in the year) of Cu...
Preprint
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Introduction: SARS CoV2 vaccination is effective in preventing severe COVID 19, but efficacy in reducing viral load and transmission wanes over time. In addition, the emergence of novel SARS CoV2 variants increases the threat of uncontrolled dissemination and additional antiviral therapies are urgently needed for effective containment. In previous...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives: ABCB1 gene polymorphisms can modify P-glycoprotein function with clinical consequences. Methods: The 3435C>T polymorphism prevalence was analyzed using oligonucleotide probes and next-generation sequencing in 421 unrelated healthy individuals living in Cuba. Data were stratified by gender, ethnic background and residence. The genotyp...
Article
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In spite of the current advances and achievements in cancer treatments, colorectal cancer (CRC) persists as one of the most prevalent and deadly tumor types in both men and women worldwide. Drug resistance, adverse side effects and high rate of angiogenesis, metastasis and tumor relapse remain one of the greatest challenges in long-term management...
Article
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Background The multifactorial nature of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease cannot be explained solely by genetic factors. Recent evidence revealed that DNA methylation changes take place at proximal promoters within susceptibility genes. This emphasizes the need for integrating multiple data types to provide a better understanding of the disease’s p...
Article
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Through phosphorylation of their substrate proteins, protein kinases are crucial for transducing cellular signals and orchestrating biological processes, including cell death and survival. Recent studies have revealed that kinases are involved in ferroptosis, an iron-dependent mode of cell death associated with toxic lipid peroxidation. Given that...
Article
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Cytokines, chemokines, and (angiogenic) growth factors (CCGs) have been shown to play an intricate role in the progression of both solid and haematological malignancies. Recent studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to a worse outcome in cancer patients, especially in haematological malignancy patients. Here, we investigated how SARS-Co...
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Disease relapse and therapy resistance remain key challenges in treating multiple myeloma. Underlying (epi-)mutational events can promote myelomagenesis and contribute to multi-drug and apoptosis resistance. Therefore, compounds inducing ferroptosis, a form of iron and lipid peroxidation-regulated cell death, are appealing alternative treatment str...
Article
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The steroidal lactone withaferin A (WFA) is a dietary phytochemical, derived from Withania somnifera. It exhibits a wide range of biological properties, including immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antistress, and anticancer activities. Here we investigated the effect of WFA on T-cell motility, which is crucial for adaptive immune responses as we...
Preprint
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Cytokines, chemokines and (angiogenic) growth factors (CCGs) have been shown to play an intricate role in the progression of both solid and haematological malignancies. Recent studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to worse outcome in cancer patients, especially in haematological malignancy patients. Here, we investigated how SARS-CoV-2...
Article
Here, we investigate the impact of hypoxia on the hepatic response of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) to dexamethasone (DEX) in mice via RNA-sequencing. Hypoxia causes three types of reprogramming of GR: (i) much weaker induction of classical GR-responsive genes by DEX in hypoxia, (ii) a number of genes is induced by DEX specifically in hypoxia, and (...
Preprint
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Ferroptosis is a lipid peroxidation-dependent mechanism of regulated cell death known to suppress tumor proliferation and progression. Although several genetic and protein hallmarks have been identified in ferroptotic cell death, it remains challenging to fully characterize ferroptosis signaling pathways and to find suitable biomarkers. Moreover, c...
Article
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COVID-19 is a pandemic disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is potentially fatal for vulnerable individuals. Disease management represents a challenge for many countries, given the shortage of medicines and hospital resources. The objective of this work was to review the medicinal plants, foods and natural products showing scientific evide...
Preprint
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A species' success during the invasion of new areas hinges on an interplay between demographic processes and the outcome of localized selection. Invasive European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) established populations in Australia and North America in the 19th century. Here, we compare whole-genome sequences among native and independently introduced...
Article
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Background Herbal remedies of Echinacea purpurea tinctures are widely used today to reduce common cold respiratory tract infections. Methods Transcriptome, epigenome and kinome profiling allowed a systems biology level characterisation of genomewide immunomodulatory effects of a standardized Echinacea purpurea ( L.) Moench extract in THP1 monocyte...