Genetic and Epigenetic Alterations Induced by Pesticide Exposure: Integrated Analysis of Gene Expression, microRNA Expression, and DNA Methylation Datasets

Federica Giambò, Gian Marco Leone, Giuseppe Gattuso, Roberta Rizzo, Alessia Cosentino, Diana Cinà, Michele Teodoro, Chiara Costa, Aristides Tsatsakis, Concettina Fenga and Luca Falzone
Additional contact information
Federica Giambò: CEMAD Digestive Disease Center, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
Gian Marco Leone: Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Giuseppe Gattuso: Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Roberta Rizzo: Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Alessia Cosentino: Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Diana Cinà: Health Management of the “Cannizzaro” Emergency Hospital of Catania, 95126 Catania, Italy
Michele Teodoro: Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, Occupational Medicine Section, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy
Chiara Costa: Clinical and Experimental Medicine Department, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy
Aristides Tsatsakis: Department of Forensic Sciences and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece
Concettina Fenga: Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, Occupational Medicine Section, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy
Luca Falzone: Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, National Cancer Institute-IRCCS ‘Fondazione G. Pascale’, 80131 Naples, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-28

Abstract: Environmental or occupational exposure to pesticides is considered one of the main risk factors for the development of various diseases. Behind the development of pesticide-associated pathologies, there are both genetic and epigenetic alterations, where these latter are mainly represented by the alteration in the expression levels of microRNAs and by the change in the methylation status of the DNA. At present, no studies have comprehensively evaluated the genetic and epigenetic alterations induced by pesticides; therefore, the aim of the present study was to identify modifications in gene miRNA expression and DNA methylation useful for the prediction of pesticide exposure. For this purpose, an integrated analysis of gene expression, microRNA expression, and DNA methylation datasets obtained from the GEO DataSets database was performed to identify putative genes, microRNAs, and DNA methylation hotspots associated with pesticide exposure and responsible for the development of different diseases. In addition, DIANA-miRPath, STRING, and GO Panther prediction tools were used to establish the functional role of the putative biomarkers identified. The results obtained demonstrated that pesticides can modulate the expression levels of different genes and induce different epigenetic alterations in the expression levels of miRNAs and in the modulation of DNA methylation status.

Keywords: pesticides; microRNAs; DNA methylation; biomarkers; epigenetics; bioinformatics; tumors; neurodegenerative diseases (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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