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Epimutational effects of electronic cigarettes

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Abstract

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), since they do not require tobacco combustion, have traditionally been considered less harmful than conventional cigarettes (c-cigarettes). In recent years, however, researchers have found many toxic compounds in the aerosols of e-cigarettes, and numerous studies have shown that e-cigarettes can adversely affect the human epigenome. In this review, we provide an update on recent findings regarding epigenetic outcomes of e-cigarette aerosols. Moreover, we discussed the effects of several typical e-cigarette ingredients (nicotine, tobacco-specific nitrosamines, volatile organic compounds, carbonyl compounds, and toxic metals) on DNA methylation, histone modifications, and noncoding RNA expression. These epigenetic effects could explain some of the diseases caused by e-cigarettes. It also reminds the public that like c-cigarettes, inhaling e-cigarette aerosols could also be accompanied with potential epigenotoxicity on the human body.

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Abbreviations

AD:

Alzheimer’s disease

ADHFE1:

Alcohol dehydrogenase iron containing 1

AHR:

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor

ALDH1A2:

Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A2

ApoE:

Apolipoprotein E

BBP:

Benzyl butyl phthalate

BMSCs:

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

C-cigarettes:

Conventional cigarettes

COPD:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Cd:

Cadmium

DAT:

Dopamine transporter

DMR:

Differentially methylated region

DNE:

Developmental nicotine exposure

DNMT1:

DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferase 1

DNMT3B:

DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferase 3B

E-cigarettes:

Electronic cigarettes

EMT:

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition

ERα:

Estrogen receptor α

FA:

Formaldehyde

GR:

Glucocorticoid receptor

HDAC2:

Histone deacetylase 2

hESCs:

Human embryonic stem cells

H3K4me3:

Histone H3 lysine 4 tri-methylation

H4K5ac:

Histone H4 lysine 5 acetylation

H3K9:

Histone H3 lysine 9

H3K9ac:

Histone H3 lysine 9 acetylation

H3K9me2:

Histone H3 lysine 9 di-methylation

H4K12ac:

Histone H4 lysine 12 acetylation

H3K14:

Histone H3 lysine 14

H3K14ac:

Histone H3 lysine 14 acetylation

H3K27me3:

Histone H3 lysine 27 tri-methylation

H3S28:

Histone H3 serine 28

H3S10:

Histone H3 serine 10

IGFBP-3:

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3

IUGR:

Intrauterine growth retardation

LINE-1:

Long interspersed nucleotide element 1

LOX:

Lysyl oxidase

LSAAs:

Low molecular weight saturated aliphatic aldehydes

miRNA:

microRNA

MSC:

Mesenchymal stem cell

ncRNA:

Noncoding RNA

Ni:

Nickel

NNK:

4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone

P450arom:

Cytochrome P450 aromatase

Pb:

Lead

PNE:

Prenatal nicotine exposure

PRMT5:

Protein arginine methyltransferase 5

PTEN:

Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10

PTM:

Post-translational modification

RARβ:

Retinoic acid receptor β

RAS:

Renin-angiotensin system

SF-1:

Steroidogenic factor-1

StAR:

Steroidogenic acute regulator

S1PR3:

Sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 3

Topo IIα:

Topoisomerase IIα

TSNAs:

Tobacco-specific nitrosamines

VOCs:

Volatile organic compounds

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank members of the Lau And Xu laboratory for critical reading of this manuscript.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

Funding

This work was supported by the grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31771582 and 31271445), the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 2017A030313131), the “Thousand, Hundred, and Ten” project of the Department of Education of Guangdong Province of China, the Basic and Applied Research Major Projects of Guangdong Province of China (2017KZDXM035 and 2018KZDXM036), and the “Yang Fan” Project of Guangdong Province of China (Andy T. Y. Lau-2016; Yan-Ming Xu-2015).

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  1. Rui Yan and Xu-Li Chen contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Epigenetics, Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, 515041, People’s Republic of China

    Rui Yan, Xu-Li Chen, Yan-Ming Xu & Andy T. Y. Lau

  2. Clinical Research Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, 515041, People’s Republic of China

    Rui Yan, Xu-Li Chen, Yan-Ming Xu & Andy T. Y. Lau

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  1. Rui Yan
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  2. Xu-Li Chen
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Contributions

Writing—original draft preparation, RY, X-LC, Y-MX, and ATYL. Writing—review and editing, RY, X-LC, Y-MX. and ATYL. Supervision, Y-MX and ATYL. Funding acquisition, Y-MX and ATYL. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Yan, R., Chen, XL., Xu, YM. et al. Epimutational effects of electronic cigarettes. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 17044–17067 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12985-9

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