Myelodysplastic syndrome marrow stroma shows widespread aberrant hypermethylation that is abrogated by treatment with DNMT inhibitors
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ABSTRACT: The marrow microenvironment contributes to the pathogenesis of ineffective hematopoiesis in Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS). Since mutations and cytogenetic alterations are generally not present in marrow stromal cells, we hypothesized that epigenetic alterations may be responsible for altered stroma functionin MDS. Global DNA methylation of MDS marrow-derived stroma was analyzed by HELP assay and compared to healthy controls. MDS stroma showed aberrant hypermethylation that preferentially occurred outside of CpG islands and involved important signaling pathways.Comparison with stroma derived from 5-Azacytidine (5-Aza) treated MDS patients revealed abrogation of aberrant methylation in treated samples. Integrative expression analysis revealed that the WNT pathway was epigenetically dysregulated in MDS stroma, and the WNT antagonists FRZB and SFRP1 were aberrantly hypermethylated and underexpressed. These epigenetic changes were validated ina co-culture model of stroma and leukemic cells and in an independent set of MDS samples. Importantly, 5-Aza treatment of MDS stroma enhanced hematopoietic activity and erythroid differentiationfrom co-cultured healthy CD34+ cells. These results reveal widespread aberrant epigenetic changes in the MDS marrow microenvironment and demonstrate that DNA methyl transferase inhibitors alter the epigenomic profiles of stromal cells, potentiallycontributing to theirtherapeutic efficacy. The study population consisted of 6 MDS patients and 3 healthy controls. Individual HpaII restriction digest profiles were compared to an internal MspI digest control, to yield differentially methylated fragments for every sample.
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
SUBMITTER: Yiting Yu
PROVIDER: E-GEOD-60233 | biostudies-arrayexpress |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress
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