Dataset Information

Overexpression of mutant Ptch in rhabdomyosarcomas is associated with promoter hypomethylation and increased Gli1 and H3K4me3 occupancy.

ABSTRACT: Mice with heterozygous loss of the tumor suppressor Patched1 (Ptch) develop rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS)-like tumors. However, Ptch transcripts are consistently overexpressed in these tumors. We have recently shown that the upregulated transcripts are derived from the mutated Ptch allele thus leading to the hypothesis that the wild-type allele is repressed during RMS development. Here we describe epigenetic changes taking place at the Ptch locus during RMS development. We showed a lower degree of DNA-methylation in methylation-sensitive CpG regions of the Ptch promoter in RMS compared to normal muscle from heterozygous Ptch animals. In agreement with these results, treatment of heterozygous Ptch mice with the DNA demethylating agent 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine (5-aza-dC) between embryonic days E9.5-E11.5 significantly accelerated RMS formation. Since Ptch promoter methylation occurs after/around E13.5, the window for RMS initiation during embryogenesis, these results provide additional evidence that Ptch promoter hypomethylation may contribute to RMS formation. We have also demonstrated increased trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3) and preferential binding of Gli1, a known Ptch activator, to the mutant locus in RMS. Together, these findings support an alternative model for RMS formation in heterozygous Ptch mice including loss of methylation and concomitant occupancy by activating histone marks of mutant Ptch.

SUBMITTER: Nitzki F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4496206 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Overexpression of mutant Ptch in rhabdomyosarcomas is associated with promoter hypomethylation and increased Gli1 and H3K4me3 occupancy.

Nitzki Frauke F Tolosa Ezequiel J EJ Cuvelier Nicole N Frommhold Anke A Salinas-Riester Gabriela G Johnsen Steven A SA Fernandez-Zapico Martin E ME Hahn Heidi H

Oncotarget 20150401 11

Mice with heterozygous loss of the tumor suppressor Patched1 (Ptch) develop rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS)-like tumors. However, Ptch transcripts are consistently overexpressed in these tumors. We have recently shown that the upregulated transcripts are derived from the mutated Ptch allele thus leading to the hypothesis that the wild-type allele is repressed during RMS development. Here we describe epigenetic changes taking place at the Ptch locus during RMS development. We showed a lower degree of DNA- ...[more]

PMID: 25823816

Similar Datasets

Project description:Alterations in nucleoli, including increased numbers, increased size, altered architecture and increased function are hallmarks of prostate cancer cells. The mechanisms that result in increased nucleolar size, number and function in prostate cancer have not been fully elucidated. The nucleolus is formed around repeats of a transcriptional unit encoding a 45S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) precursor that is then processed to yield the mature 18S, 5.8S and 28S RNA species. Although it has been generally accepted that tumor cells overexpress rRNA species, this has not been examined in clinical prostate cancer. We find that indeed levels of the 45S rRNA, 28S, 18S and 5.8S are overexpressed in the majority of human primary prostate cancer specimens as compared with matched benign tissues. One mechanism that can alter nucleolar function and structure in cancer cells is hypomethylation of CpG dinucleotides of the upstream rDNA promoter region. However, this mechanism has not been examined in prostate cancer. To determine whether rRNA overexpression could be explained by hypomethylation of these CpG sites, we also evaluated the DNA methylation status of the rDNA promoter in prostate cancer cell lines and the clinical specimens. Bisulfite sequencing of genomic DNA revealed two roughly equal populations of loci in cell lines consisting of those that contained densely methylated deoxycytidine residues within CpGs and those that were largely unmethylated. All clinical specimens also contained two populations with no marked changes in methylation of this region in cancer as compared with normal. We recently reported that MYC can regulate rRNA levels in human prostate cancer; here we show that MYC mRNA levels are correlated with 45S, 18S and 5.8S rRNA levels. Further, as a surrogate for nucleolar size and number, we examined the expression of fibrillarin, which did not correlate with rRNA levels. We conclude that rRNA levels are increased in human prostate cancer, but that hypomethylation of the rDNA promoter does not explain this increase, nor does hypomethylation explain alterations in nucleolar number and structure in prostate cancer cells. Rather, rRNA levels and nucleolar size and number relate more closely to MYC overexpression.

Project description:IntroductionThe Rac-GEF P-REX1 is a key mediator of ErbB signaling in breast cancer recently implicated in mammary tumorigenesis and metastatic dissemination. Although P-REX1 is essentially undetectable in normal human mammary epithelial tissue, this Rac-GEF is markedly upregulated in human breast carcinomas, particularly of the luminal subtype. The mechanisms underlying P-REX1 upregulation in breast cancer are unknown. Toward the goal of dissecting the mechanistic basis of P-REX1 overexpression in breast cancer, in this study we focused on the analysis of methylation of the PREX1 gene promoter.MethodsTo determine the methylation status of the PREX1 promoter region, we used bisulfite genomic sequencing and pyrosequencing approaches. Re-expression studies in cell lines were carried out by treatment of breast cancer cells with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2'-deoxycitidine. PREX1 gene methylation in different human breast cancer subtypes was analyzed from the TCGA database.ResultsWe found that the human PREX1 gene promoter has a CpG island located between -1.2 kb and +1.4 kb, and that DNA methylation in this region inversely correlates with P-REX1 expression in human breast cancer cell lines. A comprehensive analysis of human breast cancer cell lines and tumors revealed significant hypomethylation of the PREX1 promoter in ER-positive, luminal subtype, whereas hypermethylation occurs in basal-like breast cancer. Treatment of normal MCF-10A or basal-like cancer cells, MDA-MB-231 with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2'-deoxycitidine in combination with the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A restores P-REX1 levels to those observed in luminal breast cancer cell lines, suggesting that aberrant expression of P-REX1 in luminal breast cancer is a consequence of PREX1 promoter demethylation. Unlike PREX1, the pro-metastatic Rho/Rac-GEF, VAV3, is not regulated by methylation. Notably, PREX1 gene promoter hypomethylation is a prognostic marker of poor patient survival.ConclusionsOur study identified for the first time gene promoter hypomethylation as a distinctive subtype-specific mechanism for controlling the expression of a key regulator of Rac-mediated motility and metastasis in breast cancer.

Dataset Information

Overexpression of mutant Ptch in rhabdomyosarcomas is associated with promoter hypomethylation and increased Gli1 and H3K4me3 occupancy.

Publications

Overexpression of mutant Ptch in rhabdomyosarcomas is associated with promoter hypomethylation and increased Gli1 and H3K4me3 occupancy.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets