Project description:Epigenetic changes largely contribute to the regulation of gene expression in cancer cells. DNA methylation is part of the epigenetic gene regulation complex which is relevant for the pathogenesis of cancer. We performed a genome-wide search for methylated CpG islands in tumors and corresponding non-malignant lung tissue samples of 101 stage I-III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients by combining methylated DNA immunoprecipitation and microarray analysis using NimbleGen´s 385K Human CpG Island plus Promoter arrays. By testing for differences in methylation between tumors and corresponding non-malignant lung tissues, we identified 298 tumor-specifically methylated genes. From many of these genes epigenetic regulation was unknown so far. Gene Ontology analysis revealed an over-representation of genes involved in regulation of gene expression and cell adhesion. Expression of 182 of 298 genes was found to be upregulated after 5-aza-2´-deoxycytidine (Aza-dC) and/or trichostatin A (TSA) treatment of 3 NSCLC cell lines by Affymetrix microarray analysis. In addition, methylation of selected genes in primary NSCLCs and corresponding non-malignant lung tissue samples were analyzed by methylation-sensitive high resolution melting analysis (MS-HRM). Our results obtained by MS-HRM analysis confirmed our data obtained by MeDIP-chip analysis. Moreover, by comparing methylation results from MeDIP-chip analysis with clinico-pathological parameters of the patients we observed methylation of HOXA2 as potential parameter for shorter disease-free survival of NSCLC patients. In conclusion, using a genome-wide approach we identified a large number of tumor-specifically methylated genes in NSCLC patients. Our results stress the importance of DNA methylation for the pathogenesis of NSCLCs. Overall, samples of 3 untreated, with Aza-dC treated and with Aza-dC/TSA treated NSCLC cell lines were hybridized to Affymetrix HG-U133_plus_2.0 microarrays (18 in total).
Project description:Epigenetic changes largely contribute to the regulation of gene expression in cancer cells. DNA methylation is part of the epigenetic gene regulation complex which is relevant for the pathogenesis of cancer. We performed a genome-wide search for methylated CpG islands in tumors and corresponding non-malignant lung tissue samples of 101 stage I-III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients by combining methylated DNA immunoprecipitation and microarray analysis using NimbleGen´s 385K Human CpG Island plus Promoter arrays. By testing for differences in methylation between tumors and corresponding non-malignant lung tissues, we identified 298 tumor-specifically methylated genes. From many of these genes epigenetic regulation was unknown so far. Gene Ontology analysis revealed an over-representation of genes involved in regulation of gene expression and cell adhesion. Expression of 182 of 298 genes was found to be upregulated after 5-aza-2´-deoxycytidine (Aza-dC) and/or trichostatin A (TSA) treatment of 3 NSCLC cell lines by Affymetrix microarray analysis. In addition, methylation of selected genes in primary NSCLCs and corresponding non-malignant lung tissue samples were analyzed by methylation-sensitive high resolution melting analysis (MS-HRM). Our results obtained by MS-HRM analysis confirmed our data obtained by MeDIP-chip analysis. Moreover, by comparing methylation results from MeDIP-chip analysis with clinico-pathological parameters of the patients we observed methylation of HOXA2 as potential parameter for shorter disease-free survival of NSCLC patients. In conclusion, using a genome-wide approach we identified a large number of tumor-specifically methylated genes in NSCLC patients. Our results stress the importance of DNA methylation for the pathogenesis of NSCLCs.
Project description:Epigenetic changes largely contribute to the regulation of gene expression in cancer cells. DNA methylation is part of the epigenetic gene regulation complex which is relevant for the pathogenesis of cancer. We performed a genome-wide search for methylated CpG islands in tumors and corresponding non-malignant lung tissue samples of 101 stage I-III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients by combining methylated DNA immunoprecipitation and microarray analysis using NimbleGenM-BM-4s 385K Human CpG Island plus Promoter arrays. By testing for differences in methylation between tumors and corresponding non-malignant lung tissues, we identified 298 tumor-specifically methylated genes. From many of these genes epigenetic regulation was unknown so far. Gene Ontology analysis revealed an over-representation of genes involved in regulation of gene expression and cell adhesion. Expression of 182 of 298 genes was found to be upregulated after 5-aza-2M-BM-4-deoxycytidine (Aza-dC) and/or trichostatin A (TSA) treatment of 3 NSCLC cell lines by Affymetrix microarray analysis. In addition, methylation of selected genes in primary NSCLCs and corresponding non-malignant lung tissue samples were analyzed by methylation-sensitive high resolution melting analysis (MS-HRM). Our results obtained by MS-HRM analysis confirmed our data obtained by MeDIP-chip analysis. Moreover, by comparing methylation results from MeDIP-chip analysis with clinico-pathological parameters of the patients we observed methylation of HOXA2 as potential parameter for shorter disease-free survival of NSCLC patients. In conclusion, using a genome-wide approach we identified a large number of tumor-specifically methylated genes in NSCLC patients. Our results stress the importance of DNA methylation for the pathogenesis of NSCLCs. Overall, samples of 3 untreated, with Aza-dC treated and with Aza-dC/TSA treated NSCLC cell lines were hybridized to Affymetrix HG-U133_plus_2.0 microarrays (18 in total).
Project description:Breast cancer metastasis suppressor gene-1 (BRMS1) mRNA and protein expression are significantly decreased in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and this is a poor prognostic indicator. Given that the BRMS1 promoter region contains a promoter-associated CpG island (CGI) that encompasses the transcriptional start site, we hypothesized that decreased BRMS1 mRNA and protein levels in NSCLC was secondary to increased BRMS1 promoter methylation. Methylation-specific PCR (MSP) of the two known CGIs (-3477 to - 2214 and - 531 to + 608) in the BRMS1 genome was performed in NSCLC cells. This demonstrated a robust increase in methylation of the promoter-associated CGI (-531 to + 608) but not of the upstream CGI (-3477 to - 2214). To experimentally verify that methylation contributes to BRMS1 transcriptional repression, we cloned the BRMS1 promoter region, including the promoter-associated CGI, into a luciferase reporter gene and found that BRMS1 promoter activity was dramatically inhibited under methylated conditions. We then assessed the BRMS1 methylation profile with MSP and bisulphite-sequencing PCR in human NSCLC adenocarcinoma (n = 20) and squamous cell carcinoma (n = 20) relative to adjacent non-cancerous bronchial epithelium. There was a significant increase in BRMS1 promoter methylation in all NSCLC specimens relative to non-cancerous tissues, with the most dramatic difference in squamous cell cancer histology. Subsequent immunostaining demonstrated that nuclear BRMS1 expression is reduced in lung cancer specimens compared to normal bronchial epithelium. The association between BRMS1 promoter methylation and specific clinical and histopathological variables was examined using a general linear model. Pathological tumour stage was associated with increased BRMS1 methylation in squamous cell cancers. These observations demonstrate that methylation of the promoter-associated CGI in BRMS1 results in its transcriptional repression, and highlight the potential clinical relevance of this methylation event with respect to NSCLC tumour histology and pathological stage.
Project description:De novo methylation of CpG islands is a common phenomenon in human cancer, but the mechanisms of cancer-associated DNA methylation are not known. We have used tiling arrays in combination with the methylated CpG island recovery assay to investigate methylation of CpG islands genome-wide and at high resolution. We find that all four HOX gene clusters on chromosomes 2, 7, 12, and 17 are preferential targets for DNA methylation in cancer cell lines and in early-stage lung cancer. CpG islands associated with many other homeobox genes, such as SIX, LHX, PAX, DLX, and Engrailed, were highly methylated as well. Altogether, more than half (104 of 192) of all CpG island-associated homeobox genes in the lung cancer cell line A549 were methylated. Analysis of paralogous HOX genes showed that not all paralogues undergo cancer-associated methylation simultaneously. The HOXA cluster was analyzed in greater detail. Comparison with ENCODE-derived data shows that lack of methylation at CpG-rich sequences correlates with presence of the active chromatin mark, histone H3 lysine-4 methylation in the HOXA region. Methylation analysis of HOXA genes in primary squamous cell carcinomas of the lung led to the identification of the HOXA7- and HOXA9-associated CpG islands as frequent methylation targets in stage 1 tumors. Homeobox genes are potentially useful as DNA methylation markers for early diagnosis of the disease. The finding of widespread methylation of homeobox genes lends support to the hypothesis that a substantial fraction of genes methylated in human cancer are targets of the Polycomb complex.
Project description:BACKGROUND: Non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) is a complex malignancy that owing to its heterogeneity and poor prognosis poses many challenges to diagnosis, prognosis and patient treatment. DNA methylation is an important mechanism of epigenetic regulation involved in normal development and cancer. It is a very stable and specific modification and therefore in principle a very suitable marker for epigenetic phenotyping of tumors. Here we present a genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of NSCLC samples and paired lung tissues, where we combine MethylCap and next generation sequencing (MethylCap-seq) to provide comprehensive DNA methylation maps of the tumor and paired lung samples. The MethylCap-seq data were validated by bisulfite sequencing and methyl-specific polymerase chain reaction of selected regions. RESULTS: Analysis of the MethylCap-seq data revealed a strong positive correlation between replicate experiments and between paired tumor/lung samples. We identified 57 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) present in all NSCLC tumors analyzed by MethylCap-seq. While hypomethylated DMRs did not correlate to any particular functional category of genes, the hypermethylated DMRs were strongly associated with genes encoding transcriptional regulators. Furthermore, subtelomeric regions and satellite repeats were hypomethylated in the NSCLC samples. We also identified DMRs that were specific to two of the major subtypes of NSCLC, adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, we provide a resource containing genome-wide DNA methylation maps of NSCLC and their paired lung tissues, and comprehensive lists of known and novel DMRs and associated genes in NSCLC.
Project description:HPV infection is one of the most commonly transmitted diseases among the global population. While it can be asymptomatic, non-genital HPV infection often gives rise to cutaneous warts, which are benign growths arising from the epidermal layer of the skin. This study aimed to produce a global analysis of the ways in which cutaneous wart formation affected the CpG island methylome. The Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip microarray was utilized in order to quantitatively interrogate CpG island methylation in genomic DNA extracted from 24 paired wart and normal skin samples. Differential methylation analysis was carried out by means of assigning a combined rank score using RnBeads. The 1000 top-ranking CpG islands were then subject to Locus Overlap Analysis (LOLA) for enrichment of genomic ranges, while signaling pathway analysis was carried out on the top 100 differentially methylated CpG islands. Differential methylation analysis illustrated that the most differentially methylated CpG islands in warts lay within the ITGB5, DTNB, RBFOX3, SLC6A9, and C2orf27A genes. In addition, the most enriched genomic region sets in warts were Sheffield's tissue-clustered DNase hypersensitive sites, ENCODE's segmentation and transcription factor binding sites, codex sites, and the epigenome sites from cistrome. Lastly, signaling pathway analysis showed that the GRB2, GNB1, NTRK1, AXIN1, and SKI genes were the most common regulators of the genes associated with the top 100 most differentially methylated CpG islands in warts. Our study shows that HPV-induced cutaneous warts have a clear CpG island methylation profile that sets them apart from normal skin. Such a finding could account for the temporary nature of warts and the capacity for individuals to undergo clinical remission.
Project description:The epigenetic landscape of cancer includes both focal hypermethylation and broader hypomethylation in a genome-wide manner. By means of a comprehensive genomic analysis on 6637 tissues of 21 tumor types, we here show that the degrees of overall methylation in CpG island (CGI) and demethylation in intergenic regions, defined as 'backbone', largely vary among different tumors. Depending on tumor type, both CGI methylation and backbone demethylation are often associated with clinical, epidemiological and biological features such as age, sex, smoking history, anatomic location, histological type and grade, stage, molecular subtype and biological pathways. We found connections between CGI methylation and hypermutability, microsatellite instability, IDH1 mutation, 19p gain and polycomb features, and backbone demethylation with chromosomal instability, NSD1 and TP53 mutations, 5q and 19p loss and long repressive domains. These broad epigenetic patterns add a new dimension to our understanding of tumor biology and its clinical implications.
Project description:Analysis of NSCLC development at microRNA expression level. Results shows that has-miR-96 is significant up-regulated in the cancer tissue compared with the adjacent normal tissue. Illumina Human v2 MicroRNA expression beadchip Total microRNA obtained from 6 paired NSCLC cancer tissue and the adjacent normal tissue.