Project description:Cytosine methylation of DNA CpG dinucleotides in gene promoters is an epigenetic modification that regulates gene transcription. While many methods exist to interrogate methylation states, no current methods offer large-scale, targeted, single CpG resolution. We report an approach combining bisulfite treatment followed by RainDance microdroplet PCR with next-generation sequencing to assay the methylation state of 50 genes in the regions 1 kb upstream and downstream of their transcription start sites.
Project description:Ewing sarcoma is a bone malignancy of children and young adults, frequently harboring the EWS/FLI t(11;22)(q24;q12) chromosomal translocation. The resulting fusion protein is an aberrant transcription factor that uses highly repetitive GGAA-containing elements (microsatellites) to activate and repress thousands of target genes mediating oncogenesis. However, the mechanisms of EWS/FLI interaction with microsatellites and regulation of target genes expression is not clearly understood. Here, we profile genome-wide protein binding and gene expression. Using a combination of unbiased genome-wide computational and experimental analysis, we define GGAA-microsatellites in a Ewing sarcoma context. Our study identifies two distinct classes of GGAA-microsatellites and demonstrates that EWS/FLI responsiveness is dependent on microsatellite length. At close range (within 5 kb) “promoter-like” microsatellites, EWS/FLI binding and subsequent target genes activation is highly dependent on the number of GGAA-motifs. “Enhancer-like” microsatellites demonstrate a positive correlation with length-dependent EWS/FLI binding, but minimal correlation for activated and none for repressed target genes. Our data suggest that EWS/FLI binds to “promoter-like” and “enhancer-like” microsatellites to mediate activation and repression of target genes through different regulatory mechanisms. Such characterization contributes valuable insight to EWS/FLI transcription factor biology and clarifies the role of GGAA-microsatellites on a global genomic scale. This may provide a unique perspective on the role of non-coding DNA in cancer susceptibility and therapeutic development.
Project description:Cytosine methylation of DNA CpG dinucleotides in gene promoters is an epigenetic modification that regulates gene transcription. While many methods exist to interrogate methylation states, no current methods offer large-scale, targeted, single CpG resolution. We report an approach combining bisulfite treatment followed by RainDance microdroplet PCR with next-generation sequencing to assay the methylation state of 50 genes in the regions 1 kb upstream and downstream of their transcription start sites. Wildtype and hypermethylated Jurkat DNA (New Englad Biolabs) was treated with bisulfite to convert all unmethylated cytosines to uracil. Following bisulfite treatment, targeted amplification was carried out using a custom primer library and microdroplet PCR. PCR product was sheared to 200 bp and ligated to sequencing adapters following standard protocols. Sequencing was conducted with single-end 100 bp reads on an Illumina GAIIx for wild type Jurkat DNA or Jurkat CpG DNA with a single sample per lane.