Project description:The implication of epigenetic alterations in the pathogenesis of melanoma is increasingly recognized. Here we performed genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of primary cutaneous melanoma and benign melanocytic naevus interrogating 14,495 genes using beadchip technology. This first genome-wide view of promoter methylation in primary cutaneous melanoma revealed an array of recurrent DNA methylation alterations with potential diagnostic applications. Among 106 frequently hypermethylated genes there were many novel methylation targets and tumor suppressor genes. Highly recurrent methylation of the HOXA9, MAPK13, CDH11, PLEKHG6, PPP1R3C and CLDN11genes was established. Promoter methylation of MAPK13, encoding p38?, was present in 67% of primary and 85% of metastatic melanomas. Restoration of MAPK13 expression in melanoma cells exhibiting epigenetic silencing of this gene reduced proliferation, indicative of tumor suppressive functions. This study demonstrates that DNA methylation alterations are widespread in melanoma and suggests that epigenetic silencing of MAPK13 contributes to melanoma progression. Bisulphite converted genomic DNA from 5 fresh-frozen benign naevus and 24 fresh-frozen primary melanoma biopsy samples were hybridised to Illumina's Infinium HumanMethylation27 Beadchips
Project description:The implication of epigenetic alterations in the pathogenesis of melanoma is increasingly recognized. Here we performed genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of primary cutaneous melanoma and benign melanocytic naevus interrogating 14,495 genes using beadchip technology. This first genome-wide view of promoter methylation in primary cutaneous melanoma revealed an array of recurrent DNA methylation alterations with potential diagnostic applications. Among 106 frequently hypermethylated genes there were many novel methylation targets and tumor suppressor genes. Highly recurrent methylation of the HOXA9, MAPK13, CDH11, PLEKHG6, PPP1R3C and CLDN11genes was established. Promoter methylation of MAPK13, encoding p38?, was present in 67% of primary and 85% of metastatic melanomas. Restoration of MAPK13 expression in melanoma cells exhibiting epigenetic silencing of this gene reduced proliferation, indicative of tumor suppressive functions. This study demonstrates that DNA methylation alterations are widespread in melanoma and suggests that epigenetic silencing of MAPK13 contributes to melanoma progression.
Project description:Cutaneous, ocular and mucosal melanomas are histologically indistinguishable tumors that are driven by different spectrum of genetic alterations. With current methods, identification of the site of origin of a melanoma metastasis is challenging, in particular when the metastasis is the first tumor manifestation. Genome wide DNA methylation profiling has shown promise for the identification of the site of tumor origin in various settings. Here we explore the DNA methylation landscape of melanomas from different sites and analyze if different melanoma origins can be distinguished by their epigenetic profile. We performed DNA methylation analysis, next generation DNA panel sequencing and copy number analysis of 82 non-cutaneous and 25 cutaneous melanoma samples. We further analyzed eight normal melanocyte cell culture preparations by DNA methylation profiling. DNA methylation analysis clearly separated uveal melanomas from melanomas of other primary sites while mucosal, conjunctival and cutaneous melanomas were epigenetically almost identical. Still, we observed DNA methylation differences in cancer-related genes, such as low frequencies of RARB and CDKN2A promoter methylation in mucosal melanomas, while conjunctival melanomas frequently harbored APC promoter methylation. Furthermore, all investigated melanomas of the paranasal sinus showed loss of PTEN expression, mainly caused by promoter methylation. This was less frequently seen in melanomas of other sites. Copy number analysis revealed recurrent amplifications in mucosal melanomas, including chromosome 4q, 5p, 11q and 12q. Most melanomas of the oral cavity showed gains of chromosome 5p with TERT amplification while 11q amplifications were enriched in melanomas of the nasal cavity. Mucosal, conjunctival and cutaneous melanomas show a surprisingly similar DNA methylation profile and identification of the site of origin by DNA methylation testing is likely not feasible. Still, our study shows that there are DNA methylation differences on the gene level in known tumor drivers, related to the anatomical primary site.
Project description:Epigenetic alterations play significant roles in the melanoma tumorigenesis and malignant progression. We profiled genome-wide promoter DNA methylation patterns of melanoma cells deribed from primary lesions of Radial Growrth phase (RGP) and Vertical Growth Phase (VGP), metastatic lesions, and primary normal melanocytes by interrogating 14,495 genes using Illumina bead chip technology. By comparative analysis of the promoter methylation profiles, we identified epigenetically silenced gene signatures that potentially associated with malignant melanoma progression.
Project description:Epigenetic alterations play significant roles in the melanoma tumorigenesis and malignant progression. We profiled genome-wide promoter DNA methylation patterns of melanoma cells deribed from primary lesions of Radial Growrth phase (RGP) and Vertical Growth Phase (VGP), metastatic lesions, and primary normal melanocytes by interrogating 14,495 genes using Illumina bead chip technology. By comparative analysis of the promoter methylation profiles, we identified epigenetically silenced gene signatures that potentially associated with malignant melanoma progression. Bisulphite converted genomic DNA from a group of melanoma cells representing pathologic stages of melanoma progression (3 cell lines derived from RGP melanoma lesions, 4 cell lines derived from VGP lesions, and 3 melastatic melanomas) and normal human primary melanocytes isolated from lightly pigmented adult skin were hybridized to Illumina's Infinium HumanMethylation27 BeadChips
Project description:Genome wide methylation of superficial malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors and spindle cell melanomas. EPIC HD 850K array is used to identifiy differentally methylated promoter region probes and unique methyome signatures. Superficial/cutaneous malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (c-MPNST) is a rare, soft tissue neoplasm that shares morphological, immunohistochemical and molecular with spindle and desmoplastic melanoma (SDM). Herein we investigate a methylome signature distinguishing between both entities. DNA from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues was extracted and processed using the Illumina Infinium epic array interrogating 866,562 CpG sites. Using a home grown informatics pipeline we identify differentially methylated regions (DMR) between both entities. Functional network analysis for enrichment signatures was performed using DAVID tools. Identified DMR’s are compared with TCGA skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM) data and a recently published set of MPNST in order to assess specifity of the identified signature. Thirty patients are included (SDM= 15 and c-MPNST=15) including 23 males and 7 females. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering probes showed a distinct pattern of methylation between c-MPNST and SDM. Two probes cg20783223 and cg13332552 co-localized in the promoter region of BCAT1 and MIR2504. Pathway analysis highlighted an enrichment in s subset of genes involved in breast and gastric cancer centered on BCAT1 and downstream activated genes in the mTORC pathway. Our study identifies BCAT1 as a unique marker distinguishing between SDM and MPNST. Further immunohistochemical studies are underway to investigate the role of BCAT expression in that regard.
Project description:Malignant melanoma is the most fatal skin cancer with a high degree of genetic and epigenetic aberrations. To investigate the role of DNA methylation on melanoma heterogeneity, we performed methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) microarray analysis of 10 primary melanoma cell cultures. methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) microarray analysis of 10 primary melanoma cell cultures
Project description:Epigenetic regulation of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) has been shown to play a central role in melanomagenesis. Integrating gene expression and methylation array analysis we identified novel candidate TSGs frequently methylated in melanoma. We validated the methylation status of the most promising TSGs using the highly sensitive, specific and comprehensive Sequenom Epityper assay in a large panel of melanoma cell lines and resected melanomas, and compared the findings with that from cultured melanocytes. We found transcript levels of UCHL1, COL1A2, THBS1 and TNFRSF10D were inversely correlated with promoter methylation. The effect of this methylation on expression was confirmed at the protein level. Identification of these candidate TSGs and how their silencing is related to melanoma development will increase our understanding of the etiology of this cancer and may provide tools for its early diagnosis. Analysed samples consisted of 11 melanoma cell lines and 1 neonatal foreskin melanocyte pool as a reference. Melanoma cell lines overlap with members of the DNA copy number analysis series GSE9003 and expression profiling series GSE7127 . The matching copy number data GEO samples IDs are noted in characteristics: Matching CN Sample ID and characteristics: Matching expn Sample ID columns respectively.