Project description:Abstract; Background: Promoter hypermethylation coupled with loss of heterozygosity at the same locus results in loss of gene function in many tumor cells. The ârulesâ governing which genes are methylated during the pathogenesis of individual cancers, how specific methylation profiles are initially established, or what determines tumor-type specific methylation are unknown. However, DNA methylation markers that are highly specific and sensitive for common tumors would be useful for the early detection of cancer, and those required for the malignant phenotype identify pathways important as therapeutic targets. Methods and Findings: In an effort to identify new cancer-specific methylation markers, we employed a high throughput global expression profiling approach in lung cancer cells. We identified 132 genes that have 5â CpG islands, are induced from undetectable levels by 5-aza-2â-deoxycytidine (5-aza) in multiple non-small cell lung cancer cell lines, and are expressed in immortalized human bronchial epithelial cells. As expected, these genes were also expressed in normal lung, but often not in companion primary lung cancers. Methylation analysis of a subset (45/132) of these promoter regions in primary lung cancer (N=20) and adjacent non-malignant tissue showed that 31 genes had acquired methylation in the tumors, but did not show methylation in normal lung or lymphocytes. We studied the eight most frequently and specifically methylated genes from our lung cancer data set in breast cancer (N=37), colon cancer (N=24), and prostate cancer (N=24) along with counterpart non-malignant tissues. We found that seven loci were frequently methylated in both breast and lung cancers, with four showing extensive methylation in all four epithelial tumors. Conclusions: By using a systematic biological screen we identified multiple genes that are methylated with high penetrance in primary lung, breast, colon, and prostate cancers. The cross-tumor methylation pattern we observed for these novel markers suggests that we have identified a partial promoter hypermethylation signature for these common malignancies. These data suggest that while tumors in different tissues vary substantially with respect to gene expression, there may be commonalities in their promoter methylation profiles that represent potential targets for early detection screening or therapeutic intervention. Experiment Overall Design: Drug treatment: control, 100 nM, 1 uM Experiment Overall Design: Cancer vs. Normal Comparison: NSCLC vs. Normal
Project description:BACKGROUND: Promoter hypermethylation coupled with loss of heterozygosity at the same locus results in loss of gene function in many tumor cells. The "rules" governing which genes are methylated during the pathogenesis of individual cancers, how specific methylation profiles are initially established, or what determines tumor type-specific methylation are unknown. However, DNA methylation markers that are highly specific and sensitive for common tumors would be useful for the early detection of cancer, and those required for the malignant phenotype would identify pathways important as therapeutic targets. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In an effort to identify new cancer-specific methylation markers, we employed a high-throughput global expression profiling approach in lung cancer cells. We identified 132 genes that have 5' CpG islands, are induced from undetectable levels by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine in multiple non-small cell lung cancer cell lines, and are expressed in immortalized human bronchial epithelial cells. As expected, these genes were also expressed in normal lung, but often not in companion primary lung cancers. Methylation analysis of a subset (45/132) of these promoter regions in primary lung cancer (n = 20) and adjacent nonmalignant tissue (n = 20) showed that 31 genes had acquired methylation in the tumors, but did not show methylation in normal lung or peripheral blood cells. We studied the eight most frequently and specifically methylated genes from our lung cancer dataset in breast cancer (n = 37), colon cancer (n = 24), and prostate cancer (n = 24) along with counterpart nonmalignant tissues. We found that seven loci were frequently methylated in both breast and lung cancers, with four showing extensive methylation in all four epithelial tumors. CONCLUSIONS: By using a systematic biological screen we identified multiple genes that are methylated with high penetrance in primary lung, breast, colon, and prostate cancers. The cross-tumor methylation pattern we observed for these novel markers suggests that we have identified a partial promoter hypermethylation signature for these common malignancies. These data suggest that while tumors in different tissues vary substantially with respect to gene expression, there may be commonalities in their promoter methylation profiles that represent targets for early detection screening or therapeutic intervention. Experiment Overall Design: We compared the gene expression changes HBEC and NSCLC cells before and after treatment with 5-aza-2'deoxycytidine.
Project description:Purpose: Generate genome-wide methylation profiles of non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) and their matching lung tissues for detection of hypermethylated and hypomethylated regions present in the tumors. Methods: MethylCapture followed by next-generation sequencing (Illumina GAIIx) of 7 nsclc tumor samples and paired lung tissues in replicated, plus one cell line, 2 fully artificially methylated and 2 fully artificially unmethylated controls. Normalization of methylation reads based on CpG coupling factor–method. Relative methylation scores (rms) in 500bp non-overlapping windows. 90th percentile of rpm (reads per million) values for all 500bp genome-wide windows, with rpm <1.33 were considered. Distributions of 10bp bins rms values within each 500bp genomic region were compared using both one-sided Student’s t-test and one-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Testing was done separately for hypo- and hypermethylation and p-value threshold of 10-18. Results: MethylCap-seq data revealed strong positive correlation between replicate experiments and between paired tumor/lung samples. 14472 differentially methylated regions (DMR) with non-overlapping 500 bp windows were found. 57 DMRs were present in all NSCLC tumors. 287 were unique for squamous-cell carcinomas and 26 unique for adenocarcinomas. 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. Conclusion: 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. The DMRs can be in further studies to develop sensitive biological markers for NSCLC, which may enable non-invasive diagnosis and early detection of the disease, and potentially allow histological classification. MethylCap-seq of 7 nsclc tumor samples and paired lung tissues, plus 2 fully methylated and 2 fully unmethylated controls.
Project description:Abstract Background: Promoter hypermethylation coupled with loss of heterozygosity at the same locus results in loss of gene function in many tumor cells. The “rules” governing which genes are methylated during the pathogenesis of individual cancers, how specific methylation profiles are initially established, or what determines tumor-type specific methylation are unknown. However, DNA methylation markers that are highly specific and sensitive for common tumors would be useful for the early detection of cancer, and those required for the malignant phenotype identify pathways important as therapeutic targets. Methods and Findings: In an effort to identify new cancer-specific methylation markers, we employed a high throughput global expression profiling approach in lung cancer cells. We identified 132 genes that have 5’ CpG islands, are induced from undetectable levels by 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine (5-aza) in multiple non-small cell lung cancer cell lines, and are expressed in immortalized human bronchial epithelial cells. As expected, these genes were also expressed in normal lung, but often not in companion primary lung cancers. Methylation analysis of a subset (45/132) of these promoter regions in primary lung cancer (N=20) and adjacent non-malignant tissue showed that 31 genes had acquired methylation in the tumors, but did not show methylation in normal lung or lymphocytes. We studied the eight most frequently and specifically methylated genes from our lung cancer data set in breast cancer (N=37), colon cancer (N=24), and prostate cancer (N=24) along with counterpart non-malignant tissues. We found that seven loci were frequently methylated in both breast and lung cancers, with four showing extensive methylation in all four epithelial tumors. Conclusions: By using a systematic biological screen we identified multiple genes that are methylated with high penetrance in primary lung, breast, colon, and prostate cancers. The cross-tumor methylation pattern we observed for these novel markers suggests that we have identified a partial promoter hypermethylation signature for these common malignancies. These data suggest that while tumors in different tissues vary substantially with respect to gene expression, there may be commonalities in their promoter methylation profiles that represent potential targets for early detection screening or therapeutic intervention. Keywords: Cell line comparison
Project description:BACKGROUND: Promoter hypermethylation coupled with loss of heterozygosity at the same locus results in loss of gene function in many tumor cells. The "rules" governing which genes are methylated during the pathogenesis of individual cancers, how specific methylation profiles are initially established, or what determines tumor type-specific methylation are unknown. However, DNA methylation markers that are highly specific and sensitive for common tumors would be useful for the early detection of cancer, and those required for the malignant phenotype would identify pathways important as therapeutic targets. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In an effort to identify new cancer-specific methylation markers, we employed a high-throughput global expression profiling approach in lung cancer cells. We identified 132 genes that have 5' CpG islands, are induced from undetectable levels by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine in multiple non-small cell lung cancer cell lines, and are expressed in immortalized human bronchial epithelial cells. As expected, these genes were also expressed in normal lung, but often not in companion primary lung cancers. Methylation analysis of a subset (45/132) of these promoter regions in primary lung cancer (n = 20) and adjacent nonmalignant tissue (n = 20) showed that 31 genes had acquired methylation in the tumors, but did not show methylation in normal lung or peripheral blood cells. We studied the eight most frequently and specifically methylated genes from our lung cancer dataset in breast cancer (n = 37), colon cancer (n = 24), and prostate cancer (n = 24) along with counterpart nonmalignant tissues. We found that seven loci were frequently methylated in both breast and lung cancers, with four showing extensive methylation in all four epithelial tumors. CONCLUSIONS: By using a systematic biological screen we identified multiple genes that are methylated with high penetrance in primary lung, breast, colon, and prostate cancers. The cross-tumor methylation pattern we observed for these novel markers suggests that we have identified a partial promoter hypermethylation signature for these common malignancies. These data suggest that while tumors in different tissues vary substantially with respect to gene expression, there may be commonalities in their promoter methylation profiles that represent targets for early detection screening or therapeutic intervention. Keywords: Dose response, cell-type comparison,
Project description:PURPOSE: Non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) comprise multiple distinct biological groups with different prognoses. For example, patients with epithelial-like (EL) tumors have a better prognosis and exhibit greater sensitivity to inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway than patients with mesenchymal-like (ML) tumors. Here we test the hypothesis that EL NSCLCs can be distinguished from ML NSCLCs on the basis of global DNA methylation patterns. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: To determine whether phenotypic subsets of NSCLC can be defined based on their DNA methylation patterns, we combined microfluidics-based gene expression analysis and genome-wide methylation profiling. We derived robust classifiers for both gene expression and methylation in cell lines and tested these classifiers in surgically resected NSCLC tumors. We validate our approach using quantitative RT-PCR and methylation specific PCR in formalin-fixed biopsies from NSCLC patients who went on to fail front-line chemotherapy. RESULTS: We show that patterns of methylation divide NSCLCs into EL and ML subsets as defined by gene expression and that these signatures are similarly correlated in NSCLC cell lines and tumors. We identify multiple DMRs, including ERBB2 and ZEB2, whose methylation status is strongly associated with an epithelial phenotype in NSCLC cell lines, surgically resected tumors, and formalin-fixed biopsies from NSCLC patients who went on to fail front-line chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that patterns of DNA methylation can divide NSCLCs into two phenotypically distinct subtypes of tumors and provide proof of principle that differences in DNA methylation can be used for predictive biomarker discovery and development. To determine whether phenotypic subsets of NSCLC can be defined based on their DNA methylation patterns, we combined microfluidics-based gene expression analysis and genome-wide methylation profiling. We derived robust classifiers for both gene expression and methylation in cell lines and tested these classifiers in surgically resected NSCLC tumors. We validate our approach using quantitative RT-PCR and methylation specific PCR in formalin-fixed biopsies from NSCLC patients who went on to fail front-line chemotherapy.
Project description:Background: DNA methylation is an important component of epigenetic modifications that influences the transcriptional machinery and is aberrant in many human diseases. In particular, dysregulation of promoter methylation in cancer has already been shown to be associated with repression of tumor suppressors and activation of oncogenes. In addition, detection of altered promoter methylation status is suitable for the design of diagnostic or prognostic tests. In this study we present a new methodological approach for the robust identification of promoter methylation markers and the first genome-wide study for the detection of methylation markers in melanoma. Methods and Findings: Genome-wide promoter methylation and gene expression of ten early passage melanoma cell strains are compared to newborn and adult normal melanocytes. For the identification of markers we applied linear mixed effect models (LME) in combination with a series of filters based on the localization of promoter methylation relative to the transcription start site, overall promoter CpG content, and differential gene expression. The aim of this methodology is to identify markers whose promoter differential methylation is likely to be functionally related to differential expression. We identified 76 markers, 68 hyper- and 8-hypo-methylated in melanomas (LME P<0.05). Promoter methylation profiles and differential expression of five of these markers were successfully validated. In addition, promoter demethylation following Aza treatment consistently restored expression of markers hyper-methylated in melanoma. Conclusions: The proposed methodology allows the identification of robust markers and can be applied to other experimental scenarios where promoter methylation is evaluated. More importantly, the list of markers represents the first systematic effort in the identification of methylation markers in melanoma. Many of the identified markers were not previously known to be regulated by promoter methylation and/or associated with this or other types of cancer.
Project description:Purpose: Generate genome-wide methylation profiles of non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) and their matching lung tissues for detection of hypermethylated and hypomethylated regions present in the tumors. Methods: MethylCapture followed by next-generation sequencing (Illumina GAIIx) of 7 nsclc tumor samples and paired lung tissues in replicated, plus one cell line, 2 fully artificially methylated and 2 fully artificially unmethylated controls. Normalization of methylation reads based on CpG coupling factor–method. Relative methylation scores (rms) in 500bp non-overlapping windows. 90th percentile of rpm (reads per million) values for all 500bp genome-wide windows, with rpm <1.33 were considered. Distributions of 10bp bins rms values within each 500bp genomic region were compared using both one-sided Student’s t-test and one-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Testing was done separately for hypo- and hypermethylation and p-value threshold of 10-18. Results: MethylCap-seq data revealed strong positive correlation between replicate experiments and between paired tumor/lung samples. 14472 differentially methylated regions (DMR) with non-overlapping 500 bp windows were found. 57 DMRs were present in all NSCLC tumors. 287 were unique for squamous-cell carcinomas and 26 unique for adenocarcinomas. 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. Conclusion: 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. The DMRs can be in further studies to develop sensitive biological markers for NSCLC, which may enable non-invasive diagnosis and early detection of the disease, and potentially allow histological classification.
Project description:We conducted an in vivo genome-wide CRISPR activation screen to identify genes that accelerate distal metastasis by breast cancer patient-derived circulating tumor cells (CTCs) following direct intravascular inoculation in mice. Regulators of translation and ribosomal proteins were prominent among these, and expression of RPL15, a component of the large ribosome subunit, was sufficient to increase metastatic growth in multiple organs. RPL15 overexpression selectively increases translation of other ribosomal proteins and cell cycle regulators. Unsupervised analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing of freshly-isolated CTCs from breast cancer patients identifies a subset with strong ribosomal and protein translation signatures, correlated with increased proliferative markers, epithelial markers and poor clinical outcome. Thus, ribosome protein expression identifies an aggressive subset of CTCs, whose therapeutic targeting may suppress metastatic progression.