Loss of epigenetic suppression of retrotransposons with oncogenic potential in aging mammary luminal epithelial cells.

ABSTRACT: A primary function of DNA methylation in mammalian genomes is to repress transposable elements (TEs). The widespread methylation loss that is commonly observed in cancer cells results in the loss of epigenetic repression of TEs. The aging process is similarly characterized by changes to the methylome. However, the impact of these epigenomic alterations on TE silencing and the functional consequences of this have remained unclear. To assess the epigenetic regulation of TEs in aging, we profiled DNA methylation in human mammary luminal epithelial cells (LEps)-a key cell lineage implicated in age-related breast cancers-from younger and older women. We report here that several TE subfamilies function as regulatory elements in normal LEps, and a subset of these display consistent methylation ch

SUBMITTER: Senapati P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10547379 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature