Bivalent domains enforce transcriptional memory of DNA methylated genes in cancer cells.

ABSTRACT: Silencing of multiple cancer-related genes is associated with de novo methylation of linked CpG islands. Additionally, bivalent histone modification profiles characterized by the juxtaposition of active and inactive histone marks have been observed in genes that become hypermethylated in cancer. It is unknown how these ambiguous epigenetic states are maintained and how they interrelate with adjacent genomic regions with different epigenetic landscapes. Here, we present the analysis of a set of neighboring genes, including many frequently silenced in colon cancer cells, in a chromosomal region at 5q35.2 spanning 1.25 Mb. Promoter DNA methylation occurs only at genes maintained at a low transcriptional state and is characterized by the presence of bivalent histone marks, namely trimethylatio

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2596747 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature