Concomitant downregulation of the imprinted genes DLK1 and MEG3 at 14q32.2 by epigenetic mechanisms in urothelial carcinoma.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The two oppositely imprinted and expressed genes, DLK1 and MEG3, are located in the same gene cluster at 14q32. Previous studies in bladder cancer have suggested that tumor suppressor genes are located in this region, but these have not been identified.

Results

We observed that both DLK1 and MEG3 are frequently silenced in urothelial cancer tissues and cell lines. The concomitant downregulation of the two genes is difficult to explain by known mechanisms for inactivating imprinted genes, namely deletion of active alleles or epitype switching. Indeed, quantitative PCR revealed more frequent copy number gains than losses in the gene cluster that were, moreover, consistent within each sample, excluding gene losses as the cause of downregulation. Instead, we observed

SUBMITTER: Greife A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4348104 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature