REC8 is a novel tumor suppressor gene epigenetically robustly targeted by the PI3K pathway in thyroid cancer.

ABSTRACT: The role of the PI3K pathway in human cancer has been well established, but much of its molecular mechanism, particularly the epigenetic aspect, remains to be defined. We hypothesized that aberrant methylation and hence altered expression of certain unknown important genes induced by the genetically activated PI3K pathway signaling is a major epigenetic mechanism in human tumorigenesis. Through a genome-wide search for such genes that were epigenetically controlled by the PI3K pathway in thyroid cancer cells, we found a wide range of genes with broad functions epigenetically targeted by the PI3K pathway. The most prominent among these genes was REC8, classically known as a meiotic-specific gene, which we found to be robustly down-regulated by the PI3K pathway through hypermethylation. REC8

SUBMITTER: Liu D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4770767 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature