Progressive region-specific de novo methylation of the p16 CpG island in primary human mammary epithelial cell strains during escape from M(0) growth arrest.

ABSTRACT: CpG island methylation plays an important role in normal cellular processes, such as genomic imprinting and X-chromosome inactivation, as well as in abnormal processes, such as neoplasia. However, the dynamics of de novo CpG island methylation, during which a CpG island is converted from an unmethylated, active state to a densely methylated, inactive state, are largely unknown. It is unclear whether the development of de novo CpG island methylation is a progressive process, in which a subset of CpG sites are initially methylated with a subsequent increase in methylation density, or a single event, in which the initial methylation event encompasses the entire CpG island. The tumor suppressor gene p16/CDKN2a/INK4a (p16) is inactivated by CpG island methylation during neoplastic progression i

SUBMITTER: Wong DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC84416 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature