Project description:Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most aggressive solid tumors and oncogenic pathways (e.g Akt, IGF signaling) are often activated in high proliferating HCC. Among several genetic alterations, epigenetic changes seem to be involved in the development and progression of HCC. DNA hypermethylation of promoter regions is almost always associated with transcriptional silencing and can lead to inactivation of tumor suppressor genes (TSG) in cancer cells. Aim: (1) To identify genes differently methylated in a subclass of HCC associated with proliferation and, (2) To correlate methylation changes with activation of molecular pathways. Methods: gDNA of 20 HCC, 8 cirrhotic and 8 normal liver samples was extracted and the methylation status was detected by the Illumina HumanMethylation27 BeadChip and immunohistochemistry of p-AKT, pIGF IR, p-S6 was analyzed. Results: Unsupervised clustering clearly classified normal livers, cirrhosis and HCC in 3 different groups. 961 genes were significantly hypermethylated in HCC compared to cirrhotic and 3942 genes showed hypermethylation in cirrhotic compared to normal liver tissue. 163 genes showed stepwise significant hypermethylation from normal to cirrhotic to HCC, including well described (p16, SOCS2, SFRP5, RBP1) and potential (SRD5A2, PCDH8, IGF-1R, UCHL1) TSGs, and the miR-10a. 133 genes were specifically hypermethylated in HCC. Among them the transcription factors GATA2, DLX1, and KLF14, all significantly inversely correlated to gene expression (p=0.003, p=0.03, and p=0.007, respectively). The methylation status of SOCS2 (p=0.025) and DLX1 (p=0.025) was significantly correlated to phosphorylation of IGFR1. Samples with RBP1 hypermethylation showed significantly higher AFP serum levels (p=0.018). Conclusion: Whole genome methylation analysis markedly classifies normal, cirrhotic and HCC samples. 8 TSGs play a key role in this stepwise progression of hypermethylation in the development of HCC and could be a promising point of action in anticancer therapy. Genomic DNA extracted from fresh frozen tissue specimens and cell lines was hybridized to genome-wide mthylation beadarray after bisulphite treatment. Keywords: DNA methylation, hepatocellular carcinoma, tissue, cell line

Project description:Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most aggressive solid tumors and oncogenic pathways (e.g Akt, IGF signaling) are often activated in high proliferating HCC. Among several genetic alterations, epigenetic changes seem to be involved in the development and progression of HCC. DNA hypermethylation of promoter regions is almost always associated with transcriptional silencing and can lead to inactivation of tumor suppressor genes (TSG) in cancer cells. Aim: (1) To identify genes differently methylated in a subclass of HCC associated with proliferation and, (2) To correlate methylation changes with activation of molecular pathways. Methods: gDNA of 20 HCC, 8 cirrhotic and 8 normal liver samples was extracted and the methylation status was detected by the Illumina HumanMethylation27 BeadChip and immunohistochemistry of p-AKT, pIGF IR, p-S6 was analyzed. Results: Unsupervised clustering clearly classified normal livers, cirrhosis and HCC in 3 different groups. 961 genes were significantly hypermethylated in HCC compared to cirrhotic and 3942 genes showed hypermethylation in cirrhotic compared to normal liver tissue. 163 genes showed stepwise significant hypermethylation from normal to cirrhotic to HCC, including well described (p16, SOCS2, SFRP5, RBP1) and potential (SRD5A2, PCDH8, IGF-1R, UCHL1) TSGs, and the miR-10a. 133 genes were specifically hypermethylated in HCC. Among them the transcription factors GATA2, DLX1, and KLF14, all significantly inversely correlated to gene expression (p=0.003, p=0.03, and p=0.007, respectively). The methylation status of SOCS2 (p=0.025) and DLX1 (p=0.025) was significantly correlated to phosphorylation of IGFR1. Samples with RBP1 hypermethylation showed significantly higher AFP serum levels (p=0.018). Conclusion: Whole genome methylation analysis markedly classifies normal, cirrhotic and HCC samples. 8 TSGs play a key role in this stepwise progression of hypermethylation in the development of HCC and could be a promising point of action in anticancer therapy.

Project description:A large-scale characterization of the methylation states of candidate CpG islands (CGIs) throughout the gastric cancer methylome has not previously been conducted. Genome-wide DNA methylation profiles were compared between 4 metastatic and 4 non-metastatic gastric carcinomas (GCs) and their surgical margins (SMs). The GC genome showed significantly higher proportions of hypomethylation in the promoter and exon-1 regions, as well as increased hypermethylation of intragenic fragments when compared to SMs. Differential methylation was observed in CGIs near transcription start sites of 546 genes between GCs and SMs, and 601 genes between metastatic and non-metastatic GCs. From the list of differentially methylated CGIs, 68 candidate genes and 10 known tumor-related genes were selected for further characterization based on their known molecular function using DHPLC. Significant differential methylation was validated in the CGIs of 15 genes between GCs and SMs (Ps<0.05) and confirmed using bisulfite-sequencing. These genes include BMP3, BNIP3, CDKN2A, ECEL1, ELK1, GFRA1, HOXD10, KCNH1, PSMD10, PTPRT, SIGIRR, SRF, TBX5, TFPI2, and ZNF382. Hypomethylation of CGIs correlated with up-regulation of GFRA1 expression in GCs, while hypermethylation of other genes inactivated their transcription. Most importantly, prevalence of GFRA1, SRF, and ZNF382 methylation alterations were inversely and coordinately associated with GC metastasis and the patients’ overall survival throughout discovery and testing cohorts in China as well as independent validation cohorts in Japan and Korea. In conclusion, methylation changes in the CGIs of 15 genes correlated strongly with GC development. GFRA1 hypomethylation and SRF and ZNF382 hypermethylation are potential synergistic biomarkers for the prediction of GC metastasis. To identify differential methylation of CGIs related to GC development and metastasis, genome-wide DNA methylation changes in 8 pairs of GC and SM samples were analysed using the MCAM assay with a 99K custom-designed Agilent oligonucleotide microarray composed of 99,027 probes targeting 6,177 unique protein-coding genes containing at least two methylation-sensitive/insensitive SmaI/ XmaI restriction sites (CCC|GGG/ C|CmCGGG) as described in Shen et al, PLoS Genet 3, 2023-2036 (2007).

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DNA methylation activated full-length EMX1 facilitates metastasis through EMX1-EGFR-ERK axis in hepatocellular carcinoma

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