Project description:While genetic mutation is a hallmark of cancer, many cancers also acquire epigenetic alterations during tumorigenesis including aberrant DNA hypermethylation of tumor suppressors as well as changes in chromatin modifications as caused by genetic mutations of the chromatin-modifying machinery. However, the extent of epigenetic alterations in cancer cells has not been fully characterized. Here, we describe the first complete methylome maps at single nucleotide resolution of a low-passage breast cancer cell line and primary human mammary epithelial cells. We find widespread DNA hypomethylation in the cancer cell, primarily at partially methylated domains (PMDs) in normal breast cells. Unexpectedly, genes within these regions are largely silenced in cancer cells. The loss of DNA methylation in these regions is accompanied by formation of repressive chromatin, with a significant fraction displaying allelic DNA methylation where one allele is DNA methylated while the other allele is occupied by histone modifications H3K9me3 or H3K27me3. Our results show a mutually exclusive and complementary relationship between DNA methylation and H3K9me3 or H3K27me3. These results suggest that global DNA hypomethylation in breast cancer is tightly linked to the formation of repressive chromatin domains and gene silencing, thus identifying a potential epigenetic pathway for gene regulation in cancer cells and suggesting a possible new approach toward the development of cancer therapeutics. mRNA-Seq of polyA-selected RNA from breast cancer HCC1954 and normal breast HMEC. 36 cycles of sequencing on Illumina platform.
Project description:Differential gene expression between normal breast epithelial cells and the malignant counterpart was studied using microarray technique. We utilized GeneAlbum GEM 1-6 from Incyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which contains which contains 65,873 cDNA clones (57,172 clones excluding controls), representing 33,515 individual genes. The normal human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) from 3 donors were used to search different gene expression patterns among individuals, ages and races. In addition, 8 well-established breast cancer cell lines were used as probes against a common normal HMEC from 50 years old donor Keywords: other
Project description:Gene transcription can be regulated by remote enhancer regions through chromosome looping either in cis or in trans. Cancer cells are characterized by wholesale changes in long-range gene interactions, but the role that these long-range interactions play in cancer progression and metastasis is not well understood. In this study, we used IGFBP3, a gene involved in breast cancer pathogenesis, as bait in a 4C-seq experiment comparing normal breast cells (HMEC) with two breast cancer cell lines (MCF7, an ER positive cell line, and MDA-MB-231, a triple negative cell line). The IGFBP3 long-range interaction profile was substantially altered in breast cancer. Many interactions seen in normal breast cells are lost and novel interactions appear in cancer lines. We found that in HMEC, the breast carcinoma amplified sequence gene family (BCAS) 1-4 were among the top 10 most significantly enriched regions of interaction with IGFBP3. 3D-FISH analysis indicated that the translocation-prone BCAS genes, which are located on chromosomes 1, 17 and 20, are in close physical proximity with IGFBP3 and each other in normal breast cells. We also found that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a gene implicated in tumorigenesis, interacts significantly with IGFBP3 and that this interaction may play a role in their regulation. Breakpoint analysis suggests that the interchromosomal rearrangements seen in the MCF7 cancer cell line involve regions that engage in long-range interactions in normal breast cells. Overall, our data from multiple lines of evidence suggest an important role for long-range chromosomal interactions in the pathogenesis of cancer.