Project description:We explored the differential methylation patterns found in cfDNA between no neoplasia (NN; individuals with no colorectal findings, benign pathologies and non-advanced adenomas) and patients with advanced neoplasia (AN; advanced adenomas and colorectal cancer) using pooled samples, for the discovery of non-invasive methylation biomarkers for CRC screening. cfDNA was extracted from serum samples and methylation measurements were assessed with the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip. Data was mainly preprocessed and analyzed with R/Bioconductor packages.
Project description:We explored the differential methylation patterns found in cfDNA between healthy controls (individuals with no colorectal findings, NCF) and patients with advanced neoplasia (advanced adenomas and colorectal cancer, AA andCRC) using pooled samples, to determine if pooled serum cfDNA samples can be used to search for non-invasive methylation biomarkers, as an affordable and efficient alternative to tissue biopsy. cfDNA was extracted from serum samples and methylation measurements were assessed with the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip. Data was mainly preprocessed and analyzed with R/Bioconductor packages.
Project description:Gene methylation profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells comparing HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs cells with human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)- and HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs. hTERT may increase gene methylation in MSCs. Goal was to determine the effects of different transfected genes on global gene methylation in MSCs.
Project description:Gene methylation profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells comparing HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs cells with human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)- and HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs. hTERT may increase gene methylation in MSCs. Goal was to determine the effects of different transfected genes on global gene methylation in MSCs. Two-condition experiment, KP MSCs vs. 3A6 MSCs.
Project description:As a non-invasive blood testing, the detection of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) methylation in plasma is raising increasing interest due to its diagnostic and biology applications. Although extensively used in cfDNA methylation analysis, bisulfite sequencing is less cost-effective. Through enriching methylated cfDNA fragments with MeDIP followed by deep sequencing, we aimed to characterize cfDNA methylome in cancer patients. In this study, we investigated the cfDNA methylation patterns in lung cancer patients by MeDIP-seq. MEDIPS package was used for the identification of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) between patients and normal ones. Overall, we identified 330 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in gene promoter regions, 33 hypermethylation and 297 hypomethylation respectively, by comparing lung cancer patients and healthy individuals as controls. The 33 hypermethylation regions represent 32 genes. Some of the genes had been previously reported to be associated with lung cancers, such as GAS7, AQP10, HLF, CHRNA9 and HOPX. Taken together, our study provided an alternative method of cfDNA methylation analysis in lung cancer patients with potential clinical applications.
Project description:Genome-wide analysis of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) methylation profile has been recognized as a promising approach for sensitive and specific detection of many cancers. However, scaling such genome-wide assays for clinical translation is impractical due to the high cost of whole genome bisulfite sequencing. We have shown that the small fraction of GC-rich genome is highly enriched in CpG sites and disproportionately harbors the majority of cancer-specific methylation signature. Here, we report on the simple but effective Heat enrichment of CpG-rich regions for Bisulfite Sequencing (Heatrich-BS) platform that allows for focused methylation profiling in these highly informative regions. Our novel method and bioinformatics algorithm enable accurate tumor burden estimation with high sensitivity and quantitative tracking of colorectal cancer patient’s response to treatment, at much reduced sequencing cost suitable for frequent monitoring. We also show, for the first time, tumor epigenetic subtyping from cfDNA using Heatrich-BS, which could enable patient stratification from non-invasive liquid biopsy. As such, Heatrich-BS holds great potential for highly scalable screening and regular monitoring of cancer using liquid biopsy.
Project description:Genome-wide analysis of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) methylation profile has been recognized as a promising approach for sensitive and specific detection of many cancers. However, scaling such genome-wide assays for clinical translation is impractical due to the high cost of whole genome bisulfite sequencing. We have shown that the small fraction of GC-rich genome is highly enriched in CpG sites and disproportionately harbors the majority of cancer-specific methylation signature. Here, we report on the simple but effective Heat enrichment of CpG-rich regions for Bisulfite Sequencing (Heatrich-BS) platform that allows for focused methylation profiling in these highly informative regions. Our novel method and bioinformatics algorithm enable accurate tumor burden estimation with high sensitivity and quantitative tracking of colorectal cancer patient’s response to treatment, at much reduced sequencing cost suitable for frequent monitoring. We also show, for the first time, tumor epigenetic subtyping from cfDNA using Heatrich-BS, which could enable patient stratification from non-invasive liquid biopsy. As such, Heatrich-BS holds great potential for highly scalable screening and regular monitoring of cancer using liquid biopsy.
Project description:Evaluation of cell free circulating DNA (cfDNA) has recently been proposed for tracking disease relapse in colorectal cancer (CRC). Such assays could overcome the issues of classical monitoring, but requires personalized assay design due to absence of common alteration. On the contrary, early methylation alterations are restricted to delimited genomic loci allowing comprehensive assay design for population study. Our objective was to identify new cancer specific methylation biomarkers fitted to assess cfDNA over treatment, thus monitoring response in the metastatic CRC (mCRC) setup. Genome wide methylation profiling of colorectal cancer cell lines (surrogate to pure tumor tissue) was carried out and compared to publically available normal healthy colon mucosa (cancer unrelated). Identified loci were validated in additional publically available cohorts. Digital PCR assays were designed for selected markers and assessed in cfDNA of self-declared healthy donors (>40 years old), and of mCRC patients. Longitudinal assessment was performed in a subset of colorectal cancer patients treated with different therapy regimen (chemotherapy or targeted agents). Samples from the current GEOset were extracted by Wizard SV Genomic DNA Purification System (Promega). DNA samples were checked for integrity by 1% agarose gel, and quantity via Picogreen quantification. All samples were bisulfite converted using the EZ DNA methylation Gold kit (Zymo Research) with a minimum input of 500ng and following manufacturer’s instructions. Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip arrays were carried out according to the Illumina Infinium HD methylation protocol.