Project description:Polymicrogyria (PMG) is a developmental cortical malformation characterized by an excess of small and frustrane gyration and abnormal cortical lamination. PMG frequently associates with seizures. The molecular pathomechanisms underlying PMG development are not yet understood. About 40 genes have been associated with PMG, and small copy number variations have also been described in selected patients. We recently provided evidence that epilepsy-associated structural brain lesions can be classified based on genomic DNA methylation patterns. Here we analyzed 27 PMG patients employing array-based DNA-methylation profiling on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded material. A series of 63 well-characterized non-PMG cortical malformations (focal cortical dysplasia type 2a/b and hemimegalencephaly), temporal lobe epilepsy, and non-epilepsy autopsy controls was used as reference cohort. Unsupervised dimensionality reduction and hierarchical cluster analysis of DNA methylation profiles showed that PMG formed a distinct DNA methylation class. Copy number profiling from DNA methylation data identified a uniform duplication spanning the entire long arm of chromosome 1 in 7 out of 27 PMG patients, which was verified by additional fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis. In respective cases about 50% of nuclei in the center of the PMG lesion were 1q triploid. No chromosomal imbalance was seen in adjacent, architecturally normal-appearing tissue indicating mosaicism. Clinically, PMG 1q patients presented with a unilateral frontal or hemispheric PMG without hemimegalencephaly, a severe form of intractable epilepsy with seizure onset in the first months of life, and severe developmental delay. Our results show that PMG can be classified among other structural brain lesions according to their DNA methylation profile. One subset of PMG with distinct clinical features exhibits a duplication of chromosomal arm 1q.
Project description:Gene amplifications and deletions frequently contribute to tumorigenesis. Characterization of these DNA copy-number changes is important for both the basic understanding of cancer and its diagnosis. Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) was developed to survey DNA copy-number variations across a whole genome. With CGH, differentially labelled test and reference genomic DNAs are co-hybridized to normal metaphase chromosomes, and fluorescence ratios along the length of chromosomes provide a cytogenetic representation of DNA copy-number variation. CGH, however, has a limited ( approximately 20 Mb) mapping resolution, and higher-resolution techniques, such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), are prohibitively labour-intensive on a genomic scale. Array-based CGH, in which fluorescence ratios at arrayed DNA elements provide a locus-by-locus measure of DNA copy-number variation, represents another means of achieving increased mapping resolution. Published array CGH methods have relied on large genomic clone (for example BAC) array targets and have covered only a small fraction of the human genome. cDNAs representing over 30,000 radiation-hybrid (RH)-mapped human genes provide an alternative and readily available genomic resource for mapping DNA copy-number changes. Although cDNA microarrays have been used extensively to characterize variation in human gene expression, human genomic DNA is a far more complex mixture than the mRNA representation of human cells. Therefore, analysis of DNA copy-number variation using cDNA microarrays would require a sensitivity of detection an order of magnitude greater than has been routinely reported. We describe here a cDNA microarray-based CGH method, and its application to DNA copy-number variation analysis in breast cancer cell lines and tumours. This study is described more fully in Pollack JR et al.(1999) Nat Genet 23:41-6 Keywords: other
Project description:Multiple myeloma (MM) remains incurable despite the introduction of novel agents and a relapsing course is observed in the majority of patients. Although the development of genomic technologies has greatly improved our understanding of MM pathogenesis, the mechanisms underlying relapse have been less investigated. In this study, an integrative analysis of DNA copy number, DNA methylation and gene expression was conducted in matched diagnosis and relapse samples from 17 MM patients. Overall, the acquisition of abnormalities at relapse was much more frequent than the lost of lesions present at diagnosis, and DNA losses were significantly more frequent at relapse than in diagnosis samples. Interestingly, copy number abnormalities involving more than 100 Mb of DNA at relapse significantly impact the gene expression of these samples, provoking a particular deregulation of IL-8 pathway. On the contrary, no relevant modifications of gene expression were observed in those samples with less than 100 Mb affected by chromosomal changes. Although different statistical approaches were used to uncover genes whose abnormal expression at relapse was regulated by DNA methylation, only two genes significantly deregulated in relapse samples (SORL1 and GLT1D1) showed a negative methylation-expression correlation. A deeper analysis demonstrated that DNA methylation was involved in regulation of SORL1 expression in MM. Finally, relevant changes in gene expression observed in relapse samples, such us downregulation of CD27 and P2RY8, were not apparently preceded by alterations in corresponding DNA. Taken together, these results showed that genomic heterogeneity, both at the DNA and RNA level, is a hallmark of MM transition from diagnosis to relapse. Please note that an a first step all analyses were carried out independently in each series, being the number of samples of 40 in methylation, 38 in SNP and 34 in expression series. In the next step, association studies were performed only in the overlapping samples, being 34 matching samples between expression and methylation and 32 samples between expression and SNP data.
Project description:Acquired chromosomal DNA copy gains are a feature of many tumors; however, the mechanisms that underpin oncogene amplifi cation are poorly understood. Recent studies have begun to uncover the importance of epigenetic states and histone lysine methyltrans_x0002_ferases (KMT) and demethylases (KDM) in regulating transient site-specifi c DNA copy-number gains (TSSG). In this study, we reveal a critical interplay between a myriad of lysine methyltransferases and demethylases in modulating H3K4/9/27 methylation balance to control extrachromosomal amplifi ca_x0002_tion of the EGFR oncogene. This study further establishes that cellular signals (hypoxia and EGF) are able to directly promote EGFR amplifi cation through modulation of the enzymes controlling EGFR copy gains. Moreover, we demonstrate that chemical inhibitors targeting specifi c KMTs and KDMs are able to promote or block extrachromosomal EGFR amplifi cation, which identifi es potential therapeu
Project description:We assessed DNA methylation and copy number status of 27,000 CpGs in 149 urothelial carcinomas and integrated the findings with gene expression and mutation data. Methylation was associated with gene expression for 1,332 CpGs, of which 26% showed positive correlation with expression, i.e., high methylation and high gene expression levels. These positively correlated CpGs were part of specific transcription factor binding sites, such as sites for MYC and CREBP1, or located in gene bodies. Furthermore, we found genes with copy number gains, low expression and high methylation levels, revealing an association between methylation and copy number levels. This phenomenon was typically observed for developmental genes, such as HOX genes and tumor suppressor genes. In contrast, we also identified genes with copy number gains, high expression and low methylation levels. This was for instance observed for some keratin genes. Tumor cases could be grouped into four subgroups, termed epitypes, by their DNA methylation profiles. One epitype was influenced by the presence of infiltrating immune cells, two epitypes were mainly composed of non-muscle invasive tumors, and the remaining epitype of muscle invasive tumors. The polycomb complex protein EZH2 that blocks differentiation in embryonic stem cells showed increased expression both at the mRNA and protein levels in the muscle invasive epitype, together with methylation of polycomb target genes and HOX genes. Our data highlights HOX gene silencing and EZH2 expression as mechanisms to promote a more undifferentiated and aggressive state in UC.