title: DNA methylation accounts for the inhibition of collagen VI expression in transformed fibroblasts.
abstract: The expression of collagen VI, an adhesive glycoprotein of the extracellular matrix, is completely inhibited in virally transformed fibroblasts and in many cell lines derived from spontaneous mesenchymal tumors. Here we present evidence that DNA methylation plays an important role in this inhibition: (a) The mRNA level for DNA methyltransferase is highly increased in simian virus 40 (SV40)-transformed fibroblasts compared with normal cells and this increase correlates with the decrease of the mRNA level for collagen VI. (b) Methylation of the alpha2(VI) collagen promoter in vitro abolishes promoter activity in a transient transfection assay. (c) Genomic sequencing reveals extensive methylation of the promoter region in SV40-transformed cells, but virtually no methylation of the corresponding region in normal cells. Increased methylation is also observed in a rhabdomyosarcoma cell line. (d) Two of the cis-acting elements of the alpha2(VI) collagen promoter lose their affinity for transcription factor AP2 when methylated in vitro as demonstrated by gel retardation experiments. DNA methylation is therefore involved in the silencing of the alpha2(VI) collagen gene. It seems likely that the same mechanism is also responsible for the repression of other transformation-sensitive proteins.
authors.affiliation: MEM-Institute, Division of Biology, University of Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: M U
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Kopp
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Winterhalter
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Trueb
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D003094:Collagen / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism; D005354:Fibrosarcoma; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012208:Rhabdomyosarcoma; D013539:Simian virus 40; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D003094:Collagen; D008780:Methyltransferases