HOX gene clusters are hotspots of de novo methylation in CpG islands of human lung adenocarcinomas.
CpG island methylation results in the silencing of the associated gene and is an important step in tumorigenesis. Following a comprehensive isolation of CpG islands that were methylated in human lung adenocarcinoma, we found that in cancer cells de novo CpG island methylation generally occurred in a sporadic manner. However, some methylated CpG islands appeared to cluster in discrete chromosomal regions. In this study, we have investigated the methylation status of CpG islands located at such chromosomal loci. We have found that many CpG islands at the HOXA and HOXD loci were methylated in human lung adenocarcinoma. The de novo methylation of these CpG islands was also observed in patient's DNA from noncancerous portions of lung tissue. These results indicate the presence of specific chromosomal regions that are susceptible to de novo methylation.
Shiraishi
Masahiko
M
DNA Methylation and Genome Function Project, National Cancer Center Research Institute, 1-1, Tsukiji 5-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan. mshirais@ncc.go.jp
Sekiguchi
Azumi
A
Oates
Adam J
AJ
Terry
Michael J
MJ
Miyamoto
Yuji
Y
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018899:CpG Islands; D019175:DNA Methylation; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005810:Multigene Family; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors