LINE-1 hypomethylation is inversely associated with microsatellite instability and CpG island methylator phenotype in colorectal cancer.
The CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) with widespread promoter CpG island methylation is a phenotype in colorectal cancer, associated with microsatellite instability (MSI) and BRAF mutation. Genome-wide hypomethylation may also play an important role in genomic instability. However, the relation between global DNA methylation level and methylation in individual CpG islands remains uncertain. Utilizing 869 population-based colorectal cancers, we measured long interspersed nucleotide element-1 (LINE-1) methylation level by Pyrosequencing, which correlates with global DNA methylation level. We quantified DNA methylation in 8 CIMP-specific promoters (CACNA1G, CDKN2A (p16), CRABP1, IGF2, MLH1, NEUROG1, RUNX3 and SOCS1) by real-time PCR (MethyLight technology). LINE-1 methylation levels in tumors were approximately normally distributed (mean, 61.4%; median, 62.3%; standard deviation, 9.6%). Among the 869 tumors, 128 (15%) were classified as CIMP-high (>or=6/8 methylated promoters). The mean LINE-1 methylation level was higher in CIMP-high tumors (65.1%, p < 0.0001) than non-CIMP-high tumors (60.7%), and higher in MSI-high tumors (64.7%, p < 0.0001) than non-MSI-high tumors (60.7%). When tumors were stratified by MSI/CIMP status, compared to non-MSI-high non-CIMP-high tumors (mean LINE-1 methylation level, 60.4%), the mean LINE-1 methylation level was higher in MSI-high CIMP-high (64.8%, p < 0.0001), MSI-high non-CIMP-high (64.6%, p = 0.03) and non-MSI-high CIMP-high tumors (66.1%, p = 0.0003). In addition, 18q loss of heterozygosity in non-MSI-high tumors was correlated with LINE-1 hypomethylation (p = 0.004). In conclusion, both CIMP-high and MSI-high are inversely associated with LINE-1 hypomethylation, suggesting that CIMP/MSI and genomic hypomethylation may represent different pathways to colorectal cancer. Our data also support a possible link between global hypomethylation and chromosomal instability.
Ogino
Shuji
S
Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA. shuji_ogino@dfci.harvard.edu
Kawasaki
Takako
T
Nosho
Katsuhiko
K
Ohnishi
Mutsuko
M
Suemoto
Yuko
Y
Kirkner
Gregory J
GJ
Fuchs
Charles S
CS
D000368:Aged; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D018899:CpG Islands; D019175:DNA Methylation; D005260:Female; D042822:Genomic Instability; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D020084:Long Interspersed Nucleotide Elements; D019656:Loss of Heterozygosity; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype