title: Contribution of epigenetic mechanisms to variation in cancer risk among tissues.
abstract: Recently, it was suggested that tissue variation in cancer risk originates from differences in the number of stem-cell divisions underlying each tissue, leading to different mutation loads. We show that this variation is also correlated with the degree of aberrant CpG island DNA methylation in normal cells. Methylation accumulates during aging in a subset of molecules, suggesting that the epigenetic landscape within a founder-cell population may contribute to tumor formation.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Research of Chromatin and Aging, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Institute of Dental Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel 91120.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klutstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel 91120.|School of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel 91904.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moss
authors.affiliation: School of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel 91904.
authors.forename: Tommy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel 91120; cedar@mail.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cedar
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018899:CpG Islands; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008957:Models, Genetic; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009928:Organ Specificity; D012306:Risk; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*
keywords: aging; methylation; polycomb