DNA Methylation Screening Identifies Driver Epigenetic Events of Cancer Cell Survival

Overview

Journal Cancer Cell

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Oncology

Date 2012 May 26

PMID 22624715

Citations 145

Authors

Daniel D De Carvalho

Shikhar Sharma

Jueng Soo You

Sheng-Fang Su

Phillippa C Taberlay

Theresa K Kelly

Xiaojing Yang

Gangning Liang

Peter A Jones

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Cancer cells typically exhibit aberrant DNA methylation patterns that can drive malignant transformation. Whether cancer cells are dependent on these abnormal epigenetic modifications remains elusive. We used experimental and bioinformatic approaches to unveil genomic regions that require DNA methylation for survival of cancer cells. First, we surveyed the residual DNA methylation profiles in cancer cells with highly impaired DNA methyltransferases. Then, we clustered these profiles according to their DNA methylation status in primary normal and tumor tissues. Finally, we used gene expression meta-analysis to identify regions that are dependent on DNA methylation-mediated gene silencing. We further showed experimentally that these genes must be silenced by DNA methylation for cancer cell survival, suggesting these are key epigenetic events associated with tumorigenesis.

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