Abstract
Background: In vertebrates, DNA methylation occurs primarily at CG dinucleotides but recently, non-CG methylation has been found at appreciable levels in embryonic stem cells. Materials & methods: To assess non-CG methylation in cancer, we compared the extent of non-CG methylation at several biologically important CG islands in prostate cancer and normal cell lines. An assessment of the promoter CG islands EVX1 and FILIP1L demonstrates a fourfold higher rate of non-CG methylation at EVX1 compared with FILIP1L across all cell lines. These loci are densely methylated at CG sites in cancer. Results: No significant difference in non-CG methylation was demonstrated between cancer and normal. Treatment of cancer cell lines with 5-azacytidine significantly reduced methylation within EVX1 at CG and CC sites, preferentially. Conclusion: Non-CG methylation does not correlate with CG methylation at hypermethylated promoter regions in cancer. Furthermore, global inhibition of DNA methyltransferases does not affect all methylated cytosines uniformly.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 65-71 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Epigenomics |
Volume | 5 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2013 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- 5-azacytidine
- EVX1
- epigenetics
- non-CG methylation
- prostate cancer
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Genetics
- Cancer Research