• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1171-1176
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• 2014

Objective: The tumor suppressor gene, Ras-association domain family (RASSF)2A, is inactivated by promoter hypermethylation in many cancers. The current study was performed to evaluate the methylation status of RASSF2A in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) tissues and plasma, and correlations with gene expression and clinicopathologic characteristics. Method: We detected methylation of the RASSF2A gene in tissues and corresponding plasma samples from 47 EOC patients and 14 patients with benign ovarian tumors and 10 with normal ovarian tissues. The methylation status was determined by methylation-specific PCR while gene expression of mRNA was examined by RT-PCR. The EOC cell line, SKOV3, was treated with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-azadC). Results: RASSF2A mRNA expression was significantly low in EOC tissues. The frequency of aberrant methylation of RASSF2A was 51.1% in EOC tissues and 36.2% in corresponding plasma samples, whereas such hypermethylation was not detected in the benign ovarial tumors and normal ovarian samples. The expression of RASSF2A mRNA was significantly down-regulated or lost in the methylated group compared to the unmethylated group (p<0.05). After treatment with 5-aza-dC, RASSF2A mRNA expression was significantly restored in the Skov3 cell line. Conclusion: Epigenetic inactivation of RASSF2A through aberrant promoter methylation may play an important role in the pathogenesis of EOC. Methylation of the RASSF2A gene in plasma may be a valuable molecular marker for the early detection of EOC.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.170-175
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• 2019

Objective: Uncoupling protein 3 gene (UCP3) is a candidate gene associated with the meat quality of pigs. The aim of this study was to explore the regulation mechanism of UCP3 expression and provide a theoretical basis for the research of the function of porcine UCP3 gene in meat quality. Methods: Bisulfite sequencing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR (Q-PCR) were used to analyze the methylation of UCP3 5′-flanking region and UCP3 mRNA expression in the adipose tissue or skeletal muscle of three pig breeds at different ages (1, 90, 210-day-old Putian Black pig; 90-day-old Duroc; and 90-day-old Dupu). Results: Results showed that two cytosine-guanine dinucleotide (CpG) islands are present in the promoter region of porcine UCP3 gene. The second CpG island located in the core promoter region contained 9 CpG sites. The methylation level of CpG island 2 was lower in the adipose tissue and skeletal muscle of 90-day-old Putian Black pigs compared with 1-day-old and 210-day-old Putian Black pigs, and the difference also existed in the skeletal muscle among the three 90-day-old pig breeds. Furthermore, the obvious changing difference of UCP3 mRNA expression was observed in the skeletal muscle of different groups. However, the difference of methylation status and expression level of UCP3 gene was not significant in the adipose tissue. Conclusion: Our data indicate that UCP3 mRNA expression level was associated with the methylation status of UCP3 promoter in the skeletal muscle of pigs.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.133-139
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• 2008

DNA methylation is one of the reasons for poor survival of clone animals. The OCT-4 gene is essential for maintaining pluripotency of embryonic stem (ES) cells and early embryos. We previously reported that the 5'-promoter region of Oct-4 gene was a target of DNA methylation and the methylation status was changed variously during embryonic development in bovine. The study conducted to examine the expression and methylation pattern of tissue-dependent differentially methylated region (T-DMR) of Oct-4 gene in bovine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) blastocysts. The Oct-4 gene expression was evaluated by RT-PCR and fluorescence immunocytochemistry. The methylation pattern of T-DMR was analyzed using restriction mapping and bisulfite sequencing methods. The Oct-4 transcripts were highly expressed in IVF, while they were not expressed in SCNT. The Oct-4 protein was not detected or expressed at very low level in SCNT, the intensity of Oct-4 protein, however, was strong in IVF. On the other hand, the T-DMR of Oct-4 gene was hypermethylated in SCNT compared to that of IVF. These results suggested that expression and the failure of demethylation of Oct-4 gene was closely associated with incomplete development of SCNT embryos.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9955-9960
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• 2014

Background: Promoter hypermethylation is a common event in human cancer. O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is a gene involved in DNA repair, which is methylated in a variety of cancers. We aimed to explore the methylation status of MGMT gene among the North Eastern population where esophageal cancer incidence and exposure to carcinogens like nitrosamines is high. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 newly diagnosed esophageal cancer cases along with equal number of age, sex and ethnicity matched controls were included in this study. Methylation specific PCR was used to determine the MGMT methylation status in serum samples. Results: Aberrant promoter methylation of the MGMT gene was detected in 70% of esophageal cancer cases. Hypermethylation of MGMT gene was found to be influenced by environmental factors like betel quid and tobacco which contain potent carcinogens like nitrosamines. Tobacco chewing and tobacco smoking habit synergistically with MGMT methylation elevated the risk for esophageal cancer development [adjusted OR=5.02, 95% CI=1.35-18.74; p=0.010 for tobacco chewing and Adjusted OR=3.00, 95% CI=1.22-7.36; p=0.014 for tobacco smoking]. Conclusions: Results suggest that the DNA hypermethylation of MGMT is an important mechanism for MGMT gene silencing resulting in esophageal cancer development and is influenced by the environmental factors. Thus MGMT hypermethylation can be used as a biomarker for esophageal cancer in high incidence region of North East India.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.466-473
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• 2013

Gene expression is regulated by a wide range of mechanisms at the DNA sequence level. In addition, gene expression is also regulated by epigenetic mechanisms through DNA methylation, histone modification, and ncRNA. To understand the regulation of gene expression at the epigenetic level, we constructed aging related gene database and analyzed epigenetic properties that are focused on DNA methylation. The DNA methylation of promoter or upstream region of the genes induces to repress the gene expression. We compared and analyzed distribution between whole human genes and aging related genes in the epigenetic properties such as CGI distribution, methylation motif pattern, and TFBS (transcription factor binding site) distribution. In contrast to methylation motif pattern, CGI and TFBS distributions are positively correlated with epigenetic regulation of aging related gene expression. In this study, the epigenetic data about DNA methylation of the aging genes will provide us to understand phenomena of the aging and epigenetic mechanism for regulation of aging related genes.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.452-456
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• 2015

Obesity is the fifth leading risk for death globally, and a significant challenge to global health. It is a common, complex, non-malignant disease and develops due to interactions between the genes and the environment. DNA methylation can act as a downstream effector of environmental signals; analysis of this process therefore holds substantial promise for identifying mechanisms through which genetic and environmental factors jointly contribute to disease risk. To assess the effects of excessive weight and obesity on gene-specific methylation levels of promoter regions, we determined the methylation status of four genes involved in inflammation and oxidative stress [interleukin 6 (IL6), tumor necrosis factor ${\alpha}$ ($TNF{\alpha}$), mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), and glucose transport 4 (GLUT4)] in blood cell-derived DNA from healthy women volunteers with a range of body mass indices (BMIs) by methylation-specific PCR. Interestingly, the samples from obese individuals ($BMI{\geq}30kg/m^2$) showed significantly increased hypermethylation for IL6 gene compared to normal weight ($BMI<23kg/m^2$) and overweight sample ($23kg/m^2{\leq}BMI<30kg/m^2$) (P = 0.034 and P = 0.026). However there was no statistically significant difference in promoter methylation of the other 3 genes between each group. These findings suggest that aberrant DNA methylation of IL6 gene promoter may play an important role in the etiology and pathogenesis of obesity and IL6 methylation could be used as molecular biomarker for obesity risk assessment. Further studies are required to elucidate the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.139-145
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• 2009

DNA methylation is known to play an important role in the regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes. In this study, we isolated NtMET1 from Nicotiana tabacum cv. Havana (SR1) and obtain transgenic plants that reduced MET1 expression level with the double-strand RNA (dsRNA) MET1 gene. Transgenic tobacco plants showed dwarf and abnormal flower development when compared with the wild type. Using methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) analysis, the patterns of cytosine methylation in transformed plants and the wild type were compared. MseI/HpaII selection primers showed an interesting polymorphism, and 153 DNA bands of interest were detected. Among these, 30 selective fragments were sequenced and analyzed with a BLAST search by successful MSAP modifications. The homology search showed that the transposons and tandem repeated sequences were related to the phenotypes. These results suggested that the decreased degree of methylation by dsRNA strategy caused abnormal growth and development in N. tabacum.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.21
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• pp.9479-9485
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• 2014

Background: Cancer initiation and progression are controlled by genetic and epigenetic events. One epigenetic process which is widely known is DNA methylation, a cause of gene silencing. If a gene is silenced the protein which it encodes will not expressed. Objectives: 1. Identify the methylation status of BRCA1 in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC)and assess BRCA1 protein expression in tumor tissue. 2. Examine whether BRCA1 gene methylation and BRCA1 protein are associated with survival of epithelial ovarian cancer patients. Methods: The study design was a prospective-cohort study, conducted at Sardjito hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Results: A total of 69 cases were analyzed in this study. The data showed that the methylation status of BRCA1 in EOC was positive in 89.9%, with clear protein expression of BRCA1 in 31.9%. Methylation status and expression of BRCA1 were not prognosticators of EOC patients. Menarche, CA125 level, clinical stage and residual tumor were independent factors for prognosis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.4 s.84
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• pp.522-528
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• 2007

In the present investigation, we studied the modulating effects of caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate(EGCG) on the methylation status of promoter regions of cell cycle regulator, p16, in human breast cancer T-47D cells. We demonstrated that treatment of T-47D cells with caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, or EGCG partially inhibited the methylation status of the promoter regions of p16 genes determined by methylation-specific PCR. In contrast, unmethylated p16 genes were increased with the treatment of T-47D cells with $20{\mu}M$ of caffeic acid or chlorogenic acid for 6 days. Treatment of T-47D cells with 5, 20 or $50{\mu}M$ of EGCG increased the unmethylation status of p16 gene up to 100%, and the methylation-specific bands of this gene were decreased up to 50% in a concentration-dependent manner. The finding of present study demonstrated that coffee polyphenols and EGCG have strong inhibitory effects of the cellular DNA methylation process through increased formation of S-adenosyl-homocysteine(SAH) during the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT)- mediated O-methylation of these dietary chemicals or an direct inhibition of the DNA methyltransferases. In conclusion, various dietary polyphenols could reverse the methylation status of p16 gene in human breast T-47D cells.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.320-325
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• 2007

Promoter hypermethylation of the $p16^{INK4a}$ gene was investigated in 52 sets of samples of tumor tissue and adjacent normal tissue from Korean patients with colorectal cancer, using the proposed modified the Real-time PCR/SYBR Green detection method presented in this study. In normal tissue, 29 of 52 patients (56%) were methylated and in tumor tissue, 23 of 52 patients (44%) were methylated. The 34 cases (65.4%) showed a concordant DNA methylation pattern in both normal tissue and tumor tissue. Analyzing the association between the clinicopathologic features and DNA methylation status of the $p16^{INK4a}$ gene, the DNA methylation status according to by Duke's stage was different while other clinicopathological characteristics, including the age, sex, tumor stage, and histologic type of the patient were not found to be correlated with $p16^{INK4a}$ methylation. With multivariate logistic regression, it was observed that the DNA methylation status of $p16^{INK4a}$ gene in normal tissue was correlated with the DNA methylation status of the $p16^{INK4a}$ gene in tumor tissue (P=0.026). According to a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, a difference in the survival rate by DNA methylation status was found, but it was not significant.