Genetic and epigenetic alterations of the EGFR and mutually independent association with BRCA1, MGMT,and RASSF1A methylations in Vietnamese lung adenocarcinomas

Genetic and epigenetic alterations importantly contribute to the pathogenesis of lung cancer. In the study, we measured the frequency and distribution of molecular abnormalities of EGFR as well as the aberrant promoter methylations of BRCA1, MGMT, MLH1, and RASSF1A in Vietnamese lung adenocarcinomas. We investigated the association between genetic and epigenetic alteration, and between each abnormality with clinicopathologic parameters. Somatic EGFR mutation that was found in 49/139 (35.3%) lung adenocarcinomas showed a significant association with young age, female gender, and non-smokers. EGFR overexpression was identified in 82 tumors (59.0%) and statistical relationships with EGFR or BRCA1 methylation but not EGFR mutation. In addition, EGFR, BRCA1, MGMT, MLH1, and RASSF1A methylations were found in 33 (23.7%), 41 (29.5%), 46 (33.1%), 28 (20.1%), and 41 (29.5%) cases of a total of 139 lung adenocarcinomas, respectively. The RASSF1A methylation was found to be linked to the smoking habit. Methylations in MGMT and RASSF1A were also found to correlate with metastasis status. Furthermore, the distribution of EGFR mutation and that of BRCA1, MGMT or RASSF1A methylation were significantly exclusive in lung adenocarcinomas. The main finding of our study demonstrate that epigenetic abnormalities might play a critical role for the lung tumorigenesis in patients with smoking history and metastasis, and partly affect the predictive value of EGFR mutations through blocking expression due to promoter EGFR hypermethylation. Mutually exclusive distribution of genetic and epigenetic alterations reflects differently biological characteristics in the etiology of lung adenocarcinomas.     

DNA methylation of the ELOVL2, FHL2, KLF14, C1orf132/MIR29B2C,and TRIM59 genes for age prediction from blood,saliva, and buccal swab samples

Many studies have reported age-associated DNA methylation changes and age-predictive models in various tissues and body fluids. Although age-associated DNA methylation changes can be tissue-specific, a multi-tissue age predictor that is applicable to various tissues and body fluids with considerable prediction accuracy might be valuable. In this study, DNA methylation at 5 CpG sites from the ELOVL2, FHL2, KLF14, C1orf132/MIR29B2C, and TRIM59 genes were investigated in 448 samples from blood, saliva, and buccal swabs. A multiplex methylation SNaPshot assay was developed to measure DNA methylation simultaneously at the 5 CpG sites. Among the 5 CpG sites, 3 CpG sites in the ELOVL2, KLF14 and TRIM59 genes demonstrated strong correlation between DNA methylation and age in all 3 sample types. Age prediction models built separately for each sample type using the DNA methylation values at the 5 CpG sites showed high prediction accuracy with a Mean Absolute Deviation from the chronological age (MAD) of 3.478 years in blood, 3.552 years in saliva and 4.293 years in buccal swab samples. A tissue-combined model constructed with 300 training samples including 100 samples from each blood, saliva and buccal swab samples demonstrated a very strong correlation between predicted and chronological ages (r = 0.937) and a high prediction accuracy with a MAD of 3.844 years in the 148 independent test set samples of 50 blood, 50 saliva and 48 buccal swab samples. Although more validation might be needed, the tissue-combined model’s prediction accuracies in each sample type were very much similar to those obtained from each tissue-specific model. The multiplex methylation SNaPshot assay and the age prediction models in our study would be useful in forensic analysis, which frequently involves DNA from blood, saliva, and buccal swab samples.     

凝血栓蛋白1基因异常甲基化与大肠腺癌关联

目的 探讨凝血栓蛋白l（THBS1）基因启动子CpG岛异常甲基化与大肠腺癌及其临床病理特征的关联。方法 THBS1基因甲基化状态用甲基化特异性PCR检测。结果 大肠腺癌、癌旁组织中，THBSI基因启动子cpG岛甲基化率的差异有显著性（X^2=5．93，P=0．025）；老年患者肿瘤组织中THBS1基因甲基化率明显商于非老年患者（X^2=5.68，P=0．017），直径≥3cm的肿瘤组织中THBSl基因甲基化率显著高于直径〈3cm的肿瘤（X^2=4．16，P=0．041），C期和D期肿瘤组织中THBS1基因甲基化率显著高于A期或B期肿瘤（X^2=8．04，u=2，P=0．018）。结论 THBS1基因甲基化与大肠腺癌的发生有关，肿瘤以老年、晚期和直径较大的肿瘤多见。     

胰腺癌中p16基因甲基化改变及其蛋白表达分析

目的:探讨胰腺癌与癌旁组织中p16基因启动子区异常甲基化的改变及其蛋白表达的特点,以及其与胰腺癌发生发展的关系。方法:分别采用免疫组化SP法及甲基化特异PCR(MSP)检测46例人胰腺癌和癌旁组织中p16基因表达及其甲基化的水平,并结合临床资料进行分析。结果:胰腺癌中p16蛋白表达率为41.3%(19/46),而癌旁组织表达率为95.7%(44/46),两者有差异显著性(P<0.01)。p16蛋白阳性的19例胰腺癌标本中均未检出基因甲基化;p16蛋白缺失的27例标本中有18例检出基因甲基化,甲基化率为39.1%。p16基因甲基化与蛋白缺失有明显关系(P<0.05)。p16基因表达及其启动子区甲基化的发生率与胰腺癌的大小,患者性别﹑年龄的差异无显著意义(P>0.05),但与组织分化程度﹑淋巴结转移﹑PTNM分期有显著意义(P<0.05)。结论:p16基因启动子的异常甲基化可影响p16蛋白的表达,它们与胰腺癌的发生发展有关;p16甲基化和蛋白表达可能成为胰腺癌诊断及预后的候选标志物之一。     

树舌多糖GF对小鼠HepA瘤基因组DNA甲基化影响的实验研究

目的初步探讨树舌多糖GF对小鼠HepA瘤基因组甲基化的影响.方法提取基因组DNA,采用限制性酶切片段长度多态性分析的方法进行甲基化检测.结果 HpaII酶切结果:树舌多糖组可见3个条带,猪苓对照组可见3个条带, 阴性对照组可见4个条带,正常对照组可见2个条带.MspI酶切结果:树舌多糖组可见6个条带,猪苓对照组可见5个条带,阴性对照组可见5个条带,正常对照组可见6个条带.结论小鼠HepA瘤基因组DNA是低甲基化的,树舌多糖GF有阻碍小鼠HepA瘤基因组DNA低甲基化发生的趋势,可能还具有抗5mC的突变的作用.     

肾母细胞瘤RASSF1A基因启动子区甲基化研究

目的了解肾母细胞瘤RASSF1A基因启动子区甲基化情况。方法手术获取9例肾母细胞瘤及瘤旁残留肾组织,提取DNA后用亚硫酸氢钠处理,巢式PCR扩增RASSF1A基因启动子区DNA片段,测序,检测启动子区甲基化情况。结果发现1例16个CpG岛位点中有10个存在甲基化(10/16),相应瘤旁残留肾组织无甲基化(0/16);在另1例瘤组织中检测到12个CpG岛位点存在甲基化(12/16),但仅有8个CpG岛位点与上例相同,另外4个位点不同。结论肾母细胞瘤中RASSF1A基因启动子区存在甲基化,与瘤旁残留肾组织甲基化情况有差别。     

肿瘤细胞中的表观遗传编码紊乱

不改变基因的DNA编码,通过改变DNA双链与组蛋白间紧密度来决定基因是否转录表达,这称为表观遗传编码机制。表观遗传编码的生理作用是通过组蛋白修饰和DNA甲基化,调控细胞在适当的时间、空间位置表达适当的基因,从而控制细胞的增殖状况和分化方向。在细胞发育过程中,细胞内DNA甲基化水平增龄性增高,基因转录活性逐渐降低,使细胞从幼稚增殖进入成熟分化。肿瘤细胞中出现表观遗传编码紊乱,致细胞增殖失控,不能进入分化成熟阶段。基因启动子出现甲基化重排,阻碍转录因子与启动子结合,导致基因转录丧失正常调控,合成成熟功能蛋白受阻。利用表观遗传机制(如,RNA干涉)可成为肿瘤治疗的新方法。     

启动子区5′CpG岛去甲基化对人结肠癌细胞生物学表型的影响

目的：探讨DNA启动子区5′CpG岛甲基化状态与人结肠癌RKO细胞增殖凋亡等生物学特征的关系。方法： 应用特异性DNA甲基转移酶（DNMTs）抑制剂-5-氮-2′-脱氧胞苷（5-Aza-2′-deoxycytidine，5-Aza-CdR）处理肠癌RKO细胞72 h，甲基化特异性PCR（methylation-specific PCR,MSP）及DNA测序法分析p16/CDKN2基因CpG岛甲基化状态；MTT、FCM、荧光染色及透射电镜检测启动子区去甲基化后细胞生长、形态和细胞周期凋亡的影响。 结果： DNMTs抑制剂能较好地逆转启动子区胞嘧啶甲基化状态；CpG岛去甲基化后能明显地抑制肠癌细胞的生长，增加细胞群体倍增时间（P<0.01），诱导肠癌细胞凋亡，影响肠癌细胞周期分布，并具有良好的量效依赖关系。 结论： 通过逆转CpG岛高甲基化能有效地抑制肠癌细胞增殖，为临床治疗大肠癌提供新的作用靶点。