人脑胶质瘤CXCL12基因的甲基化分析研究

Objective To detect the methylation status of CXCL12 gene and the mRNA expression of CXCL12, CXCR4 and DNA methyhransferases (DNMTs) in glioma, and to analyze the methylation regulation and mechanism of CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling axis in the malignant progress of glioma. Methods The mRNA expression of CXCL12, CXCR4, DNMT1, DNMT3A and DNMT3B was detected by the semi - quantitative RT - PCR and real - time PCR in 76 gliomas and 10 normal brain tissues. The methylation status of CXCL12 in glioma was also studied by the methylation specific PCR. Results ( 1 ) The mRNA expression of CXCR4 in glioma increased with WHO grades. (2) Methylation of CXCL12 was detected in 34. 2% ( 26/76 ) of gliomas, but the methylation rate decreased with WHO grades. ( 3 ) Epigenetic inactivation of CXCL12 mainly happened in low- grade gliomas, and the CXCL12 mRNA levels were closely related to its methylation status. (4) The expression levels of these three DNMT genes were significantly higher in the CXCL12 - methylated gliomas than in the CXCL12 - unmethylated ones. Conclusion The CXCR4 gene may be a marker of aggressive biological behavior of glioma. The CXCL12 promoter hypermethylation is detected mainly in low - grade gliomas. And the methylaiton of CXCL12 gene cause the down - regulation of its mRNA levels in low - grade gliomas. The high expressions of DNMT1、DNMT3A and DNMT3B may be the potential mechanism of CXCL12 methylation.

The methylation analysis of CXCL12 gene in human glioma