CpG island hypermethylation has been recognized as an alternative mechanism for tumor suppressor gene inactivation. In this study, we performed methylation-specific PCR (MSP) to investigate the methylation status of 10 selected tumor suppressor genes in neuroblastoma. Seven of the investigated genes (CD44, RASSF1A, CASP8, PTEN, ZMYND10, CDH1, PRDM2) showed high frequencies (> or =30%) of methylation in 33 neuroblastoma cell lines. In 42 primary neuroblastoma tumors, the frequencies of methylation were 69%, CD44; 71%, RASSF1A; 56%, CASP8; 25%, PTEN; 15%, ZMYND10; 8%, CDH1; and 0%, PRDM2. Furthermore, CASP8 and CDH1 hypermethylation was significantly associated with poor event-free survival. Meta-analysis of 115 neuroblastoma tumors demonstrated a significant correlation between CASP8 methylation and MYCN amplification. In addition, there was a correlation between ZMYND10 methylation and MYCN amplification. The MSP data, together with optimized mRNA re-expression experiments (in terms of concentration and time of treatment and use of proper reference genes) further strengthen the notion that epigenetic alterations could play a significant role in NB oncogenesis. This study thus warrants the need for a global profiling of gene promoter hypermethylation to identify genome-wide aberrantly methylated genes in order to further understand neuroblastoma pathogenesis and to identify prognostic methylation markers.
Pubmed ID: 18819746 RIS Download
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Software to determine most stable reference (housekeeping) genes from set of tested candidate reference genes in given sample panel. From this, gene expression normalization factor can be calculated for each sample based geometric mean of user-defined number of reference genes.
View all literature mentionsDatabase for primer and probe sequences used in real-time PCR assays employing popular chemistries (SYBR Green I, Taqman, Hybridization Probes, Molecular Beacon) to prevent time-consuming primer design and experimental optimization, and to introduce a certain level of uniformity and standardization among different laboratories. Researchers are encouraged to submit their validated primer and probe sequence, so that other users can benefit from their expertise. The database can be queried using the official gene name or symbol, Entrez or Ensembl Gene identifier, SNP identifier, or oligonucleotide sequence. Different options make it possible to restrict a query to a particular application (Gene Expression Quantification/Detection, DNA Copy Number Quantification/Detection, SNP Detection, Mutation Analysis, Fusion Gene Quantification/Detection, Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)), organism (Human, Mouse, Rat, and others) or detection chemistry.
View all literature mentionsA public database holding PCR primers for popular DNA methylation analysis methods to prevent time-consuming primer design and experimental optimisation.
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