The cancer/testis antigen melanoma-associated antigen-A3/A6 is a novel target of fibroblast growth factor receptor 2-IIIb through histone H3 modifications in thyroid cancer.

PURPOSE Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signals play fundamental roles in development and tumorigenesis. Thyroid cancer is an example of a tumor with nonoverlapping genetic mutations that up-regulate mitogen-activated protein kinase. We reported recently that FGF receptor 2 (FGFR2) is down-regulated through extensive DNA promoter methylation in thyroid cancer. Reexpression of the FGFR2-IIIb isoform impedes signaling upstream of the BRAF/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway to interrupt tumor progression. In this analysis, we examined a novel target of FGFR2-IIIb signaling, melanoma-associated antigen-A3 and A6 (MAGE-A3/6). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN cDNA microarray analysis was done on human WRO thyroid cancer cells transfected with FGFR2-IIIb or empty vector. Identified gene target was confirmed by reverse transcription-PCR and Western blotting. Gene regulation was examined by treatment of WRO cells with the methylation inhibitor 5'-azacytidine followed by methylation-specific PCR and reverse transcription-PCR and by chromatin immunoprecipitation. RESULTS Gene expression profiling identified the cancer/testis antigen MAGE-A3/6 as a novel target of FGFR2-IIIb signaling. MAGE-A3/6 regulation was mediated through DNA methylation and chromatin modifications. In particular, FGF7/FGFR2-IIIb activation resulted in histone 3 methylation and deacetylation associated with the MAGE-A3/6 promoter to down-regulate gene expression. CONCLUSIONS These data unmask a complex repertoire of epigenetically controlled signals that govern FGFR2-IIIb and MAGE-A3/6 expression. Our findings provide insights into the interrelationship between novel tumor markers that may also represent overlapping therapeutic targets.