O6-Methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter hypermethylation has recently emerged as a powerful determinant of chemotherapy sensitivity in glioblastomas. To adapt such an important epigenetic biomarker to routine application in the clinical setting, we validated the conventionally used methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) assay for its relevance in the determination o...

BACKGROUND Meningiomas are the second most common primary intracranial tumors after gliomas. Epigenetic biomarkers such as DNA methylation, which is found in many tumors and is thus important in tumorigenesis can help diagnose meningiomas and predict response to adjuvant chemotherapy. We investigated aberrant O6- methyl guanine methyltransferase (MGMT) methylation in meningiomas. MATERIALS AN...

Abnormalities in DNA methylation of CpG islands that play a role in gene regulation affect gene expression and hence play a role in disease, including cancer. Bisulfite-based DNA methylation analysis methods such as methylation-specific PCR (MSP) and bisulfite sequencing (BiSeq) are most commonly used to study gene-specific DNA methylation. Assessing specificity and visualizing the position of ...

Hypermethylated genes are emerging as some of the most promising, practical and powerful biomarkers for breast cancer detection and perhaps even of risk assessment. We have assembled a panel of methylated gene detection markers and tested them by Quantitative Multiplex Methylation-Specific PCR (QM-MSP) in breast cancer. Here we two pilot studies: 1) detection of cancer in DNA from spontaneous n...

Glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPX3) is a member of the glutathione peroxidase family of selenoproteins and is one of the key defensive enzymes against oxidative damages to host cells. Downregulation of GPX3 due to its promoter hypermethylation has been documented in several different types of cancer, indicating that GPX3 functions as a possible tumor suppressor. In the present study, we showed that...

The RASSF1A promoter is frequently methylated in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC). We examined RASSF1A promoter methylation in primary tumors, adjacent morphologically tumor cell-free tissues and corresponding circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) samples of patients with HGSC, using a real-time methylation specific PCR (real-time MSP) and a methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting analysis...

O 6-methylguanin-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) would undoubtedly be the molecule of the decade in the field of glioblastoma. More than 15 years ago, the first reports indicated that high activity of this protein in glioma tissue was associated with limited benefit from alkylating-agent chemotherapy, at that time largely nitrosoureas 1. In 2000, methylation of the promoter region of the MGMT gene...

The CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP), characterized by an exceptionally high frequency of methylation of discrete CpG islands, is observed in 18% to 25% of sporadic colorectal cancers (CRCs). Another hypermethylation pattern found in CRCs, termed LRES (long-range epigenetic silencing), is associated with DNA/histone methylation in three distinct gene clusters at chromosome 2q14.2, demonst...

UNLABELLED DNA methylation is one of the major events in the early process of gastric carcinogenesis and also occurs in non-neoplastic gastric mucosa. Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) catalyzes the methylation of various endobiotic and xenobiotic substances, and protects DNA from oxidative damage. The association between a common functional polymorphism of COMT Val158Met and DNA methylation ...

BACKGROUND Methylation of a CpG island (CGI; a dense cluster of CpGs) located in the 5' region of a gene suppresses transcription of that gene. Interferon regulatory factor 6 (IRF6) is associated with the expression of interferon, which is used as an effective adjuvant therapy for melanoma, and is regarded as a tumor suppressor. However, little is known about the methylation status of the IRF6 ...