DNA methylation of Bcl-2 family genes in cancer cells. |
Youngsuep Kang, Sun Young Lee, Sang Gun Jung, Jiyou Han, Jeong Jae Ko, Jeehyeon Bae, Young Junh Na, Chan Lee, Jung Un Mock, Sung Jo Kim, Yoon Young Hwang |
1Graduate School of Life Science & Biotechnology, Pochon CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, South Korea. jeehyeon1@naver.com 2Women's Cancer Clinic, Pochon CHA Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea. |
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Abstract |
OBJECTIVE Promoter methylation of Bcl-2 family genes in cancer cells were studied to verify possible correlation between DNA methylation pattern of Bcl-2 family members and cancer. METHODS: The genomic DNAs were extracted from different cancer cell lines, HeLa, CaSki and K562, and ovarian cancer tissue from patients. The cytosine residues were converted to uracil by sodium bisulfite treatment. MSP (methylation specific PCR) was performed to determine the methylation status of Bcl-2, Mcl-1, Noxa, and Harakiri promoters. Using primers that distinguish methylated DNA from unmethylated DNA after bisulfite modification of DNA, MSP was conducted to observe the methylation pattern of Bcl-2 family genes in different cancer cells. RESULTS: The promoter regions of Bcl-2 family genes including Mcl-1, Bcl-2, and Noxa were not methylated in cancer cells, whereas the proapoptotic Bcl-2 family gene Harakiri was detected as methylated in the cancer cell lines and hypomethylated in the ovarian cancer tissue. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated the differential methylation profiles of Bcl-2 family genes in cancerous cells, which suggests a possible connection between the methylation pattern of some of Bcl-2 family genes and ovarian cancer. |
Key Words:
Cancer, Bcl-2 family, DNA methylation, MSP |
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