TET2 mutations are associated with specific 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine profiles in patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) has recently been associated with a high incidence of diverse mutations in genes such as TET2 or EZH2 that are implicated in epigenetic mechanisms. We have performed genome-wide DNA methylation arrays and mutational analysis of TET2, IDH1, IDH2, EZH2 and JAK2 in a group of 24 patients with CMML. 249 genes were differentially methylated between CMML patients and controls. Using Ingenuity pathway analysis, we identified enrichment in a gene network centered around PLC, JNK and ERK suggesting that these pathways, whose deregulation has been recently described in CMML, are affected by epigenetic mechanisms. Mutations of TET2, JAK2 and EZH2 were found in 15 patients (65%), 4 patients (17%) and 1 patient (4%) respectively while no mutations in the IDH1 and IDH2 genes were identified. Interestingly, patients with wild type TET2 clustered separately from patients with TET2 mutations, showed a higher degree of hypermethylation and were associated with higher risk karyotypes. Our results demonstrate the presence of aberrant DNA methylation in CMML and identifies TET2 mutant CMML as a biologically distinct disease subtype with a different epigenetic profile.     

A comparison study reveals important features of agreement and disagreement between summarized DNA and RNA data obtained from renal cell carcinoma

Cytogenetic abnormalities, such as DNA amplifications and deletions, often lead to significant changes in gene expression levels within a chromosomal region. Instead of generating additional DNA copy number data, one method to identify DNA copy number abnormalities has been to search existing gene expression data for regional perturbations in gene expression. However, it is not clear how well this surrogate method performs in the examination of individual tumors and how we can use both DNA and RNA data to identify candidate genes that may be mutated. Here we report a comparison study using summarized DNA and RNA data to identify chromosomal abnormalities in human samples. Forty-four tissue samples from patients diagnosed as having renal cell carcinoma (RCC) were collected, together with 15 normal kidney samples as controls, and for each sample the genome-wide DNA and RNA data were obtained for comparison using Affymetrix 100K SNP and HGU133plus2 gene expression chips, respectively. The DNA and RNA data was summarized by both chromosome arm and cytogenetic banding patterns and compared. The result of this analysis revealed that the two summarized data sets used to identify cytogenetic changes agreed well. However, some differences between the two were also identified. These differences of large-scale gene expression deregulation without evidence of the comparable DNA copy number alterations may be the result of known mechanisms, such as large-scale methylation or chromosome inactivation, or may be the result of some new mechanism of DNA-RNA translation. The usefulness of the combined data set for identifying regions of mutated genes is also discussed.     

Epigenetic Transgenerational Actions of Vinclozolin on Promoter Regions of the Sperm Epigenome

Previous observations have demonstrated that embryonic exposure to the endocrine disruptor vinclozolin during gonadal sex determination promotes transgenerational adult onset disease such as male infertility, kidney disease, prostate disease, immune abnormalities and tumor development. The current study investigates genome-wide promoter DNA methylation alterations in the sperm of F3 generation rats whose F0 generation mother was exposed to vinclozolin. A methylated DNA immunoprecipitation with methyl-cytosine antibody followed by a promoter tilling microarray (MeDIP-Chip) procedure was used to identify 52 different regions with statistically significant altered methylation in the sperm promoter epigenome. Mass spectrometry bisulfite analysis was used to map the CpG DNA methylation and 16 differential DNA methylation regions were confirmed, while the remainder could not be analyzed due to bisulfite technical limitations. Analysis of these validated regions identified a consensus DNA sequence (motif) that associated with 75% of the promoters. Interestingly, only 16.8% of a random set of 125 promoters contained this motif. One candidate promoter (Fam111a) was found to be due to a copy number variation (CNV) and not a methylation change, suggesting initial alterations in the germline epigenome may promote genetic abnormalities such as induced CNV in later generations. This study identifies differential DNA methylation sites in promoter regions three generations after the initial exposure and identifies common genome features present in these regions. In addition to primary epimutations, a potential indirect genetic abnormality was identified, and both are postulated to be involved in the epigenetic transgenerational inheritance observed. This study confirms that an environmental agent has the ability to induce epigenetic transgenerational changes in the sperm epigenome.     

Epigenetics: differential DNA methylation in mammalian somatic tissues

Epigenetics refers to heritable phenotypic alterations in the absence of DNA sequence changes, and DNA methylation is one of the extensively studied epigenetic alterations. DNA methylation is an evolutionally conserved mechanism to regulate gene expression in mammals. Because DNA methylation is preserved during DNA replication it can be inherited. Thus, DNA methylation could be a major mechanism by which to produce semi-stable changes in gene expression in somatic tissues. Although it remains controversial whether germ-line DNA methylation in mammalian genomes is stably heritable, frequent tissue-specific and disease-specific de novo methylation events are observed during somatic cell development/differentiation. In this minireview, we discuss the use of restriction landmark genomic scanning, together with in silico analysis, to identify differentially methylated regions in the mammalian genome. We then present a rough overview of quantitative DNA methylation patterns at 4600 NotI sites and more than 150 differentially methylated regions in several C57BL/6J mouse tissues. Comparative analysis between mice and humans suggests that some, but not all, tissue-specific differentially methylated regions are conserved. A deeper understanding of cell-type-specific differences in DNA methylation might lead to a better illustration of the mechanisms behind tissue-specific differentiation in mammals.     

Genome wide analysis of acute myeloid leukemia reveal leukemia specific methylome and subtype specific hypomethylation of repeats

Methylated DNA immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (MeDIP-seq) has the potential to identify changes in DNA methylation important in cancer development. In order to understand the role of epigenetic modulation in the development of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) we have applied MeDIP-seq to the DNA of 12 AML patients and 4 normal bone marrows. This analysis revealed leukemia-associated differentially methylated regions that included gene promoters, gene bodies, CpG islands and CpG island shores. Two genes (SPHKAP and DPP6) with significantly methylated promoters were of interest and further analysis of their expression showed them to be repressed in AML. We also demonstrated considerable cytogenetic subtype specificity in the methylomes affecting different genomic features. Significantly distinct patterns of hypomethylation of certain interspersed repeat elements were associated with cytogenetic subtypes. The methylation patterns of members of the SINE family tightly clustered all leukemic patients with an enrichment of Alu repeats with a high CpG density (P<0.0001). We were able to demonstrate significant inverse correlation between intragenic interspersed repeat sequence methylation and gene expression with SINEs showing the strongest inverse correlation (R(2) = 0.7). We conclude that the alterations in DNA methylation that accompany the development of AML affect not only the promoters, but also the non-promoter genomic features, with significant demethylation of certain interspersed repeat DNA elements being associated with AML cytogenetic subtypes. MeDIP-seq data were validated using bisulfite pyrosequencing and the Infinium array.     

Genomic patterns of DNA methylation: targets and function of an epigenetic mark

Methylation of cytosines can mediate epigenetic gene silencing and is the only known DNA modification in eukaryotes. Recent efforts to map DNA methylation across mammalian genomes revealed limited DNA methylation at regulatory regions but widespread methylation in intergenic regions and repeats. This is consistent with the idea that hypermethylation is the default epigenetic state and serves in maintaining genome integrity. DNA methylation patterns at regulatory regions are generally stable, but a minor subset of regulatory regions show variable DNA methylation between cell types, suggesting an additional dynamic component. Such promoter de novo methylation might be involved in the maintenance rather than the initiation of silencing of defined genes during development. How frequently such dynamic methylation occurs, its biological relevance and the pathways involved deserve investigation.     

Structural and functional features of the 5-methylcytosine distribution in the eukaryotic genome

DNA methylation is an integral part of the mechanism of a remodeling and modification of the chromatin structure. The global complex net of chromatin modification and remodeling reactions is still to be determined, and studies of the mechanisms controlling the epigenetic processes of histone modification and DNA methylation are in their infancy. Cytosine methylation occurs predominantly in CpG sequences of the eukaryotic genome, and it also takes place at symmetric CpHpG and nonsymmetric CpHpH sites (where H is A, T, or C). The modification efficiency of the three types of DNA methylation sites depends on their genomic localization. Different regions of the eukaryotic genome are remarkable for their methylation features: CpG-islands, CpG-island shores, differentially methylated regions of imprinted genes, and regions of nonalternative site-specific modification. The three canonical sites (CpG, CpHpG, and CpHpH) differ in DNA methylation efficiency depending on their nucleotide context. An epigenetic code of DNA methylation can be assumed with context differences playing a specific functional role. The review summarizes the main up-to-date data on the structural and functional features of site-specific cytosine methylation in eukaryotic genomes. Pathogenesis-related alterations in the methylation pattern of the eukaryotic genome are considered.     

Characterization of DNA methylation change in stem cell marker genes during differentiation of human embryonic stem cells

Pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have the distinguishing feature of innate capacity to allow indefinite self-renewal. This attribute continues until specific constraints or restrictions, such as DNA methylation, are imposed on the genome, usually accompanied by differentiation. With the aim of utilizing DNA methylation as a sign of early differentiation, we probed the genomic regions of hESCs, particularly focusing on stem cell marker (SCM) genes to identify regulatory sequences that display differentiation-sensitive alterations in DNA methylation. We show that the promoter regions of OCT4 and NANOG, but not SOX2, REX1 and FOXD3, undergo significant methylation during hESCs differentiation in which SCM genes are substantially repressed. Thus, following exposure to differentiation stimuli, OCT4 and NANOG gene loci are modified relatively rapidly by DNA methylation. Accordingly, we propose that the DNA methylation states of OCT4 and NANOG sequences may be utilized as barometers to determine the extent of hESC differentiation.     

High-resolution mapping of DNA methylation in human genome using oligonucleotide tiling array

DNA methylation is an epigenetic mark crucial in regulation of gene expression. Aberrant DNA methylation causes silencing of tumor suppressor genes and promotes chromosomal instability in human cancers. Most of previous studies for DNA methylation have focused on limited genomic regions, such as selected genes or promoter CpG islands (CGIs) containing recognition sites of methylation-sensitive restriction enzymes. Here, we describe a method for high-resolution analysis of DNA methylation using oligonucleotide tiling arrays. The input material is methylated DNA immunoprecipitated with anti-methylcytosine antibodies. We examined the ENCODE region (∼1% of human genome) in three human colorectal cancer cell lines and identified over 700 candidate methylated sites (CMS), where 24 of 25 CMS selected randomly were subsequently verified by bisulfite sequencing. CMS were enriched in the 5′ regulatory regions and the 3′ regions of genes. We also compared DNA methylation patterns with histone H3 and H4 acetylation patterns in the HOXA cluster region. Our analysis revealed no acetylated histones in the hypermethylated region, demonstrating reciprocal relationship between DNA methylation and histone H3 and H4 acetylation. Our method recognizes DNA methylation with little bias by genomic location and, therefore, is useful for comprehensive high-resolution analysis of DNA methylation providing new findings in the epigenomics. Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

Modeling genomic data with type attributes, balancing stability and maintainability

Background

The computational prediction of DNA methylation has become an important topic in the recent years due to its role in the epigenetic control of normal and cancer-related processes. While previous prediction approaches focused merely on differences between methylated and unmethylated DNA sequences, recent experimental results have shown the presence of much more complex patterns of methylation across tissues and time in the human genome. These patterns are only partially described by a binary model of DNA methylation. In this work we propose a novel approach, based on profile analysis of tissue-specific methylation that uncovers significant differences in the sequences of CpG islands (CGIs) that predispose them to a tissue- specific methylation pattern.

Results

We defined CGI methylation profiles that separate not only between constitutively methylated and unmethylated CGIs, but also identify CGIs showing a differential degree of methylation across tissues and cell-types or a lack of methylation exclusively in sperm. These profiles are clearly distinguished by a number of CGI attributes including their evolutionary conservation, their significance, as well as the evolutionary evidence of prior methylation. Additionally, we assess profile functionality with respect to the different compartments of protein coding genes and their possible use in the prediction of DNA methylation.

Conclusion

Our approach provides new insights into the biological features that determine if a CGI has a functional role in the epigenetic control of gene expression and the features associated with CGI methylation susceptibility. Moreover, we show that the ability to predict CGI methylation is based primarily on the quality of the biological information used and the relationships uncovered between different sources of knowledge. The strategy presented here is able to predict, besides the constitutively methylated and unmethylated classes, two more tissue specific methylation classes conserving the accuracy provided by leading binary methylation classification methods.     

Epigenetics: the study of embryonic stem cells by restriction landmark genomic scanning

During mammalian development, it is essential that the proper epigenetic state is established across the entire genome in each differentiated cell. To date, little is known about the mechanism for establishing epigenetic modifications of individual genes during the course of cellular differentiation. Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of embryonic stem cells by restriction landmark genomic scanning provides information about cell type- and tissue-specific DNA methylation profiles at tissue-specific methylated regions associated with developmental processes. It also sheds light on DNA methylation alterations following fetal exposure to chemical agents. In addition, analysis of embryonic stem cells deficient in epigenetic regulators will contribute to revealing the mechanism for establishing DNA methylation profiles and the interplay between DNA methylation and other epigenetic modifications.     

In-solution hybrid capture of bisulfite-converted DNA for targeted bisulfite sequencing of 174 ADME genes

DNA methylation is one of the most important epigenetic alterations involved in the control of gene expression. Bisulfite sequencing of genomic DNA is currently the only method to study DNA methylation patterns at single-nucleotide resolution. Hence, next-generation sequencing of bisulfite-converted DNA is the method of choice to investigate DNA methylation profiles at the genome-wide scale. Nevertheless, whole genome sequencing for analysis of human methylomes is expensive, and a method for targeted gene analysis would provide a good alternative in many cases where the primary interest is restricted to a set of genes.Here, we report the successful use of a custom Agilent SureSelect Target Enrichment system for the hybrid capture of bisulfite-converted DNA. We prepared bisulfite-converted next-generation sequencing libraries, which are enriched for the coding and regulatory regions of 174 ADME genes (i.e. genes involved in the metabolism and distribution of drugs). Sequencing of these libraries on Illumina’s HiSeq2000 revealed that the method allows a reliable quantification of methylation levels of CpG sites in the selected genes, and validation of the method using pyrosequencing and the Illumina 450K methylation BeadChips revealed good concordance.     

Leukocyte DNA as Surrogate for the Evaluation of Imprinted Loci Methylation in Mammary Tissue DNA

There is growing interest in identifying surrogate tissues to identify epimutations in cancer patients since primary target tissues are often difficult to obtain. Methylation patterns at imprinted loci are established during gametogenesis and post fertilization and their alterations have been associated with elevated risk of cancer. Methylation at several imprinted differentially methylated regions (GRB10 ICR, H19 ICR, KvDMR, SNRPN/SNURF ICR, IGF2 DMR0, and IGF2 DMR2) were analyzed in DNA from leukocytes and mammary tissue (normal, benign diseases, or malignant tumors) from 87 women with and without breast cancer (average age of cancer patients: 53; range: 31–77). Correlations between genomic variants and DNA methylation at the studied loci could not be assessed, making it impossible to exclude such effects. Methylation levels observed in leukocyte and mammary tissue DNA were close to the 50% expected for monoallellic methylation. While no correlation was observed between leukocyte and mammary tissue DNA methylation for most of the analyzed imprinted genes, Spearman''s correlations were statistically significant for IGF2 DMR0 and IGF2 DMR2, although absolute methylation levels differed. Leukocyte DNA methylation levels of selected imprinted genes may therefore serve as surrogate markers of DNA methylation in cancer tissue.     

The defining DNA methylation signature of Kabuki syndrome enables functional assessment of genetic variants of unknown clinical significance

Kabuki syndrome (KS) is caused by mutations in KMT2D, which is a histone methyltransferase involved in methylation of H3K4, a histone marker associated with DNA methylation. Analysis of >450,000 CpGs in 24 KS patients with pathogenic mutations in KMT2D and 216 controls, identified 24 genomic regions, along with 1,504 CpG sites with significant DNA methylation changes including a number of Hox genes and the MYO1F gene. Using the most differentiating and significant probes and regions we developed a “methylation variant pathogenicity (MVP) score,” which enables 100% sensitive and specific identification of individuals with KS, which was confirmed using multiple public and internal patient DNA methylation databases. We also demonstrated the ability of the MVP score to accurately reclassify variants of unknown significance in subjects with apparent clinical features of KS, enabling its potential use in molecular diagnostics. These findings provide novel insights into the molecular etiology of KS and illustrate that DNA methylation patterns can be interpreted as ‘epigenetic echoes’ in certain clinical disorders.     

DNA Hypomethylation Affects Cancer-Related Biological Functions and Genes Relevant in Neuroblastoma Pathogenesis

Neuroblastoma (NB) pathogenesis has been reported to be closely associated with numerous genetic alterations. However, underlying DNA methylation patterns have not been extensively studied in this developmental malignancy. Here, we generated microarray-based DNA methylation profiles of primary neuroblastic tumors. Stringent supervised differential methylation analyses allowed us to identify epigenetic changes characteristic for NB tumors as well as for clinical and biological subtypes of NB. We observed that gene-specific loss of DNA methylation is more prevalent than promoter hypermethylation. Remarkably, such hypomethylation affected cancer-related biological functions and genes relevant to NB pathogenesis such as CCND1, SPRR3, BTC, EGF and FGF6. In particular, differential methylation in CCND1 affected mostly an evolutionary conserved functionally relevant 3′ untranslated region, suggesting that hypomethylation outside promoter regions may play a role in NB pathogenesis. Hypermethylation targeted genes involved in cell development and proliferation such as RASSF1A, POU2F2 or HOXD3, among others. The results derived from this study provide new candidate epigenetic biomarkers associated with NB as well as insights into the molecular pathogenesis of this tumor, which involves a marked gene-specific hypomethylation.     

Technologies for targeting DNA methylation modifications: Basic mechanism and potential application in cancer

DNA methylation abnormalities are regarded as critical event for cancer initiation and development. Tumor-associated genes encompassing aberrant DNA methylation alterations at specific locus are correlated with chromatin remodeling and dysregulation of gene expression in various malignancies. Thus, technologies designed to manipulate DNA methylation at specific loci of genome are necessary for the functional study and therapeutic application in the context of cancer management. Traditionally, the method for DNA methylation modifications demonstrates an unspecific feature, adversely causing global-genome epigenetic alterations and confusing the function of desired gene. Novel approaches for targeted DNA methylation regulation have a great advantage of manipulating gene epigenetic alterations in a more specific and efficient method. In this review, we described different targeting DNA methylation techniques, including both their advantages and limitations. Through a comprehensive understanding of these targeting tools, we hope to open a new perspective for cancer treatment.