Pathological and physiological functions of DNA methylation in cancer

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25640079
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Tumor diagnostics
• Research Institution: Sapporo Medical University
• Principal Investigator: MARUYAMA Reo 札幌医科大学, 医学部, 准教授 (60607985)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: DNA methylation

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we aimed to ascertain the pathological and physiological implications of aberrant DNA methylation, which is universally observed over the course of carcinogenesis. We performed integrated analysis of publicly available DNA methylation data and our own clinical datasets. We identified regions where DNA methylations were consistently observed in various tumors. Genomic distribution of the regions suggests that three-dimensional chromatin structures are involved in this epigenomic change. Through a similar analysis, we also identified 33 genes that are silenced by DNA methylation in normal tissues, whereas overexpressed in a subset of cancer probably due to DNA de-methylation. We are currently examining the clinical and functional implications of these genes.

Free Research Field

腫瘍生物学、分子生物学