TY - JOUR
T1 - Promoter methylation of heat shock protein B2 in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
AU - Chang, Xiaofei
AU - Yamashita, Keishi
AU - Sidransky, David
AU - Kim, Myoung Sook
PY - 2011/4
Y1 - 2011/4
N2 - Hypermethylation of gene promoters and the corresponding loss of gene expression are recognized as a hallmark of human cancer, and DNA methylation has emerged as a promising bio marker for the detection of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). To identify novel genes methylated in ESCC, we screened 35 candidate genes identified from an oligonucleotide microarray. Among them, the heat shock protein B2 (HSPB2) was methylated in 95.7% (67/70) of primary ESCCs, whereas no methylation was found in normal esophageal tissues from ESCC patients (0%, 0/20). RT-PCR analysis revealed that HSPB2 expression was silenced or weakly expressed in most ESCC cell lines, and re-activated by the demethylating agent 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine. These results indicate that promoter methylation of HSPB2 is one of the causal factors for loss or down-regulation of HSPB2 expression. mRNA expression of HSPB2 in ESCC tissues was significantly down-regulated compared to normal tissues. Our data suggest that promoter methylation of HSPB2 deserves further attention as a novel molecular biomarker in human ESCC.
AB - Hypermethylation of gene promoters and the corresponding loss of gene expression are recognized as a hallmark of human cancer, and DNA methylation has emerged as a promising bio marker for the detection of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). To identify novel genes methylated in ESCC, we screened 35 candidate genes identified from an oligonucleotide microarray. Among them, the heat shock protein B2 (HSPB2) was methylated in 95.7% (67/70) of primary ESCCs, whereas no methylation was found in normal esophageal tissues from ESCC patients (0%, 0/20). RT-PCR analysis revealed that HSPB2 expression was silenced or weakly expressed in most ESCC cell lines, and re-activated by the demethylating agent 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine. These results indicate that promoter methylation of HSPB2 is one of the causal factors for loss or down-regulation of HSPB2 expression. mRNA expression of HSPB2 in ESCC tissues was significantly down-regulated compared to normal tissues. Our data suggest that promoter methylation of HSPB2 deserves further attention as a novel molecular biomarker in human ESCC.
KW - Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
KW - Heat shock protein B2
KW - Methylation
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U2 - 10.3892/ijo.2011.918
DO - 10.3892/ijo.2011.918
M3 - Article
C2 - 21258768
AN - SCOPUS:79952346845
SN - 1019-6439
VL - 38
SP - 1129
EP - 1135
JO - International journal of oncology
JF - International journal of oncology
IS - 4
ER -