Altered Methylation at MicroRNA-Associated CpG Islands in Hereditary and Sporadic Carcinomas: A Methylation-Specific Multiplex Ligation-Dependent Probe Amplification (MS-MLPA)-Based Approach

摘要

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that contribute to tumorigenesis by acting as oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes and may be important in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of cancer. Many miRNA genes have associated CpG islands, suggesting epigenetic regulation of their expression. Pavicic et al. examined over 150 patients from gastrointestinal and endometrial carcinomas to examine how methylation profiles apply to miRNA loci in cancer. The authors showed both hypermethylation and hypomethylation at classical tumor suppressor promoter in the same tumors. Methylation alterations at miRNA-associated CpG islands may have widespread biological and clinical significance.