DNA Methylation Profiling of Melanoma Cell Lines

Epigenetic regulation of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) has been shown to play a central role in melanomagenesis. Integrating gene expression and methylation array analysis we identified novel candidate TSGs frequently methylated in melanoma. We validated the methylation status of the most promising TSGs using the highly sensitive, specific and comprehensive Sequenom Epityper assay in a large panel of melanoma cell lines and resected melanomas, and compared the findings with that from cultured melanocytes. We found transcript levels of UCHL1, COL1A2, THBS1 and TNFRSF10D were inversely correlated with promoter methylation. The effect of this methylation on expression was confirmed at the protein level. Identification of these candidate TSGs and how their silencing is related to melanoma development will increase our understanding of the etiology of this cancer and may provide tools for its early diagnosis. Analysed samples consisted of 11 melanoma cell lines and 1 neonatal foreskin melanocyte pool as a reference. Melanoma cell lines overlap with members of the DNA copy number analysis series GSE9003 and expression profiling series GSE7127 . The matching copy number data GEO samples IDs are noted in characteristics: Matching CN Sample ID and characteristics: Matching expn Sample ID columns respectively.