Promoter CpG island hypermethylation and H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 mediated epigenetic silencing targets the deleted in colon cancer (DCC) gene in colorectal carcinogenesis without …

Chromosomal loss of 18q21 is a frequent event in colorectal cancer (CRC) development, suggesting that this region harbors tumor suppressor genes (TSGs). Several candidate TSGs, among which methyl-CpG-binding domain protein 1 ( MBD1 ), CpG-binding protein CXXC1 , Sma- and Mad-related protein 4 ( SMAD4 ), deleted in colon cancer ( DCC ) and methyl-CpG-binding domain protein 2 ( MBD2 ) are closely linked on a 4-Mb DNA region on chromosome18q21. As TSGs can be epigenetically silenced, this study investigates whether MBD1 , CXXC1 , SMAD4 , DCC and MBD2 are subject to epigenetic silencing in CRC. Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and sodium bisulfite sequencing of these genes show that DCC , but not …