DNA methylation plays a key role in cellular differentiation. Aberrant global methylation patterns are associated with
several cancer types, as a result of changes in long-term activation status of up to 50% of genes, including oncogenes
and tumor-suppressor genes, which are regulated by methylation and demethylation of promoter region CpG
dinucleotides (CpG islands). Furthermore, DNA methylation also occurs in nonisland CpG sites (> 95% of the genome),
present once per 80 dinucleotides on average. Nuclear DNA methylation increases during the course of cellular
differentiation while cancer cells usually show a net loss in methylation. Given the large dynamic range in DNA
methylation load, the methylation pattern of a cell can provide a valuable distinction as to its status during differentiation
versus the disease state. By applying immunofluorescence, confocal microscopy and 3D image analysis we assessed the
potential of differential nuclear distribution of methylated DNA to be utilized as a biomarker to characterize cells during
development and when diseased. There are two major fields that may immediately benefit from this development: (1) the
search for factors that contribute to pluripotency and cell fate in human embryonic stem cell expansion and
differentiation, and (2) the characterization of tumor cells with regard to their heterogeneity in molecular composition
and behavior. We performed topological analysis of the distribution of methylated CpG-sites (MeC) versus
heterochromatin. This innovative approach revealed significant differences in colocalization patterns of MeC and
heterochromatin-derived signals between undifferentiated and differentiated human embryonic stem cells, as well as
untreated AtT20 mouse pituitary tumor cells compared to a subpopulation of these cells treated with 5-azacytidine for 48
hours.
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