MTHFR C677T polymorphisms are associated with aberrant methylation of the IGF-2 gene in transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder

Publication date: March 2012 Source:Journal of Biomedical Research, Volume 26, Issue 2 Author(s): Huan Cheng , Zhonglei Deng , Zengjun Wang , Wei Zhang , Jiantang Su The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between methylation status of the insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2) gene and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T gene polymorphisms in bladder transitional cell carcinoma tissues in a Chinese population. The polymorphisms of the folate metabolism enzyme gene MTHFR were studied by restrictive fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). PCR-based methods of DNA methylation analysis were used to detect the CpG island methylation status of the IGF-2 gene. The association between the methylation status of the IGF-2 gene and clinical characteristics, as well as MTHFR C677T polymorphisms, was analyzed. Aberrant hypomethylation of the IGF-2 gene was found in 68.3% bladder cancer tissues and 12.4% normal bladder tissues, respectively, while hypomethylation was not detected in almost all normal bladder tissues. The hypomethylation rate of the IGF-2 gene in cancer tissues was significantly higher in patients with lymph node metastasis than in those without lymph node metastasis (46.3% vs 17.2%, P = 0.018). No association was found between aberrant DNA methylation and selected factors including sex, age, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption and green tea consumption. After adjusting for potential confounding variables the variant allele of MTHFR C...
Source: Journal of Biomedical Research - Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research