U.S. scientists have discovered a specific site of dna methylation imbalance that is the key to cancer.

Introduction: DNA methylation is a form of chemical modification of DNA, which can change the genetic performance without changing the DNA sequence.recently, researchers in the United States have discovered the key to cancer and other diseases through DNA modification sequencing: specific sites of DNA methylation imbalance.in genome-wide scanning, it is often difficult to locate the most closely related gene mutations.recently, US scientists have found that by amplifying the key gene sites related to DNA methylation imbalance in normal tissues and cancer tissues, we can find new clues leading to cancer under a wider range of statistical signals.the study was jointly published in the core journal genomics biology by the authors of the University Medical Center of harkensack University in New Jersey, the John thurler Cancer Center (jtcc), the center for meridian discovery and innovation (CDI) and the comprehensive cancer center in Georgetown Lombardy.the title is "allele specific DNA methylation is increased in cancers and its dense mapping in normal plus neoplastic cells increases the yield of disease associated regulation By sequencing and analyzing the entire genome of cancer and healthy tissues, researchers have discovered the key to cancer and other disease risks: specific sites in DNA with imbalanced methylation.Dr Catherine do, lead author of the study and a member of the CDI, said: "our dense map of allele specific methylation (i.e., the imbalance of DNA methylation caused by genetic variation) will help other scientists focus their work on the genetic variation most relevant to the disease.because we have also studied the mechanism of this phenomenon to understand how it leads to disease susceptibility, our research will help to identify new biological pathways for personalized drugs and drug development. "Cancer cells are hateful, but in our approach, we let them play a role in the research," said Dr. Benjamin tycko, director of the CDI laboratory who led the study.these allelic specific methylation "footprints" are more abundant in cancer tissues than in normal tissues.but because Catherine's research shows that they are produced by the same biological pathway, we can use our dense map to understand the origin of cancer and non cancer diseases, such as autoimmune diseases, neuropsychiatric diseases and cardiac metabolic diseases."current research has established one of the largest high-quality data sets in this kind of method.in the DNA samples for this study, there were various tissue types from 89 healthy controls, plus 16 cancer samples from three types of tumors treated by jtcc oncologists and surgeons: B-cell lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and glioblastoma multiforme (a common and refractory brain tumor).the researchers identified 15112 allele specific methylation sites from the genome-wide association study (GWAS), of which 1838 were located near the disease susceptibility statistical signal.they have made the data public so that other scientists can test new hypotheses in the post genome association study.in this new discovery, this paper also reported that noncoding mutations (which do not change the protein sequence) "may play a role in cancer through long-term regulation of gene expression."a specific example cited in the paper is a mutation that leads to the midline specific methylation of tead1 gene. There is evidence that this mutation is overexpressed in invasive and refractory multiple myeloma.another finding is that some disease-related gene variations can exist in the "chromatin desert", that is, the sites with little or no specific biological signals in DNA, but these sites are revealed by the footprints of allele specific methylation and can be activated at different stages of cell development. one of the authors of the study, Dr. David Siegel, director of the CDI Institute for multiple myeloma and lymphoma, said: "this may be a key breakthrough in determining how cancer occurs and provides us with better treatment opportunities. the discovery of noncoding mutations that cause epigenetic activation of genes such as tead1 in multiple myeloma may help us identify the most promising targets for the development of new therapies. "Advanced epigenetic research like this will drive clinical decision-making in the near future, focusing on the most detailed changes in DNA methylation and gene expression, and can help us solve the mystery of how cancer started and how to overcome it," said Dr. Andre goy, director of oncology at the radial health center in hakansak. Dr. Louis M. Weiner, of the Lombardy comprehensive cancer center in Georgetown, said: "I am very optimistic about the results of this study, which has made an important contribution to our understanding of cancer and its underlying biological mechanisms, which may also be applied to other diseases. the findings of this study demonstrate that bringing together researchers from different institutions and professions can achieve very good results. "reference: [1] do, C., Dumont, e.l.p., Salas, M. et al. Allele specific DNA methylation is increased in cancers and its dense mapping in normal plus neoplastic cells increases the yield of disease associated regulatory SNPs. Genome Biol 21, [2] [3] recommended reading: fighting the epidemic situation, translational medicine network content team series report: [new progress] Canadian scientists develop new methods to accurately deliver anticancer drugs to tumors. Enjoy: application Salon of single cell sequencing technology announced! [new discovery] University of Pittsburgh: new small protein drugs can reduce the sequelae of stroke and protect the brain [Science Journal] alert! Loss of intestinal goblet cells after stem cell transplantation can lead to fatal diseases