Radiation-induced epigenetic DNA methylation modification of radiation-response pathways

Treatment of tumors with ionizing radiation for cancer therapy induces biological responses that include changes in cell cycle, activation of DNA repair mechanisms, and induction of apoptosis or senescence programs. What is not known is whether ionizing radiation induces an epigenetic DNA methylation response or whether epigenetic changes occur in genes in pathways classically associated with the radiation response. We exposed breast cancer cells to 0, 2, or 6 Gy and determined global DNA methylation at 1, 2, 4, 8, 24, 48, and 72 hours post-irradiation. We found that radiation treatment resulted in a DNA methylation response and that cell cycle, DNA repair, and apoptosis pathways were enriched in genes are were differentially-methylated. DNA methylation profiling of ionizing radiation treated cells using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip.