Examination of genome-wide methylation changes in lung cancer cell lines A549 (A) and HTB56 (H) [HumanMethylation27 BeadChip experiments]

Cancer cell phenotypes are partially determined by epigenetic specifications such as DNA methylation. Metastasis development is a late event in cancerogenesis and might be associated with epigenetic alterations. Here, we analyzed genome wide DNA methylation changes that were associated with pro-metastatic phenotypes in non-small cell lung cancer using the Illumina HumanMethylation27 BeadChip platform. We studied genome-wide methylation changes in lung cancer cell lines A549 (A) and HTB56 (H). We generated NSCLC lines with highly increased propensity to form tumor nodules in murine lungs after intravenous injections. In addition to the normal cell lines (0R) we analyzed the methylome of the the cell lines after three rounds of in vivo selection towards a highly metastatic phenotype (3R).

癌细胞表型在一定程度上由表观遗传调控特征（如DNA甲基化（DNA methylation））所决定。肿瘤转移是癌症发生进程中的晚期事件，且可能与表观遗传改变密切相关。本研究采用Illumina HumanMethylation27 BeadChip芯片平台，分析了非小细胞肺癌（non-small cell lung cancer, NSCLC）中与促转移表型相关的全基因组DNA甲基化变化。我们针对肺癌细胞系A549（记为A）与HTB56（记为H）开展了全基因组甲基化水平分析。我们通过静脉注射构建了在小鼠肺部形成肿瘤结节的倾向性显著升高的非小细胞肺癌细胞系。除正常细胞系（0R）外，我们还分析了经过三轮体内筛选、获得高转移表型的细胞系（3R）的甲基化组（methylome）。