Open AccessAn association between overexpression of DNA methyltransferase 3B4 and clear cell renal cell carcinoma
Author(s) -
You Li,
Lian-Tao Sun,
Peter Fong,
Jie Yang,
Zhuxia Zhang,
Shuihui Yin,
Shuyuan Jiang,
Xiaolei Liu,
Hongge Ju,
Lihua Hu,
Jing Bai,
Kerui Gong,
Yan Song,
Chunyang Zhang,
Guo Shao
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
oncotarget
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.373
H-Index - 127
ISSN - 1949-2553
DOI - 10.18632/oncotarget.14966
Subject(s) - medicine , methyltransferase , renal cell carcinoma , dna methylation , carcinogenesis , clear cell renal cell carcinoma , dna methyltransferase , cancer research , cancer , biology , methylation , dna , genetics , gene , gene expression
It is well known that abnormal DNA methylations occur frequently in kidney cancer. However, it remains unclear exactly which types of DNA methyltransferases (DNMT) contribute to the pathologies of kidney cancers. In order to determine the functions of DNA methyltransferase in kidney tumorigenesis on the molecular level, we examined the mRNA expression levels of DNMT1, DNMT3A, DNMT3B, and DNMT3B variants in renal cell carcinoma tissue. Both mRNA and protein levels of DNMT3B4, a splice variant of DNMT3B, were increased in renal cell carcinoma tissue compared with adjacent control tissues. Additionally, Alu elements and long interspersed nuclear elements (LINE-1) were hypomethylated in renal cell carcinoma tissue. Meanwhile, methylation of the promoter for RASSF1A, a tumor suppressor gene, was moderately increased in renal cell carcinoma tissue, while RASSF1A expression was decreased. Thus, our data suggest that the overexpression of DNMT3B4 may play an important role in human kidney tumorigenesis through chromosomal instability and methylation of RASSF1A.