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  • Oncogenomics
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Age-related methylation of tumor suppressor and tumor-related genes: an analysis of autopsy samples

Oncogene volume 22, pages 4128–4133 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Age-related methylation may have the potential to behave as a mutator process. To clarify the physiological consequence of age-related methylation of tumor suppressor and tumor-related genes, we studied promoter methylation status in non-neoplastic cells of various organs obtained at autopsy by methylation-specific PCR. Promoter methylation status of APC, DAP-kinase, E-cadherin, GSTP1, hMLH1, p16, RASSF1A and RUNX3 genes, which are frequently silenced in certain human malignancies, was studied in non-neoplastic cells of the esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, liver, pancreas, kidney and lung obtained from 38 Japanese autopsies. The tumor suppressor and tumor-related genes, except APC and RASSF1A, were generally unmethylated in samples obtained from people who were less than 32 years old (n=11). Methylated promoters were present at variable frequencies in a tissue-specific manner in samples obtained from people who were greater than 42 years old (n=27), although GSTP1 and hMLH1 methylation was absent or infrequent and lacked tissue specificity. In the majority of organs, the incidence of age-related methylation paralleled the reported methylation incidence in malignant counterparts. Thus, age-related methylation of a different set of genes is thought to constitute a field defect in different organs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Yamagata University School of Medicine, 2-2-2 Iida-nishi, Yamagata, 990-9585, Japan

    Takayoshi Waki, Gen Tamura, Makoto Sato & Teiichi Motoyama

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  1. Takayoshi Waki
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  2. Gen Tamura
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  3. Makoto Sato
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  4. Teiichi Motoyama
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Correspondence to Gen Tamura.

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Waki, T., Tamura, G., Sato, M. et al. Age-related methylation of tumor suppressor and tumor-related genes: an analysis of autopsy samples. Oncogene 22, 4128–4133 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1206651

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