TY - JOUR A1 - Gerecke, Christian A1 - Scholtka, Bettina A1 - Loewenstein, Yvonne A1 - Fait, Isabel A1 - Gottschalk, Uwe A1 - Rogoll, Dorothee A1 - Melcher, Ralph A1 - Kleuser, Burkhard T1 - Hypermethylation of ITGA4, TFPI2 and VIMENTIN promoters is increased in inflamed colon tissue: putative risk markers for colitis-associated cancer JF - Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology : official organ of the Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft N2 - Epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor genes is involved in early transforming events and has a high impact on colorectal carcinogenesis. Likewise, colon cancers that derive from chronically inflamed bowel diseases frequently exhibit epigenetic changes. But there is little data about epigenetic aberrations causing colorectal cancer in chronically inflamed tissue. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the aberrant gain of methylation in the gene promoters of VIM, TFPI2 and ITGA4 as putative early markers in the development from inflamed tissue via precancerous lesions toward colorectal cancer. Initial screening of different cancer cell lines by using methylation-specific PCR revealed a putative colon cancer-specific methylation pattern. Additionally, a demethylation assay was performed to investigate the methylation-dependent gene silencing of ITGA4. The candidate markers were analyzed in colonic tissue specimens from patients with colorectal cancer (n = 15), adenomas (n = 76), serrated lesions (n = 13), chronic inflammation (n = 10) and normal mucosal samples (n = 9). A high methylation frequency of VIM (55.6 %) was observed in normal colon tissue, whereas ITGA4 and TFPI2 were completely unmethylated in controls. A significant gain of methylation frequency with progression of disease as well as an age-dependent effect was detectable for TFPI2. ITGA4 methylation frequency was high in precancerous and cancerous tissues as well as in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The already established methylation marker VIM does not permit a specific and sensitive discrimination of healthy and neoplastic tissue. The methylation markers ITGA4 and TFPI2 seem to be suitable risk markers for inflammation-associated colon cancer. KW - Epigenetic KW - DNA methylation KW - Colon cancer KW - Colitis KW - Gastrointestinal tract KW - Biomarker Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-015-1972-8 SN - 0171-5216 SN - 1432-1335 VL - 141 IS - 12 SP - 2097 EP - 2107 PB - Springer CY - New York ER -