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. 2018 May 10:12:1179554918775064.
doi: 10.1177/1179554918775064. eCollection 2018.

Methylation and Gene Expression of BCAT1 and IKZF1 in Colorectal Cancer Tissues

Maher Jedi  1 , Graeme P Young  2 , Susanne K Pedersen  3 , Erin L Symonds  2   4
Affiliations

Methylation and Gene Expression of BCAT1 and IKZF1 in Colorectal Cancer Tissues

Maher Jedi et al. Clin Med Insights Oncol. .

Abstract

The genes BCAT1 and IKZF1 are hypermethylated in colorectal cancer (CRC), but little is known about how this relates to gene expression. This study assessed the relationship between methylation and gene expression of BCAT1 and IKZF1 in CRC and adjacent non-neoplastic tissues. The tissues were obtained at surgery from 36 patients diagnosed with different stages of CRC (stage I n = 8, stage II n = 13, stage III n = 10, stage IV n = 5). Methylated BCAT1 and IKZF1 were detected in 92% and 72% CRC tissues, respectively, with levels independent of stage (P > .05). In contrast, only 31% and 3% of non-neoplastic tissues were methylated for BCAT1 and IKZF1, respectively (P < .001). The IKZF1 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression was significantly lower in the cancer tissues compared with that of non-neoplastic tissues, whereas the BCAT1 mRNA levels were similar. The latter may be due to the BCAT1 polymerase chain reaction assay detecting more than 1 mRNA transcript. Further studies are warranted to establish the role of the epigenetic silencing of IKZF1 in colorectal oncogenesis.

Keywords: BCAT1; IKZF1; Methylation; colorectal cancer; expression.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests:The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: G.P.Y. is a paid consultant to Clinical Genomics. S.K.P. is a paid employee of Clinical Genomics.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The proportions of tumour and non-neoplastic tissues with methylated BCAT1 and IKZF1 (n = 36). Samples were considered to have significant levels of methylation when levels were ≥5%. *P < .05 compared with non-neoplastic results.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
CRC stage-related methylation levels of BCAT1 and IKZF1. Levels of methylated BCAT1 and IKZF1 in relation to CRC stage (TNM staging). Different CRC stages, stage I (n = 8), II (n = 12), III (n = 11), and IV (n = 5), are plotted on the x-axis, and the percentage of methylation of each gene (BCAT1 and IKZF1) is plotted on the y-axis. Data are expressed as median, 25th and 75th percentiles within the box, with bars showing the minimum to maximum. CRC indicates colorectal cancer.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Relative messenger RNA expression of BCAT1 and IKZF1 in colorectal tumour and adjacent non-neoplastic tissues (n = 36). The expression results are normalized to the levels of HPRT1 expression in corresponding samples and expressed as mean normalized expression. Data are expressed as median, 25th and 75th percentiles within the box, with bars showing the minimum to maximum. *P < .05 compared with non-neoplastic results.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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