DNA methylation/Cancer

Patent Pending DNA methylation is an important regulator of gene transcription and a large body of evidence has demonstrated that genes with high levels of 5-methylcytosine in their promoter region are transcriptionally silent, and that DNA methylation gradually accumulates upon long-term gene silencing. DNA methylation is essential during embryonic development, and in somatic cells, patterns of DNA methylation are generally transmitted to daughter cells with a high fidelity. Aberrant DNA methylation patterns – hypermethylation and hypomethylation compared to normal tissue – have been associated with a large number of human malignancies. Hypermethylation typically occurs at CpG islands in the promoter region and is associated with gene inactivation. A lower level of leukocyte DNA methylation is associated with many types of cancer.