DNA methylation profiles in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients treated with chemoimmunotherapy (original) (raw)

DNA methylation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia with differential response to chemotherapy

Scientific Data

Acquired resistance to chemotherapy is an important clinical problem and can also occur without detectable cytogenetic aberrations or gene mutations. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is molecularly well characterized and has been elemental for establishing central paradigms in oncology. This prompted us to check whether specific epigenetic changes at the level of DNA methylation might underlie development of treatment resistance. We used Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChips to obtain DNA methylation profiles of 71 CLL patients with differential responses. Thirty-six patients were categorized as relapsed/refractory after treatment with fludarabine or bendamustine and 21 of them had genetic aberrations of TP53. The other 35 patients were untreated at the time of sampling and 15 of them had genetic aberration of TP53. Although we could not correlate chemoresistance with epigenetic changes, the patients were comprehensively characterized regarding relevant prognostic and mo...

Quantitative analysis of DNA methylation in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients

ELECTROPHORESIS, 2004

Changes in the genomic DNA methylation level have been found to be closely associated with tumorigenesis. In order to analyze the relation of aberrant DNA methylation to clinical and biological risk factors, we have determined the cytosine methylation level of 81 patients diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The analysis was based on DNA hydrolysis followed by derivatization of the 2'-desoxyribonucleoside-3'-monophosphates with BODIPY FL EDA. Derivatives were separated by micellar electrokinetic chromatography, and laser-induced fluorescence was used for detection. We analyzed potential correlations between DNA methylation levels and numerous patient parameters, including clinical observations and biological data. As a result, we observed a significant correlation with the immunoglobulin variable heavy chain gene (VH) mutation status. This factor has been repeatedly proposed as a reliable prognostic marker for CLL, which suggests that the methylation level might be a valuable factor in determining the prognostic outcome of CLL. We are now in the process of refining our method to broaden its application potential. In this context, we show here that the oxidation of the fluorescence marker in the samples and the evaporation of methanol in the electrolytes can be prevented by a film of paraffin oil. In summary, our results thus establish capillary electrophoresis as a valuable tool for analyzing the DNA methylation status of clinical samples.

Distinct patterns of global promoter methylation in early stage chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Genes, Chromosomes and Cancer, 2014

Genomic and epigenomic studies of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are reshaping our understanding of the disease and have provided new perspectives for a more individualized diagnosis and new potential therapeutic targets. In this study, the global promoter methylation profile was determined in highly purified B-cells from 37 (Binet stage A) CLL patients, using high-resolution methylation microarrays (27,578 CpG). Overall, the methylation pattern correlated with the major biological (ZAP-70 and CD38), and molecular (IGHV mutation) markers, distinguishing CLL cases according to IGHV mutational status. Cell adhesion molecules were enriched in the signature of unmutated (UM) versus mutated (M-) CLL. Moreover, in M-CLL CpG hyper-methylation in three genes, including SPG20, was significantly anti-correlated with the corresponding gene expression level. Finally, the correlation between the methylation pattern and clinical parameters was investigated. Notably, out of 42 methyl-probes that were significantly associated with progression free survival (PFS), hyper-methylation of SPG20 was also positively associated with PFS. These data support the notion that epigenetic changes have clinical impact in CLL and may contribute to the identification of novel candidate disease-associated genes potentially useful to predict the clinical outcome of early stage CLL patients. in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DNA methylation dynamics during B cell maturation underlie a continuum of disease phenotypes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Nature genetics, 2016

Charting differences between tumors and normal tissue is a mainstay of cancer research. However, clonal tumor expansion from complex normal tissue architectures potentially obscures cancer-specific events, including divergent epigenetic patterns. Using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of normal B cell subsets, we observed broad epigenetic programming of selective transcription factor binding sites coincident with the degree of B cell maturation. By comparing normal B cells to malignant B cells from 268 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), we showed that tumors derive largely from a continuum of maturation states reflected in normal developmental stages. Epigenetic maturation in CLL was associated with an indolent gene expression pattern and increasingly favorable clinical outcomes. We further uncovered that most previously reported tumor-specific methylation events are normally present in non-malignant B cells. Instead, we identified a potential pathogenic role for tra...

Alterations in DNA methylation/demethylation intermediates predict clinical outcome in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Oncotarget

Cytosine derivative dysregulations represent important epigenetic modifications whose impact on the clinical outcome in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is incompletely understood. Hence, global levels of 5-methylcytosine (5-mCyt), 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmCyt), 5-carboxylcytosine (5-CaCyt) and 5-hydroxymethyluracil were tested in purified B cells from CLL patients (n = 55) and controls (n = 17). The DNA methylation 'writers' (DNA methyltransferases [DNMT1/3A/3B]), 'readers' (methyl-CpG-binding domain [MBD2/4]), 'editors' (teneleven translocation [TET1/2/3]) and 'modulators' (SAT1) were also evaluated. Accordingly, patients were stratified into three subgroups. First, a subgroup with a global deficit in cytosine derivatives characterized by hyperlymphocytosis, reduced median progression free survival (PFS = 52 months) and shorter treatment free survival (TFS = 112 months) was identified. In this subgroup, major epigenetic modifications were highlighted including a reduction of 5-mCyt, 5-hmCyt, 5-CaCyt associated with DNMT3A, MBD2/4 and TET1/2 downregulation. Second, the cytosine derivative analysis revealed a subgroup with a partial deficit (PFS = 84, TFS = 120 months), mainly affecting DNA demethylation (5-hmCyt reduction, SAT1 induction). Third, a subgroup epigenetically similar to controls was identified (PFS and TFS > 120 months). The prognostic impact of stratifying CLL patients within three epigenetic subgroups was confirmed in a validation cohort. In conclusion, our results suggest that dysregulations of cytosine derivative regulators represent major events acquired during CLL progression and are independent from IGHV mutational status.

Epigenome-wide analysis reveals functional modulators of drug sensitivity and post-treatment survival in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

British Journal of Cancer

Background Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) patients display a highly variable clinical course, with progressive acquisition of drug resistance. We sought to identify aberrant epigenetic traits that are enriched following exposure to treatment that could impact patient response to therapy. Methods Epigenome-wide analysis of DNA methylation was performed for 20 patients at two timepoints during treatment. The prognostic significance of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) was assessed in independent cohorts of 139 and 163 patients. Their functional role in drug sensitivity was assessed in vitro. Results We identified 490 DMRs following exposure to therapy, of which 31 were CLL-specific and independent of changes occurring in normal B-cell development. Seventeen DMR-associated genes were identified as differentially expressed following treatment in an independent cohort. Methylation of the HOXA4, MAFB and SLCO3A1 DMRs was associated with post-treatment patient survival, with HO...

Aberrant DNA Methylation Is Associated with Disease Progression, Resistance to Imatinib and Shortened Survival in Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

PLoS ONE, 2011

The epigenetic impact of DNA methylation in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is not completely understood. To elucidate its role we analyzed 120 patients with CML for methylation of promoter-associated CpG islands of 10 genes. Five genes were identified by DNA methylation screening in the K562 cell line and 3 genes in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms. The CDKN2B gene was selected for its frequent methylation in myeloid malignancies and ABL1 as the target of BCR-ABL translocation. Thirty patients were imatinib-naïve (mostly treated by interferon-alpha before the imatinib era), 30 were imatinib-responsive, 50 were imatinib-resistant, and 10 were imatinib-intolerant. We quantified DNA methylation by bisulfite pyrosequencing. The average number of methylated genes was 4.5 per patient in the chronic phase, increasing significantly to 6.2 in the accelerated and 6.4 in the blastic phase. Higher numbers of methylated genes were also observed in patients resistant or intolerant to imatinib. These patients also showed almost exclusive methylation of a putative transporter OSCP1. Abnormal methylation of a Src suppressor gene PDLIM4 was associated with shortened survival independently of CML stage and imatinib responsiveness. We conclude that aberrant DNA methylation is associated with CML progression and that DNA methylation could be a marker associated with imatinib resistance. Finally, DNA methylation of PDLIM4 may help identify a subset of CML patients that would benefit from treatment with Src/Abl inhibitors. Citation: Jelinek J, Gharibyan V, Estecio MRH, Kondo K, He R, et al. (2011) Aberrant DNA Methylation Is Associated with Disease Progression, Resistance to Imatinib and Shortened Survival in Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. PLoS ONE 6(7): e22110. Peripheral blood basophils, %; median (range) 2 (0-22) 3 (0-36) Hemoglobin, g/dL; median (range) 11.4 (5.8-15.2) 10.9 (6.8-16.6) Platelets, 10 ' 3/uL; median (range) 259 (50-1205) 222 (10-1245) Bone marrow blasts, %; median (range) 2 (0-91) 2 (0-94) Bone marrow basophils, %; median (range) 2 (0-11) 3 (0-27)