Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University
Doi
Abstract
Disruption of gene expression by DNA methylation changes is widely involved in tumorigenesis. Here,to investigate DNA methylation changes in canine, we treated a canine mammary gland tumor cell line with a DNA methylation inhibitor, 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine (5-aza). Cell growth was significantly retarded following 5-aza treatment and the epithelial marker genes CDH1 and KRT18 were significantly up-regulated, whereas the mesenchymal marker genes CDH2 and VIM were significantly downregulated. We also found a significant decrease in DNA methylation level in the CDH1 promoter region by 5-aza treatment. These results showed for the first time in canine mammary gland tumor cells that inhibition of DNA methylation caused cell growth retardation and affected epithelial mesenchymal transition-related gene expression via changes in DNA methylation level
