Epigenetic marks are written on and erased from DNA through the activity of methylation and demethylation enzymes, thereby altering the level of gene expression. The methylase and demethylase enzymes respond to intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and their activity has been shown to be compromised under various pathological conditions, including cancer.
The cycle of cytosine methylation and demethylation is a major epigenetic pathway for regulation of gene expression. DNA methyltransferase modifies cytosine, generating methylcytosine, which can be oxidised by the recently identified Ten Eleven Translocation enzymes (TET 1-3) to generate hydroxymethylcytosine, formylcytosine, and carboxycytosine. These oxidised methylcytosine products are intermediates in the cycle to regenerate unmodified cytosine. When present in gene regulatory regions, they also serve as stable epigenetic marks that alter gene expression. Aberrant methylation patterns, such as hyper- and hypo-methylation are a hallmark of cancer.
This research project has focussed on the presence and activity of the TET enzymes in selected cancer cell lines. TET enzymes belong to the superfamily of proteins known as Fe(II) 2-oxoglutarate dependent dioxygenases. Proteins in this family act as metabolic sensors, because they require cofactors; iron and ascorbate, and co-substrates; oxygen and 2-oxoglutarate, for their activity. Changes in metabolic conditions and the availability of these metabolites modulate the activity of these proteins.
In this project, I investigated the expression and activity of TET 1-3 isoforms in a range of human and mouse cancer cell lines. The cells were then subjected to different metabolic conditions, such as hypoxia, and ascorbate and iron deficiency. The effect of these conditions on TET activity and the epigenetic profile was evaluated using Western blotting and ELISA methods. Our preliminary results show varied expression of the TET isoforms across the selected cancer cell lines, with TET 3 expression being most prominent.
Altering oxygen supply, iron and ascorbate appeared to affect the levels of 5mC and 5hmC. As these conditions affect cancer cells in vivo, we suggest that epigenetic changes in response to metabolic stress will affect genetic patterning in cancer.
