Epigenetic deregulation of GATA3 in neuroblastoma is associated with increased GATA3 protein expression and with poor outcomes

Bader Almutairi, Jessica Charlet, Anthony R. Dallosso, Marianna Szemes, Heather C. Etchevers, Karim T. A. Malik, Keith W. Brown

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)
129 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

To discover epigenetic changes that may underly neuroblastoma pathogenesis, we identified differentially methylated genes in neuroblastoma cells compared to neural crest cells, the presumptive precursors cells for neuroblastoma, by using genome-wide DNA methylation analysis. We previously described genes that were hypermethylated in neuroblastoma; in this paper we report on 67 hypomethylated genes, which were filtered to select genes that showed transcriptional over-expression and an association with poor prognosis in neuroblastoma, highlighting GATA3 for detailed studies. Specific methylation assays confirmed the hypomethylation of GATA3 in neuroblastoma, which correlated with high expression at both the RNA and protein level. Demethylation with azacytidine in cultured sympathetic ganglia cells led to increased GATA3 expression, suggesting a mechanistic link between GATA3 expression and DNA methylation. Neuroblastomas that had completely absent GATA3 methylation and/or very high levels of protein expression, were associated with poor prognosis. Knockdown of GATA3 in neuroblastoma cells lines inhibited cell proliferation and increased apoptosis but had no effect on cellular differentiation. These results identify GATA3 as an epigenetically regulated component of the neuroblastoma transcriptional control network, that is essential for neuroblastoma proliferation. This suggests that the GATA3 transcriptional network is a promising target for novel neuroblastoma therapies.
Original languageEnglish
Article number18934 (2019)
Number of pages12
JournalScientific Reports
Volume9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12 Dec 2019

Keywords

  • cancer
  • paediatric cancer

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