Global DNA hypomethylation assay - (Aug/01/2013 )

Hello to all...

i just want to confirm if Global DNA Hypomethylation test using reverse phase HPLC would be a good method to study epigenetics hypomethylation in breast cancer or there are more efficient assays available for this purpose../

thanking in anticipation

naEm

To me, HPLC is not a very sensitive method for detecting global hypomethylation. I remember in a paper, when DNMT is disrupted, the loss of methylation detected by HPLC is very subtle. Since HPLC measures directly methyl cytosine in DNA and given there is also regional hypermethylation, the reduction in the amount of methyl cytosines in cancer cells may not reach a level detectable by HPLC. There is recent review article on this topic which may be helpful.

Global DNA hypomethylation in cancer: review of validated methods and clinical significance. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2012 Oct 1;50(10):1733-42. doi: 10.1515/cclm-2011-0902.