Modifications of H3K4 methylation levels are associated with DNA hypermethylation in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Stefania Scalea1, Carmen Maresca2 , Caterina Catalanotto3, Rachele Marino3, Carlo Cogoni3, Anna Reale1, Michele Zampieri1 and Giuseppe Zardo1 1 Department of Experimental Medicine University of Rome “Sapienza” Italy:
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[email protected] Running Title: H3K4me3 modifications and DNA methylation in AML Keywords: DNA methylation; histone modifications; Acute Myeloid Leukemia Abbreviations: H3K4me3, Histone 3 Lysine 4 trimethylated; H3K27me3, Histone 3 Lysine 27 trimethylated; H3K4me0, Histone 3 Lysine 4 unmethylated; hESC, Human Embryonic Stem Cells; hHSC/MPP, human Hematopoietic Stem or Progenitor cells; AML, Acute Myeloid Leukemia; CpGis, CpG islands; RLGS, Restriction Landmark Genome Scanning; TSS, Transcriptional Start Site; IRX2, Iroquois homeobox 2 gene; CABYR, Calcium-binding tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated gene; NKX6-1, Homeobox Protein NK-6 Homolog A gene; FOXE1, Forkhead Box E1 gene; NRG1, Neuregulin 1 gene; RA, retinoic acid; CSF1, Colony Stimulating Factor 1; CSF2, Colony Stimulating Factor 2; CSF3, Colony Stimulating Factor 3. Abstract The “instructive model” of aberrant DNA methylation in human tumors is based on the observation that CpG islands prone to hypermethylation in cancers are embedded in chromatin enriched in H3K27me3 in human embryonic stem cells (hESC). Recent studies also link methylation of CpG islands to the methylation status of H3K4, where H3K4me3 is inversely correlated with DNA methylation.