| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |













From the Departments of Chemical Pathology,* Obstetrics and Gynaecology,
Clinical Oncology,¶ Anatomical and Cellular Pathology,|| and Anatomy,** and the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, China; the Department of Biochemistry,
The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; the Department of Pathology,
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, China; and the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences,
University of California, San Francisco, California
The pseudomalignant nature of the placenta prompted us to search for tumor suppressor gene hypermethylation, a phenomenon widely reported in cancer, in the human placenta. Nine tumor suppressor genes were studied. Hypermethylation of the Ras association domain family 1 A (RASSF1A) gene was found in human placentas from all three trimesters of pregnancy but was absent in other fetal tissues. Hypermethylation of Rassf1 was similarly observed in placentas from the rhesus monkey but not the mouse. An inverse relationship between RASSF1A promoter methylation and gene expression was demonstrated by bisulfite sequencing of microdissected placental cells and immunohistochemical staining of placental tissue sections using an anti-RASSF1A antibody. Treatment of choriocarcinoma cell lines, JAR and JEG3, by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine and trichostatin A led to reduction in RASSF1A methylation but increased expression. These observations extend the analogy between the primate placenta and malignant tumors to the epigenetic level.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
Y. K. Tong, S. Jin, R. W.K. Chiu, C. Ding, K.C. A. Chan, T. Y. Leung, L. Yu, T. K. Lau, and Y.M. D. Lo Noninvasive Prenatal Detection of Trisomy 21 by an Epigenetic-Genetic Chromosome-Dosage Approach Clin. Chem., January 1, 2010; 56(1): 90 - 98. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. Koslowski, O. Tureci, S. Biesterfeld, G. Seitz, C. Huber, and U. Sahin Selective Activation of Trophoblast-specific PLAC1 in Breast Cancer by CCAAT/Enhancer-binding Protein {beta} (C/EBP{beta}) Isoform 2 J. Biol. Chem., October 16, 2009; 284(42): 28607 - 28615. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
B. Novakovic, M. Sibson, H. K. Ng, U. Manuelpillai, V. Rakyan, T. Down, S. Beck, T. Fournier, D. Evain-Brion, E. Dimitriadis, et al. Placenta-specific Methylation of the Vitamin D 24-Hydroxylase Gene: IMPLICATIONS FOR FEEDBACK AUTOREGULATION OF ACTIVE VITAMIN D LEVELS AT THE FETOMATERNAL INTERFACE J. Biol. Chem., May 29, 2009; 284(22): 14838 - 14848. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
E. A. Papageorgiou, H. Fiegler, V. Rakyan, S. Beck, M. Hulten, K. Lamnissou, N. P. Carter, and P. C. Patsalis Sites of Differential DNA Methylation between Placenta and Peripheral Blood: Molecular Markers for Noninvasive Prenatal Diagnosis of Aneuploidies Am. J. Pathol., May 1, 2009; 174(5): 1609 - 1618. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
E C W Hung, R W K Chiu, and Y M D Lo Detection of circulating fetal nucleic acids: a review of methods and applications J. Clin. Pathol., April 1, 2009; 62(4): 308 - 313. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
F. M. F. Lun, N. B. Y. Tsui, K. C. A. Chan, T. Y. Leung, T. K. Lau, P. Charoenkwan, K. C. K. Chow, W. Y. W. Lo, C. Wanapirak, T. Sanguansermsri, et al. Noninvasive prenatal diagnosis of monogenic diseases by digital size selection and relative mutation dosage on DNA in maternal plasma PNAS, December 16, 2008; 105(50): 19920 - 19925. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. A. Soussan, B. Bossers, A. Tissoudali, G. C Page-Christiaens, M. de Haas, and C. E. Van der Schoot RASSF1a Is Applicable as Universal Fetal Identifier in RQ-PCR-Based Non-Invasive Prenatal Genotyping Assays Blood (ASH Annual Meeting Abstracts), November 16, 2008; 112(11): 289 - 289. [Abstract] |
||||
![]() |
B. Novakovic, V. Rakyan, H.K. Ng, U. Manuelpillai, C. Dewi, N.C. Wong, R. Morley, T. Down, S. Beck, J.M. Craig, et al. Specific tumour-associated methylation in normal human term placenta and first-trimester cytotrophoblasts Mol. Hum. Reprod., September 1, 2008; 14(9): 547 - 554. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. S.C. Chim, S. Jin, T. Y.H. Lee, F. M.F. Lun, W. S. Lee, L. Y.S. Chan, Y. Jin, N. Yang, Y. K. Tong, T. Y. Leung, et al. Systematic Search for Placental DNA-Methylation Markers on Chromosome 21: Toward a Maternal Plasma-Based Epigenetic Test for Fetal Trisomy 21 Clin. Chem., March 1, 2008; 54(3): 500 - 511. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Y. M. Dennis Lo and R. W. K. Chiu Noninvasive Prenatal Diagnosis of Fetal Chromosomal Aneuploidies by Maternal Plasma Nucleic Acid Analysis Clin. Chem., March 1, 2008; 54(3): 461 - 466. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. S.C. Chim, T. K.F. Shing, E. C.W. Hung, T.-y. Leung, T.-k. Lau, R. W.K. Chiu, and Y.M. Dennis Lo Detection and Characterization of Placental MicroRNAs in Maternal Plasma Clin. Chem., March 1, 2008; 54(3): 482 - 490. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Y. K. Tong, R. W.K. Chiu, T. Y. Leung, C. Ding, T. K. Lau, T. N. Leung, and Y.M. D. Lo Detection of Restriction Enzyme Digested Target DNA by PCR Amplification Using a Stem-Loop Primer: Application to the Detection of Hypomethylated Fetal DNA in Maternal Plasma Clin. Chem., November 1, 2007; 53(11): 1906 - 1914. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Y. M. D. Lo, F. M. F. Lun, K. C. A. Chan, N. B. Y. Tsui, K. C. Chong, T. K. Lau, T. Y. Leung, B. C. Y. Zee, C. R. Cantor, and R. W. K. Chiu From the Cover: Digital PCR for the molecular detection of fetal chromosomal aneuploidy PNAS, August 7, 2007; 104(32): 13116 - 13121. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |