Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) are clonal hematologic disorders that frequently represent an intermediate disease stage before progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). is the dominant mechanism for TSG silencing and clonal variation in MDS evolution to AML. Introduction Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) is an important event in neoplasia. For example, in the myeloid malignancies myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chromosome 7 deletions are among the most important predictors of outcome.1C3 The contribution of chromosomal deletions to the neoplastic process may involve loss of critical growth-regulating genes that would otherwise suppress the malignant phenotype. Such genes have been termed tumor suppressor genes (TSGs).4 Methylation of promoter CpG sites is an important factor regulating gene expression, including expression of TSGs.5C7 In cancer, aberrant DNA methylation in the promoters of TSGs is an alternative to chromosomal deletion for silencing TSGs.5C7 The clinical responses of MDS and AML to Mouse Monoclonal to S tag drugs that reverse aberrant hypermethylation, such as 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine and 5-azacytidine,8C11 suggest that aberrant hypermethylation plays a causative role in disease and is not just a side effect resulting from dysregulated proliferation or DNA damage. Finally, TSGs may be silenced by mutation (reviewed in Payne et al12). Therefore, aberrant DNA methylation, cytogenetic instability, and mutational instability are the triad of processes that can silence TSGs. Evolutionary principles provide an important framework for understanding the process of 851199-59-2 manufacture neoplastic transformation. In essence, the 3 forms of genomic instability described here generate clonal variation, with 851199-59-2 manufacture subsequent selection by the microenvironment for the most favorable variants (reviewed in Breivik et al13). Since MDS frequently represents an intermediate stage before transformation to more aggressive disease (refractory anemia with excess blasts [RAEB] or AML) characterized by accumulation of myeloblasts, the study of MDS and AML can provide an insight into the relative contributions of aberrant methylation, chromosome instability, or mutational instability to the process of neoplastic evolution. With the advent of gene array technologies, it has become practical to karyotype malignant cells at high resolution using high-density single nucleotide polymorphism arrays (SNP-As) and, more recently, to simultaneously screen a large number of promoters for aberrant methylation. Genome-wide sequencing of individual tumors to assess the mutation spectrum in its entirety is still not widely practical. In any case, it has been estimated that instability at the chromosome level is more prevalent than mutational instability at the nucleotide level.14 In this study, we use gene array technologies to assess the extent of aberrant DNA methylation and chromosome aberrations in bone marrow samples from 184 patients with MDS or AML. Findings 851199-59-2 manufacture were correlated with clinical outcomes. In addition to the identification of previously unrecognized TSGs, by analyzing aberrant methylation and chromosome abnormalities at different stages of disease, the relative contribution of these processes to myeloid neoplastic evolution was revealed. Methods Patients and cell lines Bone marrow aspirates (total N = 184) were collected from patients with MDS or AML seen between 2002 and 2007 and grouped according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification system15 and International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS)16 classifications of MDS. Aspirates obtained from healthy individuals (N = 42; mean age, 43 years; range, 15-76 years) were used as normal 851199-59-2 manufacture bone marrow controls for the methylation array. CD34+ hematopoietic precursors used as controls.