Genome-wide analysis of CpG island DNA methylation in thyroid follicular lesions

• Grant number: 10/10757-3
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: December 01, 2010
• End date: November 30, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Molecular Genetics and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Ericka Barbosa Trarbach
• Grantee: Ericka Barbosa Trarbach
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Follicular lesions of the thyroid include adenomatoid nodule (AN), follicular adenoma (FA) and carcinoma (FC), and follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (FV-PTC). The pre-operatory diagnosis of these lesions is very difficult and many patients ultimately proven to have benign follicular lesions (goiters, adenomas) are unnecessarily operated because the possibility of follicular carcinoma by aspiration biopsy cannot exclude. The epigenetics events (p.e. DNA methylation) is already in evidence as a key mechanism in tumor formation and progression, including thyroid neoplasis. In an effort to identify new follicular cancer-specific marker, we propose the establishment of the genomic CpG island methylation profile of thyroid follicular lesions (AN, FA, FC and FV-PTC), combining methylated DNA immunoprecipitation and microarray analysis. These results may be useful to exploit for early thyroid cancer diagnosis or therapeutic intervention, and yield further insights into the molecular process of thyroid tumorigenesis. (AU)