Methylation Profile of Von Hipple Lindau Gene Promoter in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Patients

Epigenetic alteration, with DNA methylation being the major mechanism, can influence gene expression without alteringDNAsequence, which may lead to cancer development. Tumor suppressor genes such as VHL (von Hippel-Lindau) when affected by epigenetic alteration will be silenced. This study investigated DNA methylation of VHL gene in ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) patients with methylation specific PCR (MSP).
DNA of 26 ALL patients and 26 healthy control subject were extracted, treated with bisulfite, and subsequently their VHL gene methylation was analyzed by MSP technique.
None of the patients were methylated for VHL gene.
Due to the lack of methylation in VHL gene promoter in patients and healthy group, the methylation of this gene cannot be used in diagnosis and prognosis of ALL patients.