DNA-Directed Methylation Analysis Methodology

Epigenetics alterations, especially DNA methylation, play a critical role in control of gene expressions. Abnormal patterns of methylation are observed in early-stages of many cancers. Therefore, methylation analysis is useful in primary detection of tumors. Advances knowledge about the functional role of aberrant epigenetic modifications as potential biomarkers for cancer, have attracted considerable interest to pursue such investigations. Currently, many methodologies are available to distinguish methylation patterns, however, none is considered as the ‘gold-standard’ technique. This paper is an overview on some convenient methylation analysis methods.