Does epigenomic analysis detect aberrant super-enhancer DNA methylation in human cancer?
We develop an extensive catalogue of human DNA methylomes at base resolution to better understand the regulatory functions of DNA methylation beyond those of proximal promoter gene regions. CpG methylation status in normal cells points to locally active regulatory sites at super-enhancers, which are targeted by specific aberrant DNA methylation events in cancer, with putative effects on the expression of downstream genes.
These findings suggest the utility of structural membrane modification measurements as an early bio-indicator of ionizing radiation exposure.