Edited by: Eugene Russo
A. Merlo, J.G. Herman, L. Mao, D.J. Lee, E. Gabrielson, P.C. Burger, S.B. Baylin, D. Sidransky, "5´ CpG island methylation is associated with transcriptional silencing of the tumour suppressor p16/CDKN2/MTS1 in human cancers," Nature Medicine, 1:686-92, 1995. (Cited in more than 170 papers through June 1997)
Comments by David Sidransky, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
GAINING CREDIBILITY: David Sidransky's lab showed that methylation is an important mechanism of gene inactivation. Although the phenomenon of methylation has attracted the attention of cancer researchers for some time, scientists have only recently recognized its potential role in the progression of human cancers. Methylation knocks out gene function; methyl groups placed on CpG islands (relatively rare clusters of cytosine and guanine bases connected by a phosphorylation site) effectively prevent gene transcription. If a tumor suppressor gene is methylated, cancerous growth may result. According to David Sidransky, director of the ...
