Aberrant regulation of messenger RNA 3'-untranslated region in human cancer.

The messenger RNA 3'-untranslated region (3'UTR) is emerging as critically important in regulating gene expression at posttranscriptional levels. The 3'UTR governs gene expression via orchestrated interactions between mRNA structural components (cis-elements) and specific trans-acting factors (RNA-binding proteins and non-coding RNAs). Alterations in any of these components can lead to disease.

CpG island promoter hypermethylation of the pro-apoptotic gene caspase-8 is a common hallmark of relapsed glioblastoma multiforme.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an incurable malignancy with inherent tendency to recur. In this study, we have comparatively analyzed the epigenetic profile of 32 paired tumor samples of relapsed GBM and their corresponding primary neoplasms with special attention to genes involved in the mitochondria-independent apoptotic pathway. The CpG island promoter hypermethylation status was assessed by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and selected samples were double checked by bisulfite genomic sequencing.