Epigenetic regulation of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase gene expression by histone acetylation and methyl-CpG binding proteins.

Transcriptional silencing of the DNA repair gene, O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) in a proportion of transformed cell lines is associated with methylated CpG hotspots in the MGMT 5' flank. The goal of the study was to evaluate the mechanism by which CpG methylation of theMGMT promoter region influenced silencing of the gene. Analysis of histone acetylation status in two regions of the promoter using chromatin immunoprecipitation assay showed that a higher level of histone acetylation was associated with expression in three MGMT-expressing cell lines (HeLa CCL2, HT29, and Raji) compared with three MGMT-silenced cell lines (HeLa S3, BE, and TK6).