Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26907635›Full record

ArticleGenome research2016

Enhancer methylation dynamics contribute to cancer plasticity and patient mortality.

Rachel E Bell, Tamar Golan, Danna Sheinboim, Hagar Malcov, David Amar, Avi Salamon, Tamar Liron, Sahar Gelfman, Yankel Gabet, Ron Shamir and 1 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Genome research, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 75 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
75citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

75 citing papers in PubMed, 112 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
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  5. Cells · 2026
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  11. Association of Intergenic and IntragenicInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Article
  12. Article
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  14. Review
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  17. Review
  18. Epigenetic control of the vicious cycle.Journal of bone oncology · 2024
    Article
  19. Review
  20. Article

15 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Rachel E BellDepartment of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel;
Tamar GolanDepartment of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel;
Danna SheinboimDepartment of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel;
Hagar MalcovDepartment of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel;
David AmarBlavatnik School of Computer Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel;
Avi SalamonDepartment of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
Tamar LironDepartment of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel;
Sahar GelfmanDepartment of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel;
Yankel GabetDepartment of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
Ron ShamirBlavatnik School of Computer Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel;
Carmit LevyDepartment of Human Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel;
Tel Aviv University · IL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

During development, enhancers play pivotal roles in regulating gene expression programs; however, their involvement in cancer progression has not been fully characterized. We performed an integrative analysis of DNA methylation, RNA-seq, and small RNA-seq profiles from thousands of patients, including 25 diverse primary malignances and seven body sites of metastatic melanoma. We found that enhancers are consistently the most differentially methylated regions (DMR) as cancer progresses from normal to primary tumors and then to metastases, compared to other genomic features. Remarkably, identification of enhancer DMRs (eDMRs) enabled classification of primary tumors according to physiological organ systems, and in metastasis eDMRs are the most correlated with patient outcome. To further understand the eDMR role in cancer progression, we developed a model to predict genes and microRNAs that are regulated by enhancer and not promotor methylation, which shows high accuracy with chromatin architecture methods and was experimentally validated. Interestingly, among all metastatic melanoma eDMRs, the most correlated with patient survival were eDMRs that "switched" their methylation patterns back and forth between normal, primary, and metastases and target cancer drivers, e.g., KIT We further demonstrated that eDMR target genes were modulated in melanoma by the bone metastasis microenvironment, suggesting that eDMRs respond to microenvironmental cues in metastatic niches. Our findings that aberrant methylation in cancer cells mostly affects enhancers, which contribute to tumor progression and cancer cell plasticity, will facilitate development of epigenetic anticancer approaches.

Indexed as

DNA MethylationDNA, NeoplasmEnhancer Elements, GeneticMelanomaCell Line, TumorFemaleHumansMaleDNA, Neoplasm

Identifiers

PMID26907635
PMCPMC4864467
OpenAlexW2281867871

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.