Study on p16 methylation status of BEP2D cells during its malignant transformation / 中国肺癌杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>To study p16 methylation status and p16 mRNA transcription of BEP2D cells during its malignant transformation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Normal BEP2D cell and BEP2D cells irradiated by α particle for 20 weeks (R-20), 21 weeks (R-21), 35 weeks (T-35) and 54 weeks (T-54) respectively were chosen to study the p16 methylation status by methylation-specific PCR (MSP). Meanwhile, RT-PCR was used to study p16 mRNA transcription of the above cells.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) p16 methylation was found in R-20, R-21, T-35 and T-54 cells, but not in normal BEP2D cell. (2) The p16 mRNA transcription levels of R-20, R-21, T-35 and T-54 cells were much lower than that of normal BEP2D cell.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The p16 methylation occurs in the early stage of lung cancer. The methylation of p16 gene may cause the inactivation of p16 gene.</p>