Abstract
To test the hypothesis that selenium affects DNA methylation and hence gene regulation, we employed a methylation array (Panomics) in the human colonic epithelial Caco-2 cell model. The array profiles DNA methylation from promoter regions of 82 human genes. After conditioning cells to repeatedly reduced concentrations of fetal bovine serum, a serum-free culture was established. Se-methylselenocysteine (SeMSC) was added at 0 (deficient Se) or 250 (control Se) nM to cells maintained in DMEM. After 7 days, cells were collected and stored at −80°C until analysis; experiments were replicated three times. Glutathione peroxidase activity was significantly decreased in cells grown in low SeMSC. Cells grown in 250 nM SeMSC had maximal GPx activity. Genomic DNA from cells grown in the low-SeMSC media and media containing 250 nM SeMSC was incubated with methylation-binding protein followed by isolation of methylated DNA. The methylated DNA was labeled with biotin and hybridized to the methylation array. Thus, genes with promoter methylation will produce a higher chemiluminescence signal than those genes with no promoter methylation. Of the genes profiled, the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) gene was most different as indicated by quantification following chemiluminescence detection demonstrating that the promoter region of VHL was hypermethylated in cells from the low-SeMSC media. To determine whether promoter methylation affected transcription, we isolated RNA from replicate samples and performed real-time RT PCR. VHL (mRNA) was down-regulated (fold change significantly <1) in cells grown in low SeMSC compared to cells grown in 250 nM SeMSC (control; fold change = 1). We also show that (mRNA) Vhl expression is significantly reduced in mucosa from rats fed a diet deficient in Se. Our results suggest that low Se status affects DNA promoter region methylation and that this can result in down-regulation of the tumor suppressor gene VHL.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- VHL:
-
von Hippel-Lindau gene (human)
- Vhl:
-
von Hippel-Lindau gene (rat)
- SeMSC:
-
Se-methylselenocysteine
- GPx:
-
glutathione preoxidase
- DNMT:
-
DNA methyltransferase
References
Baylin SB, Herman JG, Graff JR, Vertino PM, Issa JP (1998) Alterations in DNA methylation: a fundamental aspect of neoplasia. Adv Cancer Res 72:141–196
James SJ, Pogribny IP, Pogribna M, Miller BJ, Jernigan S, Melnyk S (2003) Mechanisms of DNA damage, DNA hypomethylation, and tumor progression in the folate/methyl-deficient rat model of hepatocarcinogenesis. J Nutr 133:3740S–3747S
Ahuja N, Li Q, Mohan AL, Baylin SB, Issa JP (1998) Aging and DNA methylation in colorectal mucosa and cancer. Cancer Res 58:5489–5494
Issa JP (2000) The epigenetics of colorectal cancer. Ann NY Acad Sci 910:140–153, discussion 153–155
Baylin SB, Herman JG (2000) DNA hypermethylation in tumorigenesis: epigenetics joins genetics. Trends Genet 16:168–174
Laird PW (2003) Early detection: the power and the promise of DNA methylation markers. Nat Rev Cancer 3:253–266
Esteller M, Corn PG, Baylin SB, Herman JG (2001) A gene hypermethylation profile of human cancer. Cancer Res 61:3225–3229
Uthus EO, Ross SA (2007) Dietary selenium affects homocysteine metabolism differently in Fisher-344 rats and CD-1 mice. J Nutr 137:1132–1136
Uthus EO, Yokoi K, Davis CD (2002) Selenium deficiency in Fisher-344 rats decreases plasma and tissue homocysteine concentrations and alters plasma homocysteine and cysteine redox status. J Nutr 132:1122–1128
Davis CD, Uthus EO, Finley JW (2000) Dietary selenium and arsenic affect DNA methylation in vitro in Caco-2 cells and in vivo in rat liver and colon. J Nutr 130:2903–2909
Davis CD, Uthus EO (2003) Dietary folate and selenium affect dimethylhydrazine-induced aberrant crypt formation, global DNA methylation and one-carbon metabolism in rats. J Nutr 133:2907–2914
Feng Y, Finley JW, Davis CD, Becker WK, Fretland AJ, Hein DW (1999) Dietary selenium reduces the formation of aberrant crypts in rats administered 3, 2'-dimethyl-4-aminobiphenyl. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 157:36–42
Davis CD, Uthus EO (2002) Dietary selenium and azadeoxycytidine treatment affect dimethylhydrazine-induced aberrant crypt formation in rat colon and DNA methylation in HT-29 cells. J Nutr 132:292–297
Fiala ES, Staretz ME, Pandya GA, El-Bayoumy K, Hamilton SR (1998) Inhibition of DNA cytosine methyltransferase by chemopreventive selenium compounds, determined by an improved assay for DNA cytosine methyltransferase and DNA cytosine methylation. Carcinogenesis 19:597–604
Chen TR (1977) In situ detection of mycoplasma contamination in cell cultures by fluorescent Hoechst 33258 stain. Exp Cell Res 104:255–262
McKeehan WL, Hamilton WG, Ham RG (1976) Selenium is an essential trace nutrient for growth of WI-38 diploid human fibroblasts. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 73:2023–2027
Guilbert LJ, Iscove NN (1976) Partial replacement of serum by selenite, transferrin, albumin and lecithin in haemopoietic cell cultures. Nature 263:594–595
Zeng H (2002) Selenite and selenomethionine promote HL-60 cell cycle progression. J Nutr 132:674–679
Reeves PG, Nielsen FH, Fahey GC Jr (1993) AIN-93 purified diets for laboratory rodents: final report of the American Institute of Nutrition ad hoc writing committee on the reformulation of the AIN-76A rodent diet. J Nutr 123:1939–1951
Reeves PG (1997) Components of the AIN-93 diets as improvements in the AIN-76A diet. J Nutr 127:838S–841S
Finley JW, Mathys L, Shuler T, Korynta E (1996) Selenium contents of food purchased in North Dakota. Nutr Res 16:723–728
Paglia D, Valentine W (1967) Studies on the quantitative and qualitative characterization of erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase. J Lab Clin Med 70:158–169
Frommer M, McDonald LE, Millar DS, Collis CM, Watt F, Grigg GW, Molloy PL, Paul CL (1992) A genomic sequencing protocol that yields a positive display of 5-methylcytosine residues in individual DNA strands. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 89:1827–1831
Heid CA, Stevens J, Livak KJ, Williams PM (1996) Real time quantitative PCR. Genome Res 6:986–994
Uthus EO, Ross SA, Davis CD (2006) Differential effects of dietary selenium (Se) and folate on methyl metabolism in liver and colon of rats. Biol Trace Elem Res 109:201–214
Robinson MF, Godfrey PJ, Thomson CD, Rea HM, van Rij AM (1979) Blood selenium and glutathione peroxidase activity in normal subjects and in surgical patients with and without cancer in New Zealand. Am J Clin Nutr 32:1477–1485
Willett WC, Polk BF, Morris JS, Stampfer MJ, Pressel S, Rosner B, Taylor JO, Schneider K, Hames CG (1983) Prediagnostic serum selenium and risk of cancer. Lancet 2:130–134
Salonen JT, Alfthan G, Huttunen JK, Puska P (1984) Association between serum selenium and the risk of cancer. Am J Epidemiol 120:342–349
Sanz Alaejos M, Diaz Romero C (1993) Urinary selenium concentrations. Clin Chem 39:2040–2052
Li H, Stampfer MJ, Giovannucci EL, Morris JS, Willett WC, Gaziano JM, Ma J (2004) A prospective study of plasma selenium levels and prostate cancer risk. J Natl Cancer Inst 96:696–703
Los M, Jansen G, Kaelin WG, Lips CJ, Blijham GH, Voest EE (1996) Expression pattern of the von Hippel-Lindau protein in human tissues. Lab Invest 75:231–238
Herman JG, Latif F, Weng Y, Lerman MI, Zbar B, Liu S, Samid D, Duan DS, Gnarra JR, Linehan WM et al (1994) Silencing of the VHL tumor-suppressor gene by DNA methylation in renal carcinoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 91:9700–9704
Hemminki K, Jiang Y, Ma X, Yang K, Egevad L, Lindblad P (2002) Molecular epidemiology of VHL gene mutations in renal cell carcinoma patients: relation to dietary and other factors. Carcinogenesis 23:809–815
Giles RH, Lolkema MP, Snijckers CM, Belderbos M, van der Groep P, Mans DA, van Beest M, van Noort M, Goldschmeding R, van Diest PJ, Clevers H, Voest EE (2006) Interplay between VHL/HIF1alpha and Wnt/beta-catenin pathways during colorectal tumorigenesis. Oncogene 25:3065–3070
Kuzmin I, Duh FM, Latif F, Geil L, Zbar B, Lerman MI (1995) Identification of the promoter of the human von Hippel-Lindau disease tumor suppressor gene. Oncogene 10:2185–2194
Bock C, Walter J, Paulsen M, Lengauer T (2008) Inter-individual variation of DNA methylation and its implications for large-scale epigenome mapping. Nucleic Acids Res 36:e55
Jones PL, Veenstra GJ, Wade PA, Vermaak D, Kass SU, Landsberger N, Strouboulis J, Wolffe AP (1998) Methylated DNA and MeCP2 recruit histone deacetylase to repress transcription. Nat Genet 19:187–191
Nan X, Ng HH, Johnson CA, Laherty CD, Turner BM, Eisenman RN, Bird A (1998) Transcriptional repression by the methyl-CpG-binding protein MeCP2 involves a histone deacetylase complex. Nature 393:386–389
Disclosure
E. O. Uthus, A. Begaye, S. A. Ross, and H. Zeng have no conflicts of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Northern Plains Area, is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all agency services are available without discrimination. Mention of a trademark or proprietary product does not constitute a guarantee or warranty of the product by the US Department of Agriculture and does not imply its approval to the exclusion of other products that may also be suitable. This work was supported by the US Department of Agriculture and National Cancer Institute.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Uthus, E., Begaye, A., Ross, S. et al. The von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) Tumor-suppressor Gene is Down-regulated by Selenium Deficiency in Caco-2 Cells and Rat Colon Mucosa. Biol Trace Elem Res 142, 223–231 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-010-8764-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-010-8764-4