DNA methylation analysis using CpG microarrays is impaired in benzopyrene exposed cells

Epigenetic alterations have emerged as a key mechanism involved in tumorigenesis. These disruptions are partly due to environmental factors that change normal DNA methylation patterns necessary for transcriptional regulation and chromatin compaction. Microarray technologies are allowing environmentally susceptible epigenetic patterns to be mapped and the precise targets of environmentally induced alterations to be identified. Previously, we observed BaP-induced epigenetic events and cell cycle disruptions in breast cancer cell lines that included time- and concentration-dependent loss of proliferation as well as sequence-specific hypo- and hypermethylation events. In this present report, we further characterized epigenetic changes in BaP-exposed MCF-7 cells. We analyzed DNA methylation on a CpG island microarray platform with over 5400 unique genomic regions. Depleted and enriched microarray targets, representative of putative DNA methylation changes, were identified across the genome; however, subsequent sodium bisulfite analyses revealed no changes in DNA methylation at a number of these loci. Instead, we found that the identification of DNA methylation changes using this restriction enzyme-based microarray approach corresponded with the regions of DNA bound by the BaP derived DNA adducts. This DNA adduct formation occurs at both methylated and unmethylated CpG dinucleotides and affects PCR amplification during sample preparation. Our data suggest that caution should be exercised when interpreting data from comparative microarray experiments that rely on enzymatic reactions. These results are relevant to genome screening approaches involving environmental exposures in which DNA adduct formation at specific nucleotide sites may bias target acquisition and compromise the correct identification of epigenetically responsive genes.