Site- and grade-specific diversity of LINE1 methylation pattern in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours
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Updated: May 18, 2026

Genome-Wide Analysis of DNA Methylation in Gastrointestinal Cancer
Published on: September 18, 2020
Ingo Stricker1, Dimitri Tzivras, Sandeep Nambiar
1Institute of Pathology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. ingo.stricker@ruhr-unibochum.de
Background:
Recent data indicate that gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (GEP-NETs) have a hypomethylated long interspersed element (LINE1) promoter. To answer the question, of whether LINE1 may be of value in assessing the malignant potential of GEP-NETs, we analysed LINE1 methylation in different organs.
Materials And Methods:
A total of 58 GEP-NETs of gastric (n=14), pancreatic (n=15), small intestine (n=17), appendix (n=8), colorectal (n=4) and non-neoplastic tissues were analysed using DNA isolation, bisulphite-treatment and pyrosequencing.
Results:
LINE1 hypomethylation was detected in 50% of gastric, 100% pancreatic, 82% small intestine, 87.5% appendix and 100% colorectal NETs. G1 (p<0.001) and G2 (p<0.05) colorectal, and G1 (p<0.001) and G2 (p<0.001) pancreatic NETs exhibited significant LINE1 hypomethylation compared with non-neoplastic tissues. Higher rates of LINE1 hypomethylation in G2 pancreatic NETs than in G1 NETs (p<0.05) were observed. NETs exhibited a significantly lower frequency of hypomethylation in cases with lymph node metastases (p<0.05).
Conclusion:
LINE1 hypomethylation may serve as a marker of tumour grade and lymph node metastasis.
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