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Updated: May 12, 2026
Genome-Wide Analysis of DNA Methylation in Gastrointestinal Cancer
Published on: September 18, 2020
Methylation analysis of EDNRB in human colon tissues of Hirschsprung's disease
Weibing Tang1, Bo Li, Junwei Tang
1State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Institute of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
Purpose:
Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR) is characterized by absence of the enteric nervous system in a variable portion of the distal gut. The endothelin receptor type B (EDNRB) gene has been localized to the chromosome 13q22 region and encodes a G-protein coupled receptor, is generally accepted as a crucial gene for HSCR. This study is to identify the epigenetic changes of EDNRB in the pathogenesis of HSCR.
Methods:
We investigated the expression levels of EDNRB in 58 HSCR patients and 25 unrelated controls, using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot assay. Moreover, using the methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction, we examined the methylation status of the promoter region of EDNRB.
Results:
Aberrant high expression level of EDNRB was detected in HSCR patients compared with the control group (P = 0.023). Besides, western blot assay confirmed the up-regulation of EDNRB in the post transcription level in the aganglionosis segment of HSCR patients. Furthermore, there was a significantly lower ratio of methylation level of EDNRB in HSCR.
Conclusions:
Our study demonstrates that epigenetic inactivation of the EDNRB gene may play a role in the development of HSCR.
