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Updated: Jan 22, 2026

An Engineered Split-TET2 Enzyme for Chemical-inducible DNA Hydroxymethylation and Epigenetic Remodeling
Published on: December 18, 2017
TET Upregulation Leads to 5-Hydroxymethylation Enrichment in Hepatoblastoma
Maria Prates Rivas1, Talita Ferreira Marques Aguiar1,2, Gustavo Ribeiro Fernandes3
1Human Genome and Stem-Cell Research Center, Department of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Abstract:
Hepatoblastoma is an embryonal liver tumor carrying few genetic alterations. We previously disclosed in hepatoblastomas a genome-wide methylation dysfunction, characterized by hypermethylation at specific CpG islands, in addition to a low-level hypomethylation pattern in non-repetitive intergenic sequences, in comparison to non-tumoral liver tissues, shedding light into a crucial role for epigenetic dysregulation in this type of cancer. To explore the underlying mechanisms possibly related to aberrant epigenetic modifications, we evaluated the expression profile of a set of genes engaged in the epigenetic machinery related to DNA methylation (DNMT1, DNMT3A, DNMT3B, DNMT3L, UHRF1, TET1, TET2, and TET3), as well as the 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) global level. We observed in hepatoblastomas a general disrupted expression of these genes from the epigenetic machinery, mainly UHRF1, TET1, and TET2 upregulation, in association with an enrichment of 5hmC content. Our findings support a model of active demethylation by TETs in hepatoblastoma, probably during early stages of liver development, which in combination with UHRF1 overexpression would lead to DNA hypomethylation and an increase in overall 5hmC content. Furthermore, our data suggest that decreased 5hmC content might be associated with poor survival rate, highlighting a pivotal role of epigenetics in hepatoblastoma development and progression.
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