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The role of folic acid in maintaining colorectal cancer cell DNA methylation patterns, and cancer stem cell phenotype in vitro

Folic acid is a B vitamin involved in DNA CpG methylation. Mandated dietary fortification has led to a subsequent increase in blood folate concentration which has been correlated to a simultaneous spike in colorectal cancer incidence in Canada and the US. Several human colorectal cancer cell lines were cultivated under low (0 mg/L), standard (4 mg/L), and high (16 mg/L) folate conditions for seven days, then assessed for DNA methyltransferase1 protein expression, changes in DNA methylation, and ability to generate colonospheres in culture. Low folic acid levels generally led to reduced DNMT1 protein expression, CpG hypomethylation, and reduced colonosphere yield. High folic acid levels led to increased DNMT1 protein expression, CpG hypermethylation, and maintained colonosphere yield. This data demonstrates that varying levels of folic acid in vitro can influence the methylation status and cancer stem cell self-renewal ability of human colorectal cancer cells. / Canadian Cancer Society

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OGU.10214/7734
Date02 January 2014
CreatorsFarias, Nathan
ContributorsCoomber, Brenda
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
RightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/

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