Differential DNA methylation of gene promoters in small B-cell lymphomas.

Improved care of patients with small B-cell lymphomas (SBCLs) is likely to result from the ongoing discovery of molecular markers that better define these malignant neoplasms. We identified multiple gene loci whose DNA methylation patterns differed between 3 types of SBCL: B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma, mantle cell lymphoma, and grades I and II follicular lymphoma. This analysis was performed using an oligonucleotide microarray that allowed determination of the DNA methylation status of 156 loci in 38 genes. Combined bisulfite restriction analysis and methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction were used to validate the differential methylation of 6 of these genes. By using non-Hodgkin lymphoma cell lines as models, these genes were examined further for methylation and gene expression relationships. This study illustrates nonrandom epigenetic alterations in SBCLs that seem to preferentially involve lymphomas of germinal center derivation.