The Epigenetic Landscape of Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Figure 3

Methylation of CpG islands reduces gene transcription and is purported to play a role in malignancy through reduced expression of tumor suppressors and genes concerned with differentiation. Global hypomethylation is also frequently observed in malignant cells, and while it is likely that there is genetic instability and promotion of protooncogene expression, the exact role of global methylation patterns in the development of cancer is uncertain.