ORIGINAL RESEARCH

BCL-2, CDKN1A and ATM gene methylation in chronically exposed individuals

About authors

1 Ural Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia

2 Chelyabinsk State University, Chelyabinsk, Russia

Correspondence should be addressed: Evgenia A. Blinova
Vorovskogo, 68, korp. 1, Chelyabinsk, 454141; ur.mrcru@avonilb

About paper

Funding: the study was carried out within the framework of the State assignment of Russian Federal Medical Biological Agency “Human Cell-Mediated Immunity During Realization of Chronic Radiation Exposure Late Effects” (code 27.002.20.800).

Author contribution: Blinova EA — literature analysis, experimental procedure, data processing, manuscript writing; Nikiforov VS — literature analysis, experimental procedure, manuscript writing; Yanishevskaya MA — experimental procedure, manuscript editing; Akleyev AV — general management, manuscript writing.

Compliance with ethical standards: the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Ural Research Center for Radiation Medicine of Russian Federal Medical Biological Agency (protocol № 2 dated July 20, 2021).The informed consent was submitted by all examined individuals.

Received: 2021-07-27 Accepted: 2021-08-29 Published online: 2021-09-21
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DNA methylation is the most common epigenetic modification, caused by ionizing radiation. There may be both hypermethylation, which suppresses transcription of gene promoter regions, and hypomethylation, resulting in gene activation. Both mechanisms may be involved in carcinogenesis. The study was aimed to assess methylation status of CpG islands in the protective system BCL-2, CDKN1A and ATM gene promoters in the peripheral blood cells of the chronically exposed individuals, living in the villages, located along the Techa River, over a long-term period. Methylation of BCL-2, CDKN1A and ATM gene promoter regions in 68 residents of the villages, located along the Techa River (Chelyabinsk region), was assessed by the real-time methylation-specific PCR. The group of exposed individuals included 54 people with accumulated dose to red bone marrow within the range of 0.09–3.51 Gy. The comparison group included 14 people, living in similar economic and social environment, with the dose to red bone marrow, accumulated during the whole life, not exceeding 70 mGy. The pilot study of exposed individuals over a long period of time after chronic low-dose radiation exposure revealed no significant changes in methylation levels of CpG islands in the CDKN1A, BCL-2, ATM gene promoter regions compared to the comparison group. None were revealed in the dose subgroups “87–994 mGy” and “over 1000 mGy”.

Keywords: DNA methylation, chronic exposure, CpG islands, long-term effects of exposure, methylation-specific PCR

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