Pathway landscapes and epigenetic regulation in breast cancer and melanoma cell lines

BACKGROUND: Epigenetic variation is a main regulation mechanism of gene expression in various cancer histotypes, and due to its reversibility, the potential impact in therapy can be very relevant. METHODS: Based on a selected pair, breast cancer (BC) and melanoma, we conducted inference analysis in parallel on a few cell lines (MCF-7 for BC and A375 for melanoma). Starting from differential expression after treatment with a demethylating agent, the 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (DAC), we provided pathway enrichment analysis and gene regulatory maps with cross-linked microRNAs and transcription factors. RESULTS: Several oncogenic signaling pathways altered upon DAC treatment were detected with significant enrichment. We represented the association between these cancers by depicting the landscape of common and specific variation affecting them.