Fig. 3

GATA4 is inactivated by promoter hypermethylation in pediatric AML. a MSP analysis of the methylation status of GATA4 shows aberrant methylation in pediatric AML samples compared to NBM/ITP control samples. Aberrant methylation of GATA4 was observed in 15.0 % (3/20) of the NBM control samples compared to 56.2 % (59/105) of the pediatric AML samples. b Three NBM samples and three AML samples were analyzed by BSG. The results showed that the CpG islands in the GATA4 promoter were methylated in the AML samples (69.4, 58.8, and 62.4 % in AML7#, AML10#, and AML11#, respectively). In contrast, the CpG islands of the GATA4 promoter in the NBM samples were unmethylated (24.7, 14.1, and 10.6 % in NBM4#, NBM5#, and NBM9#, respectively). c The transcript levels of GATA4 were examined in 105 pediatric AML patients by real-time PCR. d GATA4 expression was significantly decreased in 105 AML patients (33.06 ± 70.94; P =0.011) compared to 20 NBM/ITP controls (116.76 ± 105.39); AML patients with GATA4 promoter methylation (16.02 ± 17.59, n = 59) showed lower GATA4 transcript levels compared to those without GATA4 promoter methylation (54.92 ± 101.80, P <0.001; n = 46)