METHOD FOR THE ANALYSIS OF CYTOSINE METHYLATION PATTERNS

摘要

The present invention provides a novel method for the systematic identification of differentially methylated CpG dinucleotides positions within genomic DNA sequences for use as reliable diagnostic, prognostic and/or staging markers. Particular embodiments comprise genome-wide identification of differentially methylated CpG dinucleotide sequences, further identification of neighboring differentially methylated CpG dinucleotide sequences, and confirmation of the diagnostic utility of selected differentially methylated CpG dinucleotide among a larger set of diseased and normal biological samples. The method, and kits for implementation thereof, are useful in applied assays for the diagnosis, prognosis and/or staging of conditions characterized by differential methylation.