Abstract 4348: Methylation analysis of uveal melanoma reveals definitive patterns in tumors harboring BAP1 mutations

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular malignancy and can be classified by gene expression profiling into two distinct molecular classes that correspond to metastatic risk: Class 1 (low risk) and Class 2 (high risk). The less aggressive Class 1 UMs express a more differentiated phenotype and exhibit numerous characteristics of normal uveal melanocytes, while the metastasizing Class 2 UMs display loss of melanocytic differentiation and have acquired a primitive, stem-like phenotype. The majority of Class 2 UMs harbor loss of chromosome 3 in addition to inactivating mutations of the tumor suppressor BAP1, which also catalyzes ubiquitin removal from histone H2A and modulates gene expression. Histone modifications have been shown to be associated with DNA methylation and this study investigates the global methylation and gene expression changes in BAP1 mutant tumors. Methods: RNA-Sequencing data and Illumina Human Methyl 450K BeadChip Array data obtained from 92 primary uveal melanoma tumors was analyzed using optimized pipelines. Results: This analysis revealed that the more aggressive Class 2 tumors exhibit a distinct pattern of hypermethylation and silencing of developmental genes involved in neural crest migration and differentiation. Chromosomal regions that were significantly enriched for hypermethylated genes with decreased gene expression in Class 2 tumors included chromosome 3p14-26, 3q12-29 and 8p12-22, whereas the only significantly enriched region for genes that were hypomethylated with increased gene expression in Class 2 tumors was chromosome 8q22-24. Additionally, BAP1 itself was differentially hypermethylated in Class 2 UMs, suggesting that it may regulate its own transcription. Conclusions: Class 2 UMs harboring BAP1 mutations displayed distinct regions of differential hypermethylation in comparison to Class 1 UMs. In these tumors, the most significantly hypermethylated regions occurred on chromosome 3 and in regions that were enriched for genes encoding neural crest guidance cue proteins that regulate homing, migration and invasion. These findings suggest that BAP1 mutations are associated with marked reorganization of the DNA methylome, providing new insights into the pathophysiology of UM and suggesting that methylation may serve as a diagnostic to further stratify metastatic risk. Furthermore, these findings may open new opportunities for targeted therapy of Class 2 UMs. Citation Format: Michael Durante, Matthew Field, Stefan Kurtenbach, Parker Bussies, Christina Decatur, J. William Harbour. Methylation analysis of uveal melanoma reveals definitive patterns in tumors harboring BAP1 mutations [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4348. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-4348