Figure 6

CBFA2T3B promoter methylation levels versus gene expression. The data for 24 breast tumor cell lines and 20 primary breast tumor samples are shown. The y-axis represents methylation levels assayed using real-time MSP and plotted as methylation indices [mi = m/(m + u)] on a log scale. The x-axis represents total expression levels assayed using real-time RT-PCR and plotted as mRNA mlcls per 10⁴ cells on a log scale. Each white circle represents a different primary breast tumor sample and the black circles represent the breast tumor cell lines. The breast tumor cell lines examined are shown in descending order from high to low methylation. A statistically significant inverse correlation was established between promoter hypermethylation (mi = 0.9) and reduced expression (4 mRNA mlcls per 10⁴ cells) versus hypomethylation (0.0001) and elevated expression (120,000) (r² = 0.72; r = -0.9, P < .0001). A power regression (y = cx^b) describes the relationship between methylation and expression.