Fig. 1
Epigenetic reprogramming modulates the physicochemical properties of genomic DNA. a Scheme: DNA from normal cells contain large levels of dispersed methylcytosines across the genome but DNA from cancer cells are hypomethylated at these sites and tend to form cluster of methylcytosines into CpG rich regulatory regions. This distinct methylation landscape leads to different solvation properties in solution, which in turn modulates their adsorption towards gold surface. Inset: TEM image showing the different solvation of DNA genome derived from the prostate tissue of a cancer patient and a healthy individual. b TEM image showing the different solvation of DNA based on their different methylation status. i) fully unmethylated WGA DNA ii) moderately methylated DNA from BT474 cancer cells iii) 100% CpG methylated Jurkat DNA. The solvation trend of DNA with increasing methylation levels is shown in right side. Scale bars are 2000 nm for all the TEM images. c AFM image showing the interaction behaviour of genomic DNAs with the gold surface based on their different methylation status. WGA and 100% methylated jurkat DNA shows very low adsorption, whereas BT474 DNA shows very high adsorption. The surface adsorption trend of genomic DNA with increasing global methylation levels is shown in right side
