ERG Induces Epigenetic Activation of Tudor Domain-Containing Protein 1 (TDRD1) in ERG Rearrangement-Positive Prostate Cancer

Abstract

We demonstrate that ERG is capable of disrupting a tissue-specific DNA methylation pattern at the TDRD1 promoter. As a result, TDRD1 becomes transcriptionally activated in TMPRSS2:ERG-positive prostate cancer. Given the prevalence of ERG fusions, TDRD1 overexpression is a common alteration in human prostate cancer which may be exploited for diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.