Epigenetic Inactivation of Tumor Suppressor Genes in Serum of Patients with Cutaneous Melanoma  Alessandra Marini, Alireza Mirmohammadsadegh, Sandeep Nambiar, Annett Gustrau, Thomas Ruzicka, Ulrich R. Hengge  Journal of Investigative Dermatology  Volume 126, Issue 2, Pages 422-431 (February 2006) DOI: 10.1038/sj.jid.5700073 Copyright © 2006 The Society for Investigative Dermatology, Inc Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Levels of circulating DNA (ng/μl) recovered from different patient groups and healthy controls. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2006 126, 422-431DOI: (10.1038/sj.jid.5700073) Copyright © 2006 The Society for Investigative Dermatology, Inc Terms and Conditions

Figure 2 Quantitative methylation of the analyzed genes in different patient groups. The median, the lower and upper quartiles (depicted as a box), and maximum and minimum, being represented by the length of the vertical line, are shown. Numbers were calculated as described in Materials and Methods, and depicted on a log scale. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2006 126, 422-431DOI: (10.1038/sj.jid.5700073) Copyright © 2006 The Society for Investigative Dermatology, Inc Terms and Conditions

Figure 3 Pyrograms of healthy control, primary melanoma (stage I and II), and melanoma metastasis specimens. The two CpG sites localized at base pairs 2,249 and 2,258 are depicted. The numbers on top of the pyrograms represent the individual percentages of cytosine methylation at the indicated positions. The complementary strands are shown, that is, the percentage next to the “G” is relevant. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2006 126, 422-431DOI: (10.1038/sj.jid.5700073) Copyright © 2006 The Society for Investigative Dermatology, Inc Terms and Conditions

Figure 4 Analysis of positional methylation for the different groups and analyzed cell lines. (a) The percentages of methylation at CpG sites # 1 and #2 are shown. The gray bars refer to site #1 and the black bars to site #2. (b) The coefficients of variation of positional variation above the threshold of 0.2 (healthy controls) were significant (P<0.05). Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2006 126, 422-431DOI: (10.1038/sj.jid.5700073) Copyright © 2006 The Society for Investigative Dermatology, Inc Terms and Conditions