Fig. 1

DNA methylation-mediated differential expression of DLX4 isoforms together with their clinical significance in CML. a Relative expression of DLX4 isoforms BP1 and DLX7 in CML patients. BP1 expression was significantly increased in CML patients, whereas DLX7 expression was significantly decreased as detected by real-time quantitative PCR. Relative BP1/DLX7 expression values were calculated using the equation 2^{∆CT [control−sample (BP1/DLX7)]} ÷ 2^{∆CT [control−sample (ABL1)]}. ∆CT reflects the disparity in CT value between control and target or reference sequences. The bone marrow sample from one normal control that possessed the minimal ∆CT between BP1/DLX7 and ABL1 transcript was selected as control and defined as 100% expression for BP1/DLX7 transcript. The median level of BP1/DLX7 expression in each group is shown by a horizontal line. b The coordinates of CpG islands in DLX4 gene. c Methylation density of BP1 promoter CpG island (CpG island 1) in a representative CML patient and K562 cell. The CpG island located at the promoter region of BP1 (CpG island 1) was almost unmethylated in a representative CML patient and K562 cell as detected by bisulfite sequencing. A white circle indicates unmethylated CpG dinucleotide, whereas a black circle indicates methylated CpG dinucleotide. Each line represents an independent clone-sequencing result of BSP product of K562 cell or CML patient. d The discriminating value of BP1 in CML patients. BP1 expression may serve as a potential biomarker for distinguishing CML patients from controls with an AUC value of 0.624. e The discriminating value of DLX7 in CML patients. DLX7 expression may serve as a potential biomarker for distinguishing CML patients from controls with an AUC value of 0.699