We recently found that the tumour suppressor enzyme phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) directly interacts to a region in the third intracellular loop (3L4F) of serotonin 5-HT2C receptors (5-HT2cR) in the rat VTA.
Extension of this analysis to primary tumors and the normal cerebellum revealed three major classes of epigenetically regulated genes: (1) normally methylated genes (DAZL, ZNF157, ASN) whose methylation reflects somatic patterns observed in the cerebellum, (2) X-linked genes (MSN, POU3F4, HTR2C) that show disruption of their sex-specific methylation patterns in tumors, and (3) tumor-specific methylated genes (COL1A2, S100A10, S100A6, HTATIP2, CDH1, LXN) that display enhanced methylation levels in tumors compared with the cerebellum.