Global DNA methylation level in primary human liver specimens.

<p>The global DNA methylation level in primary HCC samples, the corresponding adjacent non-cancerous liver tissues, as well as in unrelated healthy liver tissue was determined employing quantitative pyrosequencing of <i>LINE1</i> sequences as described <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0049462#pone.0049462-Trankenschuh1" target="_blank">[40]</a>. Methylation levels at <i>LINE-1</i> locus were significantly lower in primary HCC samples compared to the corresponding adjacent non-cancerous liver tissues. Dashed lines represent cut off values defining hyper- or hypomethylation (mean+/−2× std).