Molecular Detection of Prostate Cancer by Methylation Analysis of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 in Serum DNA

Background: Epigenetic modifications are common in malignant tissues. Here we analyzed the methylation degree of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) gene in comparison to the methylation of glutathione-stransferase- π (GSTP1) gene in prostate cancer (PCa). Methods: PAI-1 hypermethylation was studied using methylation-sensitive high resolution melting (MS-HRM) analysis of bisulfite-modified DNA and methylation-sensitive restriction endonuclease based quantitative PCR (MSRE-qPCR) on unmodified genomic DNA. Results: Data, obtained by these two methods, correlate closely. Methylation levels of PAI-1 analyzed in tissue specimens and serum samples were nearly similar. The diagnostic performance of the MSRE-qPCR assay characterized by AUC values was 0.944 and 0.937 for PAI-1 and GSTP1, respectively. Combination of both markers resulted in higher values of AUC, sensitivity and specificity. Conclusion: MSRE-qPCR based methylation analysis of PAI-1 gene and especially - in combination with GSTP1 gene may have potential as epigenetic marker of PCa in biological fluids.