Determining the methylation status of the promoter regions of MARCH11, HOXA9, PTGDR, and UNCX genes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

The aim of this study was to determine the methylation status of the promoter regions of MARCH11, HOXA9, PTGDR, and UNCX genes in the tumor and non-tumor lung tissue in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A relative level of methylation of the promoter regions of MARCH11, HOXA9, PTGDR, and UNCX genes was determined by the quantitative methylation-specific PCR in 73 patients with NSCLC. The quantitative methylation-specific reaction was performed both for tumor tissue samples and non-tumor tissue samples of the same patient. For each of the samples, a reaction was set both by the investigated genes (MARCH11, UNCX, HOXA9, and PTGDR) and by the reference beta-actin gene (β-actin). Positive levels of methylation of the HOXA9 gene were established for 83.5 % patients; the MARCH11 gene – for 80.8 % patients; the PTGDR gene – for 68.4 % patients; the UNCX gene – for 84.9 % patients. In the study group of patients with NSCLC, significant differences were found in the relative levels of methylation of the promoter regions of MARCH11, HOXA9, PTGDR, and UNCX genes in the tumor and non-tumor lung tissue. The data suggest that hypermethylation of MARCH11, HOXA9, PTGDR, and UNCX genes may play a role in NSCLC tumor progression.