CpG island methylation of DAPK1 and its expression in uterine cervical carcinoma

    DANG Yanª²Li, ZHENG Weiª²Guo, XIN Xiaoª²Yan

    Department of Obstetrics £¦ Gynecology ,Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¬ðan 710033, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To investigate the methylation status of DAPK1 gene and its protein expression in uterine cervical carcinoma and to explore the relationship between them. METHODS: The CpG island methylation of DAPK1 gene was detected by methylationª²specific PCR (MSP) and the expression of DAPK1 protein was examined with immunohistochemistry in 32 cases of uterine cervical carcinoma, among whom 18 were cases of squamous cell carcinoma and 14 cases of adenocarcinoma. RESULTS: The positive expression rate of MSP in uterine cervical carcinoma was 56.3%, which was significantly higher than that in the normal cervical tissue(P<0.05), but no significant difference was found between squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma(P>0.05). The expression rate of DAPK1 protein in uterine cervical carcinoma was 15.63%, which was significantly lower than that in the normal cervical tissue(P<0.05), and no significant difference was found between squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma(P>0.05). CONCLUSION: The hypermethylation of CpG island may play some major role in decreasing DAPK1 protein expression, which is an important factor in the uterine cervical carcinogenesie. ......