Detection of Promoter Hypermethylation and mRNA Expression of 14-3-3σ Gene in Tissues of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Objective To investigate promoter methylation status,mRNA expression of 14-3-3σ gene and their relationship in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Methods The methylation status of the 14-3-3σ gene in tissues were detected with methylation-specific PCR.The 14-3-3σ mRNA expression was examined by real-time PCR.Results Hypermethylation of CpG islands of the 14-3-3σ gene was detected in 93.2%(41/44) of the HCC tissues,56.1%(23/41)of cirrhotic tissues and 6.8%(3/41) of cancer-adjacent tissues,no significant difference between different clinical pathological features,such as gendre,differentiation and HBV infection status.mRNA expression of 14-3-3σ in tissues without methylated product approximated to the normal level,whereas,that in 58/64(90.6%) of samples with methylated product were lower than the detection limit,10.4% were lower than the normal level.The expression and methylation of 14-3-3σ were negatively correlated(P0.05).Conclusion These results indicate that hypermethylation plays a causal role in inactivation of the 14-3-3σ gene in HCC.Hypermethylation and the resulting loss of expression of the 14-3-3σ gene corresponds to one of the most common abnormalities reported to date in HCC,suggesting their crucial role in the development of HCC.