Methylation-Sensitive Melt Curve Analysis of the Reprimo Gene Methylation in Gastric Cancer

Reprimo (RPRM) is a p53-induced tumor suppressor gene. Its aberrant DNA methylation is correlated with carcinogenesis and may be used as a surrogate marker for the early detection of gastric cancer. However, the detail information regarding its DNA methylation has not been revealed. Here, we investigated the RPRM gene methylation in gastric cancer tumor and plasma samples by methylation-sensitive melt curve analysis (MS-MCA) and bisulfite sequencing in depth. We developed a semi-quantitative method based on MS-MCA for detecting DNA methylation and unraveled the RPRM gene methylation pattern in gastric cancer. This study provides a solid foundation for the future application of detecting RPRM gene methylation in human plasma or serum samples to help diagnose gastric cancer or for prognosis evaluation.