Methylation of the Wnt Signaling Antagonist, Wnt Inhibitory Factor 1 and Dickkopf-1 Genes in Acute Myeloid Leukemia at the Time of Diagnosis

Background In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a large number of tumor suppressor genes are silenced through DNA methylation such as CDKN2B and p73. Wnt inhibitory factor 1 (WIF1) and Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) are negative regulator of the Wnt signaling pathway. Objectives In the present study, we studied the methylation status of WIF1 and DKK-1 genes in AML patients. Patients and Methods In this case-control study, blood samples from 120 AML patients and 25 healthy control subjects collected, isolated DNA was treated with sodium bisulphite and examined by methylation specific PCR (MS-PCR) with primers specific for methylated and unmethylated sequences of the WIF1 and DKK-1 genes. Results The frequency of aberrant hypermethylation of WIF1 and DKK-1 genes in AML patients determined 35% (42/120) and 28.3% (34/120), respectively. In addition, for all subjects in control group, methylation of WIF1 and DKK-1 genes were negative. Patients with M0 subtype of French-American-British (FAB)-AML had the highest incidence of hypermethylation of WIF1 (P = 0.003) and DKK-1 (P = 0.005) genes. Conclusions The present study showed that, like many solid tumors, WIF1 and DKK-1 genes methylation also occurs in AML. The study of other antagonists of Wnt signaling pathway are recommended.