Background: Identification of molecular markers for sensitive detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is required to achieve efficacious personalized therapy.
Methods: We focused here on SAM domain, SH3 domain, and nuclear localization signals 1 (SAMSN1) and investigated expression and methylation status of SAMSN1 in HCC cell lines and 144 pairs of surgical specimens.
Results: SAMSN1 was expressed at significantly lower levels in tumor tissue compared with the corresponding noncancerous tissues of patients with HCC. Analysis of HCC cell lines revealed that hypermethylation of the SAMSN1 promoter correlated with decreased expression of SAMSN1 mRNA. Furthermore, treating cells with a DNA-demethylating drug increased SAMSN1 transcription. The levels of SAMSN1 mRNA in noncancerous liver were not affected by background liver inflammation or fibrosis. Moreover, the levels of SAMSN1 mRNA in HCC tissues inversely correlated with tumor size and preoperative levels of proteins induced by vitamin K absence. The clinical significance of SAMSN1 was further indicated by the correlation between its decreased expression in patients with HCC and their shorter overall and recurrence-free survival as well as recurrence following initial resection. Moreover, multivariate analysis identified SAMSN1 as an independent prognostic factor of HCC progression. The expression pattern of SAMSN1 correlated significantly with that of SAMSN1 mRNA, making it possible to use PCR techniques to readily quantitate SAMSN1 expression in tumors.
Conclusions: Our findings indicate that inhibition of SAMSN1 transcription through DNA hypermethylation may influence the progression of HCC and thus represent a novel biomarker of the phenotype of HCC cells.