Expression profiles of histone modification genes in gastric cancer progression

Gastric cancer (GC) development can be attributed to several risk factors including atrophic gastritis (AG), intestinal metaplasia (IM), and the presence of Helicobacter pylori ( HP ). Also, histone modification is an epigenetic mechanism that plays a pivotal role in GC carcinogenesis. In this preliminary study, we aimed to describe the expression profiles of histone modification in the AG, IM, and GC patient groups. A total of 80 patients with AG (n = 27), IM (n = 25), and GC (n = 28) with an additional 20 control subjects were included in the study. Expression profiles of three histone phosphorylation genes ( PAK1, NEK6 , and AURKA ) and five histone deacetylation genes ( HDACs 1, 2, 3, 5 , and 7 ) were examined based on the results of Real Time qPCR method. It was observed that AURKA and HDAC2 genes were significantly overexpressed in all groups compared to the control (P