Apart from their structural similarities the four proteins progesterone membrane component 1 (PGRMC1, also referred to as IZA, sigma-2 receptor, Dap1), PGRMC2, neudesin (NENF) and neuferricin (CYB5D2) display surprisingly divergent and multifunctional physiological properties related to cholesterol/steroid biosynthesis, drug metabolism and response, iron homeostasis, heme trafficking, energy metabolism, autophagy, apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, cell migration, neural functions, and tumorigenesis and cancer progression.
To determine the frequency and timing of hypermethylation during multistep gastric carcinogenesis, non-neoplastic gastric mucosa (n = 118), adenomas (n = 61), and carcinomas (n = 64) were analyzed for their p16, human Mut L homologue 1 (hMLH1), death-associated protein (DAP)-kinase, thromobospondin-1 (THBS1), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 (TIMP-3) methylation status using methylation-specific PCR.