The SOCS-1 gene methylation in chronic myeloid leukemia patients.

SOCS-1, an important protein in the JAK/STAT pathway, has a role in the down stream of BCR-ABL protein kinase. We investigated 56 CML patients and 16 controls for the methylation status of SOCS-1 gene promoter and Exon 2 regions. Exon 2 was found to be methylated in 58.9% of the patients and 93.8% of the controls [P = 0.020, OR = 0.121(0.015-0.957)%95CI]. The promoter region was found unmethylated in all patient samples and controls. Although previous studies revealed a relation between SOCS1 gene Exon-2 hypermethylation and CML development or progression, the results of this study showed no such correlation. On the contrary, our results might be indicating hypomethylation in CML patients, this hypothesis need to be studied in larger study population.