Syndecan-2 methylation (ColoSafe)

An epigenetic marker for colorectal neoplasia. In studies the control region of the syndecan-2 gene was frequently methylated in tissue from bowel cancer and advanced adenomas, but rarely in healthy gut lining.

What syndecan-2 does in the gut lining

Syndecan-2 is a protein that spans the cell membrane and carries long sugar chains of heparan sulphate on its outer side. With these chains it binds growth factors and components of connective tissue such as fibronectin and passes them on to the actual receptors – so it acts as a co-receptor. Through its inner part it is connected to the cell skeleton and thus influences how cells stick to each other and to their base and how they move. In the gut lining, which renews itself constantly, syndecan-2 is therefore involved in communication between the cells and their surroundings.

What does methylation of syndecan-2 mean for the cell?

Methylation means that enzymes, the DNA methyltransferases, attach small methyl groups to certain DNA building blocks, usually where cytosine is followed by guanine. If many such sites lie in the control region of a gene, the promoter, and are methylated, the packaging of the DNA becomes denser there, and the gene is read less readily. The sequence of DNA building blocks remains unchanged – it is an epigenetic change that individual cells acquire during life. In studies the syndecan-2 promoter was frequently methylated in tissue from bowel cancer and from advanced adenomas, but rarely in healthy gut lining.

What detecting methylated syndecan-2 in stool shows

Detached cells from the gut lining release their DNA into the stool. In the laboratory this DNA is treated chemically so that methylated and unmethylated sites can be told apart, and the control region of syndecan-2 is then examined specifically. Detection shows that cells whose syndecan-2 promoter is methylated are present in the gut – a pattern that studies have found mainly in bowel cancer tissue and advanced adenomas. The result does not show where these cells are or what kind of change is involved. Conversely, a negative result does not rule out changes, because not every change carries this methylation pattern or releases enough DNA into the sample.

The interpretation is given in your report.