Hypomethylation is associated with particulate matter exposure and worse prognosis for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Airborne particulate matter (PM) is a major health hazard worldwide and is a key factor in lung cancer, which remains the most common type of malignancy and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. DNA methylation is a critical mechanism underlying the detrimental effects of PM, however, the molecular link between PM exposure and lung cancer remains to be elucidated. N-α-acetyltransferase 10 (NAA10) is involved in the cell cycle, migration, apoptosis, differentiation, and proliferation. In order to investigate the role of NAA10 in PM-induced pathogenesis processes leading to lung cancer, we determined the expression and methylation of in normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells treated with PM, PM-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and PM and evaluated the prognostic value of the methylation status in lung cancer patients. Exposure to all PM types significantly increased the expression of mRNA and decreased the methylation of the promoter in NHBE cells compared with the mock-treated control. hypomethylation was observed in 9.3% (13/140) of lung cancer tissue samples and correlated with transcriptional upregulation. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that hypomethylation was associated with decreased survival of patients with lung cancer. Therefore, these results suggest that PM-induced hypomethylation of the may play an important role in the pathogenesis of lung cancer and may be used as a potential prognostic biomarker for lung cancer progression. Further studies with large numbers of patients are warranted to confirm our findings.