Identification and characterization of MARVELD1, a novel nuclear protein that is down-regulated in multiple cancers and silenced by DNA methylation

MARVELD1 (MARVEL domain-containing 1) is a member of MARVEL domain-containing proteins and located on human chromosome 10q24.2. MARVELD1 has no significant similarity with other members of MARVEL domain family at amino acid level. Gene expression arrays demonstrated that MARVELD1 is widely expressed in normal human tissues and is down-regulated in primary multiple tumors derived from ovary, vulva, uterus, cervix, breast, testis, kidney, bladder and liver. The down-regulation of MARVELD1 was further identified by real-time PCR and immunohistochemical staining in primary breast cancer. In addition, we identified the reduced expression of MARVELD1 is owing to DNA methylation and could be reversed by pharmacologic demethylation. Finally, our results showed that MARVELD1 protein is located in nucleus instead of cell membrane.