Clinical Significance
Methylation of the gene's promoter may play a significant role in carcinogenesis. In patients with glioblastoma multiforme, a severe type of brain tumor, the methylation state of the MGMT gene determined whether tumor cells would be responsive to temozolomide; if the promoter was methylated, temozolomide was more effective.
MGMT has also been shown to be a useful tool increasing gene therapy efficiency. By using a two component vector consisting of a transgene of interest and MGMT, in vivo drug selection can be utilized to select for successfully transduced cells.
Read more about this topic: O-6-methylguanine-DNA Methyltransferase
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