MUC2 and malignant colon neoplasm: Promoter methylation of cytosine residues at CpG dinucleotides is an important epigenetic mechanism in promoting the transcriptional repression of Muc2. 10 Compelling evidence supports the role of PKCδ and ERK in the hypermethylation of tumor-suppressor genes and the pathogenesis of colon cancer.24 These data provide the first evidence that bacterial pathogen promotes hypermethylation of the Muc2 promoter to repress Muc2 expression.