In a study involving 56 patients with low-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), EPCs from these patients were found to exhibit altered methylation patterns in genes such as p15 inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 4b (p15INK4b), death-associated protein kinase (DAPK1), cadherin 1 (CDH1), or suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1), which triggered the abnormal expression of Wnt signaling-related miRNAs, ultimately leading to defective differentiation marker expression in EPCs and accelerates the progression of MDS (Teofili et al., 2015). The gene discussed is DAPK1; the disease is myelodysplastic syndrome.