sentence: Thus , as our data suggest , the effect of TFAP4 on de novo methylation of the MLH1 promoter is unlikely to be direct and therefore may only offer partial protection such that the rs1800734 protective ( G ) allele can still acquire methylation but at a slower rate or at lower levels than the risk ( A ) allele.Liu et al. suggest that allele specific TFAP4 binding at rs1800734 may exert an effect on the cancer pathway via long range interactions with the promoter of the DCLK3 gene , causing enhanced expression of genes related to epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition .