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DNA methylation and cancer

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-20, 13:48 authored by Phillippa TaberlayPhillippa Taberlay, Jones, PA
DNA methylation acts in concert with other epigenetic mechanisms to regulate normal gene expression and facilitate chromatin organization within cells. Aberrant DNA methylation patterns are acquired during carcinogenic transformation; such events are often accompanied by alterations in chromatin structure at gene regulatory regions. The expression pattern of any given gene is achieved by interacting epigenetic mechanisms. First, the insertion of nucleosomes at transcriptional start sites prevents the binding of the transcriptional machinery and additional cofactors that initiate gene expression. Second, nucleosomes anchor all of the DNMT3A and DNMT3B methyltransferase proteins in the cell, which suggests a role for histone octamers in the establishment of DNA methylation patterns. During carcinogenesis, epigenetic switching and 5-methylcytosine reprogramming result in the aberrant hypermethylation of CpG islands, reducing epigenetic plasticity of critical developmental and tumor suppressor genes, rendering them unresponsive to normal stimuli. Here, we will discuss the importance of both established and novel molecular concepts that may underlie the role of DNA methylation in cancer.

History

Publication title

Progress in drug research

Pagination

1-23

ISSN

0071-786X

Department/School

Tasmanian School of Medicine

Publisher

Basel, Birkhauser Verlag.

Place of publication

Switzerland

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Clinical health not elsewhere classified

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