Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 20, Issue 11, 2014

In cancer cells, methylation-dependent gene silencing is at least partly mediated by the “Methyl-CpG-Binding Domain protein 2” (MBD2 protein), via the recruitment of chromatin remodeling complexes. However this repressive role was poorly investigated in normal cells. To identify the genes repressed by MBD2 in these cells, we have determined the impact of MBD2 depletion on gene expression in human embryonic MRC5 fib Read More

Nicotinamide phosphoribosyl transferase (Nampt) is the rate-limiting enzyme for the salvage biosynthesis of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD). Although elevated level of Nampt expression has been observed in various cancers, the involvement of Nampt promoter regulation was not well understood. We have identified a cluster of MEF2 recognition sites upstream of the functional hypoxia response elements (HREs) wit Read More

Sir2-like proteins, known as sirtuins, have been under a spotlight in the realm of aging because of their positive effect on longevity in Saccharomyces.cerevisiae. Because Sir2 has been identified as a NAD+-dependent histone deacetylase, researchers have attributed its lifespan-extending utilities to gene silencing. Similar phenomena are found in multicellular eukaryotes by seemingly different mechanisms. In ma Read More

Epigenetic regulation is essential to the well-being of developing as well as developed cells by providing tissue-specific gene expression. DNA methylation on cytosine nucleotides is one of the core elements of epigenetic machinery, and stable DNA methylation patterns are maintained by properly regulated DNA methylation and DNA demethylation. DNA methylation has been studied extensively in the past 15 years, while t Read More

Objectives: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is an essential enzyme for DNA biosynthesis and the epigenetic process of DNA methylation. MTHFR gene polymorphisms have been implicated as risk factors for several types of cancers. However, reports on the association of MTHFR polymorphisms with ovarian cancers are inconclusive. The aim of this study is to summarize on the reported data and meta-anal Read More

DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) plays a significant role in maintaining DNA methylation. Aberrant DNA methylation is a recognized feature of human cancers and folate is directly involved in DNA methylation via one-carbon metabolism. Previous reports also have suggested that folate deficiency was associated with many cancers. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of folate deficiency and aberrant Read More

HOXA10 plays an important role in the body structure and development. Recently, patterns of deregulated HOX expression have been identified in various cancers. Meanwhile, WT1 is closely associated with the HOXA10 gene, which is an inducible transcription factor . We hypothesized that during the process of the ovarian cancer pathogenesis, the HOXA10 promoter CpG hypomethylation coupled with decreased WT1 expre Read More

Clinical screening criteria, such as young age of endometrial cancer diagnosis and family history of signature cancers, have traditionally been used to identify women with Lynch Syndrome, which is caused by mutation of a DNA mismatch repair gene. Immunohistochemistry and microsatellite instability analysis have evolved as important screening tools to evaluate endometrial cancer patients for Lynch Syndrome. A complicati Read More

A growing body of evidence supports that DNA methylation-mediated silencing of tumor suppressor genes plays a significant role in cancer development. DNA methylatransferase (DNMT) is the enzyme catalyzing the methylation modification of cytosines in a CpG dinucleotide context. In humans, this reaction is highly selective for certain gene promoters and/or genomic DNA domains. Elucidation of the intracellular targeti Read More

Hematopoietic progenitors derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) present both a potential cell source for cellreplacement therapies and an in vitro model for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) development. Current protocols for the hematopoietic differentiation of hESCs suffer from low efficiency and functional defects in the derived HSCs. Epigenetic mechanisms of HSC development should be addressed to overcom Read More

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a very common neoplasm, which is generally treated by chemo-, radio-, and/or hormonal-therapy. After a variable time, PCa becomes resistant to conventional treatment, leading to patient death. Prostate tumor-initiating cells (TICs) and cancer repopulating cells (CRCs) are stem-like populations, driving respectively cancer initiation and progression. Histone modifiers (HMs) control gene expression Read More

While the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a fundamental role during development, its deregulation can adversely promote tumor metastasis. The phenotypic and cellular plasticity of EMT indicates that it is subject to epigenetic regulation. A hallmark of EMT is E-cadherin suppression. In this review, we try to embrace recent findings on the transcription factor Snail-mediated epigenetic silencing of E-cadher Read More

Nutrient utilization is dramatically altered when cells receive signals to proliferate. Characteristic metabolic changes enable cells to meet the large biosynthetic demands associated with cell growth and division. Changes in rate-limiting glycolytic enzymes redirect metabolism to support growth and proliferation. Metabolic reprogramming in cancer is controlled largely by oncogenic activation of signal transduction pathways and t Read More

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection were known to be risk factors for HCC, they were suspected to promote its development by eliciting epigenetic changes. However, the precise gene targets and underlying mechanisms have not been elucidated. Epigenetic regulation of gene expression has emerged as a fundamental aspect of cancer development and progression. The molecular mechanis Read More

DNA methylation is an important part of the epigenetic code governing gene expression. In human reproductive diseases, recent studies have shown the existence of deviations from the normal methylation profile at various genome loci. In this review, this type of epigenetic alterations is explored in pathological spermatogenesis, ovarian diseases, placental syndromes, such as preeclampsia and Intra- Uterine Growth Restr Read More

Genomic imprinting is among the most important epigenetic mechanisms whereby expression of a subset of genes is restricted to a single parental allele. Loss of imprinting (LOI) through hypo or hyper methylation is involved in various human syndromes. These LOI occur early during development and usually impair growth. Some imprinting syndromes are the consequences of genetic anomalies, such as uniparental di Read More

Worse reproductive health in the men born through intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) or other assisted reproductive techniques (ART) has been reported in many studies. However, owing to the interference of genetic and environmental factors, it is difficult to identify whether ICSI method would affect male reproductive health. Therefore, ART mouse models were established in this study. Besides semen quality, ser Read More

To investigate the possible mechanisms of the abnormal expression patterns of many genes in the embryos in vitro, the expression of histone acetyltransferase GCN5 and histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) were detected in mouse preimplantation embryos. For the in vitro group, the pronucleus embryos were obtained from superovulated mice, and cultured in vitro to get the two-cell, four-cell, eightcell, morula and bl Read More

DNA methylation is an important regulatory component which influences phenotypes by modulating gene expression. Changes in DNA methylation may lead to altered phenotypes and ability of an organism to respond to stress leading to subsequent manifestation of life style diseases, cancer, etc. The human X chromosome represents a classical model for epigenetic processes governing differential regulation of homologous c Read More