Espino Paula S, Drobic Bojan, Dunn Katherine L, Davie James R
Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3E 0V9, Canada.
J Cell Biochem. 2005 Apr 15;94(6):1088-102. doi: 10.1002/jcb.20387.
Tumorigenesis and metastasis are a progression of events resulting from alterations in the processing of the genetic information. These alterations result from stable genetic changes (mutations) involving tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes (e.g., ras, BRAF) and potentially reversible epigenetic changes, which are modifications in gene function without a change in the DNA sequence. Mutations of genes coding for proteins that directly or indirectly influence epigenetic processes will alter the cell's gene expression program. Epigenetic mechanisms often altered in cancer cells are DNA methylation and histone modifications (acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation). This article will review the potential of these reversible epigenetic processes as targets for cancer therapies.
肿瘤发生和转移是由遗传信息处理改变导致的一系列事件。这些改变源于涉及肿瘤抑制基因和癌基因（如ras、BRAF）的稳定遗传变化（突变）以及潜在可逆的表观遗传变化，表观遗传变化是指基因功能的修饰而DNA序列不变。编码直接或间接影响表观遗传过程的蛋白质的基因突变会改变细胞的基因表达程序。癌细胞中常发生改变的表观遗传机制是DNA甲基化和组蛋白修饰（乙酰化、甲基化、磷酸化）。本文将综述这些可逆表观遗传过程作为癌症治疗靶点的潜力。
