Esteller Manel
Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, Spanish National Cancer Centre (CNIO), Melchor Fernandez Almagro 3, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
Nat Rev Genet. 2007 Apr;8(4):286-98. doi: 10.1038/nrg2005. Epub 2007 Mar 6.
An altered pattern of epigenetic modifications is central to many common human diseases, including cancer. Many studies have explored the mosaic patterns of DNA methylation and histone modification in cancer cells on a gene-by-gene basis; among their results has been the seminal finding of transcriptional silencing of tumour-suppressor genes by CpG-island-promoter hypermethylation. However, recent technological advances are now allowing cancer epigenetics to be studied genome-wide - an approach that has already begun to provide both biological insight and new avenues for translational research. It is time to 'upgrade' cancer epigenetics research and put together an ambitious plan to tackle the many unanswered questions in this field using epigenomics approaches.
表观遗传修饰模式的改变是包括癌症在内的许多常见人类疾病的核心。许多研究已经在逐个基因的基础上探索了癌细胞中DNA甲基化和组蛋白修饰的镶嵌模式；其中的重要发现包括通过CpG岛启动子高甲基化导致肿瘤抑制基因的转录沉默。然而，最近的技术进步使得癌症表观遗传学能够在全基因组范围内进行研究——这种方法已经开始为生物学洞察和转化研究提供新途径。现在是时候“升级”癌症表观遗传学研究，并制定一个雄心勃勃的计划，利用表观基因组学方法解决该领域许多未解决的问题了。
