Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Department of Biotechnology, Bioinformatics & Medical Informatics Team, Soranou Efesiou 4, 11527 Athens, Greece.
Curr Genomics. 2010 Dec;11(8):568-77. doi: 10.2174/138920210793360916.
Changes in DNA methylation patterns is a prominent characteristic of human tumors. Tumor cells display reduced levels of genomic DNA methylation and site-specific CpG island hypermethylation. Methylation of CpG dinucleotides is catalyzed by the enzyme family of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs). In this review, the role of DNA methylation and DNMTs as key determinants of carcinogenesis is further elucidated. The chromatin modifying proteins that are known to interact with DNMTs are also described. Finally, the role of DNMTs as potential therapeutic targets is addressed.
DNA 甲基化模式的改变是人类肿瘤的一个显著特征。肿瘤细胞表现出基因组 DNA 甲基化水平降低和特定 CpG 岛超甲基化。CpG 二核苷酸的甲基化由 DNA 甲基转移酶（DNMTs）酶家族催化。在这篇综述中，进一步阐明了 DNA 甲基化和 DNMTs 作为致癌作用关键决定因素的作用。还描述了已知与 DNMTs 相互作用的染色质修饰蛋白。最后，讨论了 DNMTs 作为潜在治疗靶点的作用。
