Jiang Yiqun, Liu Shuang, Chen Xiang, Cao Ya, Tao Yongguang
Cancer Research Institute, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Biochim Biophys Acta. 2013 Apr;1835(2):155-63. doi: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2012.12.003. Epub 2012 Dec 20.
DNA methylation plays an important role in the regulation of gene expression, as it is the first epigenetic modification to take place on a given DNA strand. Several factors may directly or indirectly regulate the dynamic distribution of DNA methylation and demethylation between intergenic and intragenic gene regions, thereby controlling gene expression. CpG islands have direct implications for the understanding of DNA methylation patterns in normal conditions and in some common disease states, including cancer. Here, we summarize several recent studies on the genome-wide distribution of DNA methylation and demethylation and their related factors, and we discuss the potential of DNA methylation and demethylation patterns to contribute to gene transcription patterns in tumorigenesis.
DNA甲基化在基因表达调控中发挥着重要作用，因为它是特定DNA链上发生的首个表观遗传修饰。若干因素可能直接或间接调节基因间和基因内区域之间DNA甲基化和去甲基化的动态分布，从而控制基因表达。CpG岛对于理解正常条件下以及包括癌症在内的一些常见疾病状态下的DNA甲基化模式具有直接意义。在此，我们总结了近期关于DNA甲基化和去甲基化的全基因组分布及其相关因素的若干研究，并讨论了DNA甲基化和去甲基化模式在肿瘤发生过程中对基因转录模式产生影响的潜力。
