Toh Yasushi, Egashira Akinori, Yamamoto Manabu
Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, National Kyushu Cancer Center, 3-1-1 Notame, Minami-ku, Fukuoka, 811-1395, Japan.
Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2013 May;61(5):262-9. doi: 10.1007/s11748-013-0235-3. Epub 2013 Mar 26.
Alterations in the regulation of gene expression that do not involve a change in the DNA sequence have been increasingly recognized as an important key event of carcinogenesis, referred to as "epigenetic" changes. Major epigenetic mechanisms include the methylation of cytosines in DNA, changes of histone and chromatin structure by covalent posttranslational modifications of histone proteins and alterations in the expression of microRNAs. These epigenetic alterations have also been identified in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). In this brief review, we will discuss DNA hypermethylation of the tumor suppressor gene promoters, histone modifications including histone acetylation/deacetylation and histone methylation and microRNAs in ESCC. Clinical implications of these epigenetic alterations in ESCC will be also discussed.
不涉及DNA序列改变的基因表达调控变化已日益被视为致癌发生的一个重要关键事件，称为“表观遗传”变化。主要的表观遗传机制包括DNA中胞嘧啶的甲基化、通过组蛋白的共价翻译后修饰改变组蛋白和染色质结构以及微小RNA表达的改变。这些表观遗传改变在食管鳞状细胞癌（ESCC）中也已被确定。在这篇简短的综述中，我们将讨论ESCC中肿瘤抑制基因启动子的DNA高甲基化、包括组蛋白乙酰化/去乙酰化和组蛋白甲基化在内的组蛋白修饰以及微小RNA。还将讨论这些表观遗传改变在ESCC中的临床意义。
