Cancer Research Center of Toulouse Inserm UMR 1037, 31432 Toulouse cedex 4, France.
Int J Mol Sci. 2013 Jul 18;14(7):15029-58. doi: 10.3390/ijms140715029.
DNA methylation is a major epigenetic modification that is strongly involved in the physiological control of genome expression. DNA methylation patterns are largely modified in cancer cells and can therefore be used to distinguish cancer cells from normal tissues. This review describes the main technologies available for the detection and the discovery of aberrantly methylated DNA patterns. It also presents the different sources of biological samples suitable for DNA methylation studies. We discuss the interest and perspectives on the use of DNA methylation measurements for cancer diagnosis through examples of methylated genes commonly documented in the literature. The discussion leads to our consideration for why DNA methylation is not commonly used in clinical practice through an examination of the main requirements that constitute a reliable biomarker. Finally, we describe the main DNA methylation inhibitors currently used in clinical trials and those that exhibit promising results.
DNA 甲基化是一种主要的表观遗传修饰，强烈参与基因组表达的生理控制。DNA 甲基化模式在癌细胞中发生了很大的改变，因此可以用于区分癌细胞和正常组织。本文描述了用于检测和发现异常甲基化 DNA 模式的主要技术。它还介绍了适合 DNA 甲基化研究的不同生物样本来源。我们通过文献中常见的甲基化基因的例子，讨论了使用 DNA 甲基化测量进行癌症诊断的意义和前景。讨论导致我们考虑为什么 DNA 甲基化在临床实践中不常被使用，通过检查构成可靠生物标志物的主要要求。最后，我们描述了目前在临床试验中使用的主要 DNA 甲基化抑制剂和那些显示出有希望结果的抑制剂。
