Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Epigenomics. 2015;7(3):461-73. doi: 10.2217/epi.15.6. Epub 2015 Feb 4.
DNA methylation is one of the most important epigenetic modifications of the genome involved in the regulation of numerous cellular processes through gene silencing without altering DNA sequences. miRNAs, a class of single-stranded noncoding RNAs of 19-25 nucleotides in length, function as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression leading to mRNA cleavage or translational repression of their corresponding target protein-coding genes. Recently, dysregulation of tumor suppressor miRNAs mediated by promoter DNA hypermethylation is implicated in human cancers, including B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Moreover, it appears that methylated miRNA genes could be potential biomarkers for CLL diagnosis or therapy. This review will highlight the role of aberrant methylation of miRNA genes in the pathogenesis of CLL.
DNA 甲基化是基因组中最重要的表观遗传修饰之一，通过基因沉默调节许多细胞过程，而不会改变 DNA 序列。miRNAs 是一类长度为 19-25 个核苷酸的单链非编码 RNA，作为基因表达的转录后调节剂，导致与其相应的靶蛋白编码基因的 mRNA 切割或翻译抑制。最近，启动子 DNA 高甲基化介导的肿瘤抑制 miRNA 的失调与包括 B 细胞慢性淋巴细胞白血病（CLL）在内的人类癌症有关。此外，似乎甲基化的 miRNA 基因可能是 CLL 诊断或治疗的潜在生物标志物。本综述将重点介绍 miRNA 基因异常甲基化在 CLL 发病机制中的作用。
