Darwiche Nadine
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, American University of Beirut Beirut, Lebanon.
Am J Cancer Res. 2020 Jul 1;10(7):1954-1978. eCollection 2020.
Epigenetic mechanisms comprising DNA methylation, histone modifications, and noncoding RNAs affect chromatin structure and regulate gene expression. These mechanisms control normal embryonic development and adult life and their deregulation contributes to several diseases including cancer. The process of tumorigenesis is complex and results from the evolution of different "hallmarks of cancer". Hanahan and Weinberg presented in 2000 and 2011 seminal contributions in the cancer field, first the six hallmarks of cancer and a decade later two additional hallmarks and two enabling characteristics were added. Here, we surmise that epigenetic mechanisms regulate and contribute to every single hallmark in cancer, and thus represent the hallmark of hallmarks in tumorigenesis. Focusing on epigenetics as a major hallmark in cancer formation has profound preventive, therapeutic, and clinical implications.
由DNA甲基化、组蛋白修饰和非编码RNA组成的表观遗传机制影响染色质结构并调节基因表达。这些机制控制着正常的胚胎发育和成年生活,其失调会导致包括癌症在内的多种疾病。肿瘤发生过程很复杂,是由不同的“癌症标志”演变而来的。哈纳汉和温伯格在2000年和2011年发表了癌症领域的开创性成果,最初提出了癌症的六个标志,十年后又增加了两个标志和两个使能特征。在这里,我们推测表观遗传机制调节并促成了癌症中的每一个标志,因此代表了肿瘤发生中标志的标志。将表观遗传学作为癌症形成的主要标志来关注具有深远的预防、治疗和临床意义。