Genomic DNA is faithfully replicated and divided between two daughter cells in the course of each cell cycle. In order to maintain the inheritance of gene expression patterns, the cell must not only replicate the DNA, but also duplicate its chromatin structure (McNairn & Gilbert, 2003). Following replication, DNA is methylated and packaged into nucleosomes by the binding of histone octamers to ...

PURPOSE Three genes, namely DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) 1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B, coding for DNMTs that affect promoter methylation status are thought to play an important role in the development of cancers. Little is known of the biological and clinical significance of these genes in human breast cancer. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We used real-time reverse transcription-PCR assays to quantify the mRN...

Methylation of DNA and histone proteins are mutually involved in the epigenetic regulation of gene expression mediated by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) and histone methyltransferases (HMTs). DNMTs methylate cytosine residues within gene promoters, whereas HMTs catalyze the transfer of methyl groups to lysine and arginine residues of histone proteins, thus causing chromatin condensation and tra...

Altered DNA methylation of tumor suppressor gene promoters plays a role in human carcinogenesis and DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) are responsible for it. This study aimed to determine aberrant expression of DNMT1, DNMT3a, and DNMT3b in benign and malignant ovarian tumor tissues for their association with clinicopathological significance and prognostic value. A total of 142 ovarian cancers and ...

Epigenetics might explain correlations between lifestyle and risk of disease. Maternal diet has been shown to dynamically alter epigenetic regulation, including affecting DNA methylation status. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that GATA-4 gene methylation would lead to congenital heart defects in vitamin A-deficient offspring. Ten weaning female rats (VAN group) were fed with a d...

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), a new kind of persistent organic pollutant, is widely distributed in the environment and exists in various organisms, where it is also a neurotoxic compound. However, the potential mechanism of its neurotoxicity is still unclear. To examine the role of epigenetics in the neurotoxicity induced by PFOS, SK-N-SH cells were treated with different concentrations of ...

Cell adhesion plays an important role in neoplastic transformation. Thus, anchorage-independent growth and epithelial-mesenchymal transition, which are features associated to anoikis-resistance, are vital steps in cancer progression and metastatic colonization. Cell attachment loss may induce intracellular oxidative stress, which triggers DNA damage as methylation changes. HaCaT lineage cells w...