Chemotherapy using DNA intercalators is one of the most successful approaches to cancer treatment. Although DNA intercalators are believed to inhibit DNA polymerases and topoisomerases, resulting in the induction of apoptosis in tumor cells, other factors potentially inhibited by the anthracycline antibiotics remain to be elucidated. Herein, we show that the enzymatic activity of DNMT1, the pri...

DNMT1 is important in maintaining DNA methylation, and participates in the oncogenesis via up- or down-regulation leading to hyper-methylation or hypo-methylation. In the meta and bioinformatic analysis, we found that DNMT1 expression was higher in gastric cancer, compared with normal (p < 0.00001), para-cancerous (p = 0.0004) and dysplasia (p < 0.00001) tissues. DNMT1 up-regulation was associa...

Proliferation, migration, and the phenotypic switch of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) play an important role in remodeling induced by hypertension. Astragaloside IV (AS-IV), active ingredient Astragalus membranaceus, has been shown to exert a beneficial cardiovascular disease. The present study aimed investigate mechanism responsible for protective effects AS-IV on hypertension-induced re...

BACKGROUND DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) regulates expression of many critical genes through maintaining parental DNA methylation patterns on daughter DNA strands during mitosis. It is essential for embryonic development and diverse biological processes, including maintenance of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). However, the precise molecular mechanism of how Dnmt1 is involved ...

We have previously demonstrated that the expression of human ribosomal RNA genes (rDNA) in normal and cancer cells is differentially regulated by methylation of the promoter CpG islands. Furthermore, we showed that the methyl CpG-binding protein MBD2 plays a selective role in the methylation-mediated block in rDNA expression. Here, we analyzed the role of three functional mammalian DNA methyltr...

BACKGROUND MiRNAs are involved in aberrant DNA methylation through regulation of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) in the pathogenesis and progression of glioblastomas (GBM). MiR-152-3p was down-expressed in human malignancies, and served as a tumor suppressor. Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) was significantly decreased in GBM tissues with a high level of methylation. However, the link between miR-...

BACKGROUND Even though novel therapies based on aberrant DNA methylation could be of particular importance for the treatment of cervical cancer (CC) because the oncoproteins E6/E7 of high-risk human papillomaviruses, the causative agents for developing CC, have the capacity to bind and upregulate DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), to our knowledge, no previous studies have evaluated the expression...

The activation of breast stromal fibroblasts is a crucial step toward tumor growth and spread. Therefore, it is extremely important to understand the molecular basis of this activation and determine the molecules and the mechanisms responsible for its sustainability. In the present report we have shown that the DNA methyl-transferase protein DNMT1 is critical for the activation of breast stroma...

Thymoquinone (TQ), a bioactive constituent of the volatile oil of Monarda fistulosa and Nigella sativa, possesses cancer-specific growth inhibitory effects, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely elusive. We propose that TQ curbs cancer cell growth through dysfunction of DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1). Molecular docking analysis revealed that TQ might interact with the catalyti...

While carcinoma of the prostate is the second most common cause of cancer death in the US, current methods and markers used to predict prostate cancer (PCa) outcome are inadequate. This study was aimed at understanding the genome-wide binding and regulatory role of the DAXX transcriptional repressor, recently implicated in PCa. ChIP-Seq analysis of genome-wide distribution of DAXX in PC3 cells ...