Junpei Yamaguchi, Motoko Sasaki, MD, PhD and Yasuni Nakanuma
Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medicine, Kanazawa, Japan, and others

Series: Cancer Etiology, Diagnosis and Treatments
BISAC: MED062000

Epigenetic mechanisms result in the silencing of genes without a change in their coding sequence. The most well-characterized alteration is DNA hypermethylation, and a modification of histones also contributes to tumor suppressor loss through epigenetic silencing. Acetylation and deacetylation of histones play an important role in transcription regulation. The acetylation status of histones is determined by histone deacetylase (HDAC), and HDAC are strongly expressed in cancerous tissue. HDAC inhibitors are known to alter gene expression and to induce different phenotypes in various transformed cells, including growth arrest, apoptotic pathways and mitotic cell death. This book discusses the role of histone deacetylase and EZH2 in oncogenesis. (Imprint: Nova)