Cancer and Epigenetics

One of the interesting trends in genome research is the study about epigenetic modification above single gene level. Epigenetics refers study about heritable change in the genome, which accompany modification in DNA or Chromatin besides DNA sequence alteration. We used to have the idea that the coding potential of the genome lies within the arrangement of the four bases A, T, G, C; However, additional information that affects phenotype is stored in the distribution of the modified base 5-methylcytosine. This form of information storage is flexible enough to be adapted for different somatic cell types, yet is stable enough to be retained during mitosis and/or meiosis. Epigenetic modification is a modification of the genome, as opposed to being part of the genome, so is known as "epigenetics" (Greek for "upon" genetics). This modification could be methylation on Cytosine base or post translational modification on histone protein (methylation, acetylation, phosphorylation, Sumoylation)(DimitrijeviE et al 2005). In this review, we would like to focus on the relationship of DNA methylation and cancer.