China 
Africa 
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Enzymatic Amino Acid Deprivation Therapies Targeting Cancer
Published in Peter Grunwald, Pharmaceutical Biocatalysis, 2019
Carla S. S. Teixeira, Henrique S. Fernandes, Sérgio F. Sousa, Nuno M. F. S. A. Cerqueira
It is well known that the DNA methylation is one of the most significant epigenetic signalling markers, controlling the gene expression in several processes such as X-chromosome inactivation, genomic imprinting, repression of repetitive elements, and carcinogenesis (Geiman and Muegge, 2010; Ramani et al., 2010). Regarding the carcinogenesis, in some types of cancer, e.g. endometrial (Fiolka et al., 2013), breast (Chimonidou et al., 2011), lung (Powrózek and Małecka-Massalska, 2016), and myeloma (Wong and Chim, 2015) cancers, the tumourigenic process has been associated with the hypermethylation of the promoter regions of tumour-suppressor genes (Kulis and Esteller, 2010). Considering the dependence of cells of l-MET for the DNA methylation event, it was suggested that strategies leading to l-MET deprivation could be used as therapy against cancer. Since, l-MET is a crucial amino acid in the synthesis of almost all proteins of the cell, this means that the enzyme cannot be applied in long treatments and must be inactivated.
Epigenotoxicity: a danger to the future life
Published in Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 2023
Farzaneh Kefayati, Atoosa Karimi Babaahmadi, Taraneh Mousavi, Mahshid Hodjat, Mohammad Abdollahi
Examining highly exposed phthalate women revealed altered DNA methylation and impaired genomic imprinting in 39 genes.[223] Previously, another study demonstrated that one of the most important alterations through phthalate exposure was the IGF2 gene responsible for embryonic growth and development.[224] Another study also showed a relation between air pollution (which mostly contains particular matter, NO2, and NOx) and placental DNA methylation changes. Intrauterine growth restriction and pre-term birth were the outcomes.[225] BPA exposure also led to neurological disorders through hyper DNA methylation in placental cell lines.[10] Other environmental factors which negatively affected placental tissue were Cd and As. Cd was reported to alter glucocorticoid response due to altered DNA methylation in hepatic glucocorticoid genes.[222] Changes in DNA methylation pattern of white blood cells and placenta were also reported during prenatal arsenic exposure.[86]
GPR61 methylation in cord blood: a potential target of prenatal exposure to air pollutants
Published in International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 2022
Feifei Feng, Li Huang, Guoyu Zhou, Jia Wang, Ruiqin Zhang, Zhiyuan Li, Yawei Zhang, Yue Ba
DNA methylation, a key mode of epigenetic regulation, is essential for silencing retroviral elements, regulating gene expression and cell differentiation, genomic imprinting, and X chromosome inactivation (Moore et al. 2013). In mammals, genome methylation patterns are reprogrammed during at least two developmental periods in germ cells and in preimplantation embryos (Reik et al. 2001; Reik 2007). Although it has been reported that environmental effect such as air pollution, malnutrition, and toxicants may play important roles in epigenetic changes(Burris and Baccarelli 2017; Yu et al. 2020), DNA methylation patterns in somatic differentiated cells are generally stable and heritable (Reik et al. 2001). Thus, changes in DNA methylation that occur in utero may be an important reason of the fetal origin of diseases (Chmurzynska 2010). Indeed, studies have demonstrated that placental DNA methylation changes might mediate reproductive and developmental toxicity induced by PM (Ciaula and Bilancia 2015; Cai et al. 2017). However, the current evidence appears insufficient to demonstrate an effect of air pollutants exposure during gestation on DNA methylation.
Regulation of cytochrome P450 expression by microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs: Epigenetic mechanisms in environmental toxicology and carcinogenesis
Published in Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part C, 2019
Dongying Li, William H. Tolleson, Dianke Yu, Si Chen, Lei Guo, Wenming Xiao, Weida Tong, Baitang Ning
lncRNAs are also recognized as important epigenetic regulatory RNA species and potential biomarkers for human diseases.42 Advancements in high-throughput technologies, such microarray and NGS, have enabled unprecedented detection of novel transcripts, leading to an explosion of data related to lncRNAs. The NONCODE database (version 2016), an online repository of the most complete collection of lncRNAs, has identified 167,150 lncRNAs in humans that are transcribed from 101,700 lncRNA genes.142 Despite the growing amount of data becoming available concerning lncRNAs, much less is known about the properties, functions, and biological significance of individual lncRNAs. Initially considered merely transcriptional noise, lncRNAs were later found to be associated with many human diseases including cancer, metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases, and Alzheimer’s disease.42,143–146 Mechanistic studies have demonstrated that lncRNAs can influence gene expression 143 that affects developmental147 (e.g. genomic imprinting), physiological148 (e.g. metabolism), and pathological149 (e.g. cancer development and progression) processes. Not only do lncRNAs impact these fundamental processes, they also respond to external stimuli. Indeed, an increasing number of effects of environmental chemicals on lncRNA expression are being reported.46,150,151