RESUMO
Methods of gene inactivation include genetic events such as mutations or deletions. Epigenetic changes, heritable traits that are mediated by changes in DNA other than nucleotide sequences, play an important role in gene expression. Two epigenetic events that have been associated with transcriptional silencing include methylation of CpG islands located in gene promoter regions of cancer cells and changes in chromatin conformation involving histone acetylation. Recent evidence demonstrates that these processes form layers of epigenetic silencing. Reversal of these epigenetic processes and up-regulation of genes important to prevent or reverse the malignant phenotype has therefore become a new therapeutic target in cancer treatment.
Assuntos
Antineoplásicos/uso terapêutico , Metilação de DNA , Histonas/metabolismo , Neoplasias/tratamento farmacológico , Acetilação/efeitos dos fármacos , Antineoplásicos/administração & dosagem , Ilhas de CpG/genética , Metilação de DNA/efeitos dos fármacos , Regulação Neoplásica da Expressão Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , Humanos , Neoplasias/genética , Neoplasias/metabolismoRESUMO
The Joint International Conference on Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia and Differentiation Therapy held from October 4-7, 2001 in Rome, Italy was part of a series of biannual conferences, which had its beginnings in Sardinia in 1985, with the goal of establishing differentiation induction and programmed cell death as cancer cell-selective therapies. As in the past, the organizers of this meeting joined basic and clinical investigators in workshops to establish collaboration and information exchange. Because only a portion of the conference is summarized, additional information can be obtained from the abstracts published in Journal of Biological Regulators and Homeostatic Agents, Volume 15, 2001. The next International Conference on Differentiation Therapy will be held in Shanghai from October 24-27, 2003.
