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. 2016 Mar;4(3):293-299.
doi: 10.3892/br.2016.574. Epub 2016 Jan 21.

Role of several histone lysine methyltransferases in tumor development

Jifu Li  1 , Shunqin Zhu  2 , Xiao-Xue Ke  1 , Hongjuan Cui  1
Affiliations

Role of several histone lysine methyltransferases in tumor development

Jifu Li et al. Biomed Rep. 2016 Mar.

Abstract

The field of cancer epigenetics has been evolving rapidly in recent decades. Epigenetic mechanisms include DNA methylation, histone modifications and microRNAs. Histone modifications are important markers of function and chromatin state. Aberrant histone methylation frequently occurs in tumor development and progression. Multiple studies have identified that histone lysine methyltransferases regulate gene transcription through the methylation of histone, which affects cell proliferation and differentiation, cell migration and invasion, and other biological characteristics. Histones have variant lysine sites for different levels of methylation, catalyzed by different lysine methyltransferases, which have numerous effects on human cancers. The present review focused on the most recent advances, described the key function sites of histone lysine methyltransferases, integrated significant quantities of data to introduce several compelling histone lysine methyltransferases in various types of human cancers, summarized their role in tumor development and discussed their potential mechanisms of action.

Keywords: histone lysine methyltransferases; histone methylation; tumor development.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Published studies of histone methyltransferases associated with cancer. In the past few decades, the number of published studies of histone methyltransferases that are associated with cancer has significantly increased.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Function sites of histone methyltransferases. The histone methyltransferases can catalyze the methylation of histone lysine 4, 9, 27, 36 and 79 of histone H3 (H3K4, H3K9, H3K27, H3K36 and H3K79), and 20 of histone H4 (H4K20).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Types of cancer associated with H3K9-specific methyltransferases G9a and SETDB1. Two H3K9 methyltransferases, G9a and SETDB1, have been identified to have a critical role in a variety of tumors. H3K9, histone lysine 9 of histone H3.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Types of cancer associated with H3K27-specific methyltransferase zeste protein-2 (EZH2). The H3K27 methyltransferase EZH2 is involved in 46 types of cancer. H3K27, histone lysine 27 of histone H3.
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