Epigenetics in cancer and inflammation

PurposeEpigenetics has a critical role in various events in both normal development and human disease. DNA methylation, a major epigenetic modification, regulates gene expression at the transcriptional level. In this review, to understand epigenetics we focus on DNA methylation in molecular biology and human disease.Study selectionWe selected 105 reports related to DNA methylation in molecular biology or human disease using PubMed (NCBI) database.ResultsIn carcinogenesis, aberrant DNA methylation, such as hypomethylation of the global chromosome and hypermethylation of some tumor suppressor genes, is observed. In addition, in chronic inflammation caused by Helicobacter pylori infection, some genes are methylated. DNA methylation has the potential to be a biomarker for cancer diagnosis and a target for cancer therapy.ConclusionElucidating DNA methylation is important for understanding molecular biology and human disease. Further studies of epigenetics will contribute to applications for diagnosis and therapy in human disease.