How does methylation cause cancer?

Methylation within the promoter regions of tumor suppressor genes causes their silencing, and methylation within the gene itself can induce mutational events. These mechanisms may play a fundamental role in precipitating the development of a large and diverse number of human cancers.

What do histone Demethylases do?

The histone demethylases are involved in regulating cellular processes such as chromatin structure and transcription. They are important for normal embryonic development and are involved in diseases such as cancer. Both histones and non-histone proteins are targets for the histone demethylases.

What causes abnormal methylation?

One of the key contributors to aberrant methylation is aging, but other patterns of methylation are cancer-specific and detected only in a subset of tumors exhibiting the CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP).

What are the most significant environmental agents that contribute to human cancers?

People who have certain jobs such as; painting, construction, pesticide and petroleum workers have an increased risk of cancer. Many studies have shown that exposure to asbestos, benzene, benzidine, cadmium, nickel, arsenic, radon and vinyl chloride in the workplace can cause cancer.

Can phones cause cancer?

You might have heard rumours that electromagnetic radiation or electromagnetic waves from phones are dangerous. But the radiation that mobile phones or phone masts transmit and receive is very weak. It does not have enough energy to damage DNA so is highly unlikely to be able to cause cancer.

What are the 2 families of demethylases in cells?

Defined by their mechanisms, two main classes of histone demethylases exist: a flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent amine oxidase, and an Fe(II) and α-ketoglutarate-dependent hydroxylase.

What causes demethylation?

DNA demethylation can occur by an active process at the site of a 5mC in a DNA sequence or, in replicating cells, by preventing addition of methyl groups to DNA so that the replicated DNA will largely have cytosine in the DNA sequence (5mC will be diluted out).

What are the consequences of DNA hypomethylation?

Indirect effects of hypomethylation of DNA repeats on gene expression. We have proposed another pathway for hypomethylation of DNA repeats contributing to carcinogenesis that involves regulating, in trans, the expression of genes by altering the sequestration of transcription control proteins at DNA repeats.