apoptosis and dna methylation细胞凋亡和dna甲基化.pdfVIP

Cancers 2011, 3, 1798-1820; doi:10.3390/cancers3021798 OPEN ACCESS cancers ISSN 2072-6694 /journal/cancers Review Apoptosis and DNA Methylation Huan X. Meng 1, James A. Hackett 1, Colm Nestor 1,2, Donncha S. Dunican 1, Monika Madej 1, James P. Reddington 1, Sari Pennings 3, David J. Harrison 2 and Richard R. Meehan 1,2,* 1 MRC Human Genetics Unit, IGMM, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK; E-Mails: huan.meng@hgu.mrc.ac.uk (H.X.M.); jhackett@hgu.mrc.ac.uk (J.A.H.); colm.nestor@hgu.mrc.ac.uk (C.N.); donncha.dunican@hgu.mrc.ac.uk (D.S.D.); monika.madej@hgu.mrc.ac.uk (M.M.); james.reddington@hgu.mrc.ac.uk (J.P.R.) 2 Breakthrough Research Unit, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK; E-Mail: david.harrison@ed.ac.uk (D.J.H.) 3 Queens Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK; E-Mail: sari.pennings@ed.ac.uk (S.P.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: Richard.Meehan@hgu.mrc.ac.uk; Tel.: +44 (0)-332-2471; Fax: +44 (0) 131 467 8456. Received: 16 February 2011; in revised form: 11 March 2011 / Accepted: 11 March 2011 / Published: 1 April 2011 Abstract: Epigenetic mechanisms assist in maintaining gene expression patterns and cellular properties in developing and adult tissues. The molecular pathology of disease states frequently includes perturbation of DNA and histone methylation patterns, which can activate apoptotic pathways associated with maintenance of genome integrity. This perspective focuses on the pa