摘要
对组蛋白甲基化修饰认识已有相当长的时间,但直到最近几年由于组蛋白甲基化修饰酶的发现才使人们逐渐认识到组蛋白甲基化修饰有广泛的生物学功能,像异染色质形成、X染色体失活、转录调节、干细胞的维持和分化等,组蛋白甲基化修饰的改变与某些人类疾病和肿瘤也有一定关系。组蛋白修饰是可逆性的,这为某些疾病的治疗提供了新的可能。
It has been known for a considerable time that histone protein can be modified by methylation. However, its functions remained elusive until the histone modifying enzymes were recently identified. With the advances on the biology of histone methylation, it is becoming clear that histone methylation plays widely biological functions such as heterochromatin formation, X inactivation, transcriptional regulation, stem cell maintenance and differentiation. Alterations in histone methylation are associated with human disease and cancer. Owing to the reversible nature of these epigenentic modifications, molecular studies of histone methylation may offer therapeutic possibilities for a wide spectrum of disease.
出处
《生命科学》
CSCD
2008年第3期442-446,共5页
Chinese Bulletin of Life Sciences
基金
江苏省自然科学基金(BK2005070)
