An Overview of Epigenetic Methylation in Pancreatic Cancer Progression

Yuhao Zhao; Mao Yang; Shijia Wang; Sk Jahir Abbas; Junzhe Zhang; Yongsheng Li; Rong Shao; Yingbin Liu

doi:10.3389/fonc.2022.854773

An Overview of Epigenetic Methylation in Pancreatic Cancer Progression

Front Oncol. 2022 Feb 28:12:854773. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.854773. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yuhao Zhao^{1

2

3}, Mao Yang^{1

2

3}, Shijia Wang^{1

2

3}, Sk Jahir Abbas^{1

2}, Junzhe Zhang^{1

2

3}, Yongsheng Li^{1

2

3}, Rong Shao⁴, Yingbin Liu^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Shanghai, China.
³ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Biliary Tract Disease Research, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Department of Pharmacology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Over the past decades, the aberrant epigenetic modification, apart from genetic alteration, has emerged as dispensable events mediating the transformation of pancreatic cancer (PC). However, the understanding of molecular mechanisms of methylation modifications, the most abundant epigenetic modifications, remains superficial. In this review, we focused on the mechanistic insights of DNA, histone, and RNA methylation that regulate the progression of PC. The methylation regulators including writer, eraser and reader participate in the modification of gene expression associated with cell proliferation, invasion and apoptosis. Some of recent clinical trials on methylation drug targeting were also discussed. Understanding the novel regulatory mechanisms in the methylation modification may offer alternative opportunities to improve therapeutic efficacy to fight against this dismal disease.

Keywords: DNA methylation; Epigenetics; Histone methylation; Pancreatic cancer; RNA methylation.

Publication types

Review