Advances of Epigenetic Biomarkers and Epigenome Editing for Early Diagnosis in Breast Cancer

Abstract

Epigenetic modifications are known to regulate cell phenotype during cancer progression, including breast cancer. Unlike genetic alterations, changes in the epigenome are reversible, thus potentially reversed by epi-drugs. Breast cancer, the most common cause of cancer death worldwide in women, encompasses multiple histopathological and molecular subtypes. Several lines of evidence demonstrated distortion of the epigenetic landscape in breast cancer. Interestingly, mammary cells isolated from breast cancer patients and cultured ex vivo maintained the tumorigenic phenotype and exhibited aberrant epigenetic modifications. Recent studies indicated that the therapeutic efficiency for breast cancer regimens has increased over time, resulting in reduced mortality. Future medical treatment for breast cancer patients, however, will likely depend upon a better understanding of epigenetic modifications. The present review aims to outline different epigenetic mechanisms including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and ncRNAs with their impact on breast cancer, as well as to discuss studies highlighting the central role of epigenetic mechanisms in breast cancer pathogenesis. We propose new research areas that may facilitate locus-specific epigenome editing as breast cancer therapeutics.

Environmental Epigenetics and Obesity

“…Despite the importance of epigenetic modifications that occur directly on the DNA strand, noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) represent a wide and well-orchestrated regulatory mechanism of gene expression. Most (98.5%) of the eukaryotic genome is transcribed into ncRNAs, including microRNAs (21-25 nucleotides in length) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA, > 200 nucleotides in length, or lacking an open reading frame of >100 amino acids) [64,65]. Although miRNAs are supposed to act mainly in the cytosol by inhibiting translation, recent research has shown their location, activity and relevance in the nucleus of cells as direct regulators of cell phenotype [66][67][68][69].…”

Ginsenosides: changing the basic hallmarks of cancer cells to achieve the purpose of treating breast cancer

“…Nonmutational epigenetic reprogramming mainly includes chromatin remodeling complexes, histone modifications, non-coding RNAs, and other epigenetic mechanisms. The nonmutational epigenetic reprogramming of breast cancer cells is not restricted to breast cancer cells themselves but comprises three important aspects: epigenetic regulation of stromal cell types in the breast cancer cell microenvironment, epigenetic regulation of breast cancer cell heterogeneity, and epigenetic regulation of the breast cancer cell microenvironment [ 107 ].…”

Genética humana e molecular: um olhar multidisciplinar

“…ABSTRACT: KEYWORDS: Breast cancer; Epigenetics; Therapy.1 | INTRODUÇÃOO CM é o tipo de câncer com maior prevalência em mulheres e com alta taxa de incidência e mortalidade(SARVARI et al, 2022). Ao longo dos anos, os índices de incidência e mortalidade de CM são crescentes, tanto em países em desenvolvimento, quanto desenvolvidos(SARVARI et al, 2022; LI et al, 2019).…”

“…ABSTRACT: KEYWORDS: Breast cancer; Epigenetics; Therapy.1 | INTRODUÇÃOO CM é o tipo de câncer com maior prevalência em mulheres e com alta taxa de incidência e mortalidade(SARVARI et al, 2022). Ao longo dos anos, os índices de incidência e mortalidade de CM são crescentes, tanto em países em desenvolvimento, quanto desenvolvidos(SARVARI et al, 2022; LI et al, 2019). Segundo o "Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN", o CM feminino se tornou o câncer mais comumente diagnosticado, (HER2) e o índice de proliferação (KI-67), são incluídos principalmente na distinção entre os subtipos moleculares, sendo seus resultados obtidos a partir do perfil de expressão gênica(SHER et al, 2022).…”