Title:Epi-Drugs and Epi-miRs: Moving Beyond Current Cancer Therapies
Volume: 16
Issue: 9
Author(s): Reza Salarinia, Amirhossein Sahebkar, Mostafa Peyvandi, Hamid Reza Mirzaei, Mahmoud Reza Jaafari, Maryam Matbou Riahi, Hamed Ebrahimnejad, Javid Sadri Nahand, Jamshid Hadjati, Mobina Ostadi Asrami, Sara Fadaei, Rasoul Salehi and Hamed Mirzaei
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Cancer epigenetics, DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, Epi-drugs, Epi-miRs, Histone deacetylase inhibitor.
Abstract: Epigenetic modifications determine phenotypic characteristics in a reversible,
stable and genotype-independent manner. Epigenetic modifications
mainly encompass CpG island methylation and histone modifications, both being
important in the pathogenesis of malignancies. The reversibility of epigenetic
phenomenon provides a suitable therapeutic option that is reactivation of epigenetically
silenced tumor-suppressor genes. Inhibition of DNA methyltransferase,
histone deacetylase and Aurora B kinase, individually or collectively, could feasibly
prevent or reverse the impact of epigenetic silencing. MicroRNAs [miRNAs]
are an important layer of epigenetic controlling of gene expression, and serve as
diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers as well as treatment targets for several types
of cancer. miRNAs are involved inepigenetically silencing or activation of genes, tumor suppressor
genes and oncogenes, and their modulation opens new horizons for designing novel cancer therapeutic
agents.
