From aging to cancer: a DNA methylation journey

Natalia Puig; Ruben Agrelo

doi:10.4081/ar.2012.e4

Reviews

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2012)

https://doi.org/10.4081/ar.2012.e4

From aging to cancer: a DNA methylation journey

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All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Received: 22 September 2011
Accepted: 5 November 2011

Published: 15 February 2012

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CpG islands, Age-related methylation, Tumour-suppressor genes, Werner syndrome, Cancer.

Authors

Natalia Puig

Epigenetics of Cancer and Aging Laboratory, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay.

Ruben Agrelo

agrelo@pasteur.edu.uy

Epigenetics of Cancer and Aging Laboratory, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay.

Epigenetic gene silencing through DNA promoter hypermethylation is now recognised as a major step in the neoplastic transformation of the cell. The methylation levels of several genes increase with age in normal tissues such as the prostate or colon. Genes like WRN or LMNA that are involved in progeria,a premature aging disease WRN and LMNA, are epigenetically inactivated in cancer. In both aging and cancer, global DNA methylation decreases, potentially accounting for the characteristic genomic instability of these processes. In this review, we will focus on how the accumulation of changes in DNA methylation during aging impact tumourigenesis.