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Abstract
Novel proteomic methods are revealing the intricacy of the epigenetic landscape affecting gene regulation and improving our knowledge of the pathogenesis of complex diseases. Despite the enormous amount of data regarding epigenetic modifications present in DNA and histones, deciphering their biological relevance in the context of the disease and health is currently still an ongoing process. Here, we consider the relationship between epigenetic research in tumorigenesis and the prospect of knowledge transfer to clinical use, focusing primarily on the epigenetic histone post-translational modifications, which could be used as biomarkers. We additionally focus on the use of proteomic techniques in research and evaluate their usefulness in clinical setting.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
This work was supported in part by the Slovenian Research Agency program grant No. P1-0104. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.
Thorough elucidation of the biological role of histone modifications and discerning the influence of the accompanying genetic mutations and aberrant expression gene patterns is paramount to our understanding of carcinogenesis.
Despite years and years of search for cancer biomarkers, it has become apparent that only genetic changes cannot be sufficient to explain the molecular heterogeneity of cancer pathogenesis.
Epigenetic modifications are now thought to play an important role in the onset and progression of cancer in conjunction with genetic aberrations.
The heterogeneity of epigenetic marks in individual cancer patients should be addressed with regard to the impact of environmental factors and different types of treatments on epigenetic landscape.
The lack of integration of research on the DNA, RNA and epigenetic level is resulting in the fragmented knowledge. This incoherence is even more pronounced in the difficulties associated with translation of research into clinical setting.
Generalization of research data on epigenetic modifications across different studies is necessary in order to determine the best panels of epigenetic assays for cancer diagnostics.
Establishment of a networked framework/platform supporting integration of research data from different research groups is essential in order to perform more accurate bioinformatic studies involving more samples and to improve the power of the combined meta-analyses.