Association between methylation of tumor suppressor gene WW domain-containing oxidaseredurase and tumor

Abstract:

WW domain-containing oxidaseredurase（WWOX） is a tumor suppressor gene located in the fragile site of human chro－mosome 16 q23.3-24.1，involving in the regulation of biological behaviors like tumor cell proliferation，apoptosis，invasion and metas－tasis. In recent years，it has been found that WWOX gene has low-or-non-expression in various tumors，such as breast cancer，liver cancer，pancreatic cancer，nasopharyngeal carcinoma，lung cancer，gastric cancer and bladder cancer，which may be related with the covalent modification of DNA methylation that inhibits its transcription. Demethylation of DNA methyltransferase inhibitors can endogenously restore the expression of WWOX and inhibit tumors’ occurrence and development. The occurrence of tumors is co-reg－ulated by genetics and epigenetics. The methylation of tumor suppressor genes is a frequent event in the early stage of tumor devel－opment，which is expected to become a potential marker for early diagnosing the tumor and evaluating its prognosis，and a target for anti-tumor therapy. This article focused on the relationship between tumors and methylation of WWOX which acts as a tumor sup－pressor gene.