DNA methylation in cancer

DNA methylation in cancer plays a variety of roles, helping to change the healthy regulation of gene expression to a disease pattern. All mammalian cells descended from a fertilized egg (a zygote) share a common DNA sequence (except for new mutations in some lineages). However, during development and formation of different tissues epigenetic factors change. The changes include histone modifications, CpG island methylations and chromatin reorganizations which can cause the stable silencing or activation of particular genes. Once differentiated tissues are formed, CpG island methylation is generally stably inherited from one cell division to the next through the DNA methylation maintenance machinery.

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