Chromatin organization and nuclear microenvironments in cancer cells.
Nuclear morphometric descriptors such as nuclear size, shape, DNA content and chromatin organization are used by pathologists as diagnostic markers for cancer. However, our knowledge of events resulting in changes in nuclear shape and chromatin organization in cancer cells is limited. Nuclear matrix proteins, which include lamins, transcription factors (Sp1) and histone modifying enzymes (histone deacetylases), and histone modifications (histone H3 phosphorylation) have roles in organizing chromatin in the interphase nucleus, regulating gene expression programs and determining nuclear shape. Histone H3 phosphorylation, a downstream target of the Ras-mitogen activated protein kinase pathway, is involved in neoplastic transformation. This article will review genetic and epigenetic events that alter chromatin organization in cancer cells and the role of the nuclear matrix in determining nuclear morphology.
He
Shihua
S
Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Dunn
Katherine L
KL
Espino
Paula S
PS
Drobic
Bojan
B
Li
Lin
L
Yu
Jenny
J
Sun
Jian-Min
JM
Chen
Hou Yu
HY
Pritchard
Susan
S
Davie
James R
JR
D002843:Chromatin / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D042822:Genomic Instability; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D015530:Nuclear Matrix / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
D002843:Chromatin; D006657:Histones; D014157:Transcription Factors