title: 5-hydroxymethylcytosine: a new insight into epigenetics in cancer.
abstract: DNA methylation at the 5 position of cytosine (5-mC) has emerged as a key epigenetic marker that plays essential roles in various biological and pathological processes. 5-mC can be converted to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) by the ten-eleven translocation (TET) family proteins, which is now widely recognized as the "sixth base" in the mammalian genome, following 5-mC, the "fifth base". 5-hmC is detected to be abundant in brain and embryonic stem cells, and is also distributed in many different human tissues. Emerging evidence has shown that 5-hmC and TET family might serve unique biological roles in many biological processes such as gene control mechanisms, DNA methylation regulation, and involved in many diseases, especially cancers. In this paper we provide an overview of the role of 5-hmC as a new sight of epigenetics in human cancer.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases; School of Medicine; First Affiliated Hospital; Zhejiang University; Hangzhou, Zhejiang, PR China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases; School of Medicine; First Affiliated Hospital; Zhejiang University; Hangzhou, Zhejiang, PR China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D044503:5-Methylcytosine / Q000378:metabolism / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D000818:Animals; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003596:Cytosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D049308:Dioxygenases / Q000378:metabolism; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; C011865:5-hydroxymethylcytosine; D044503:5-Methylcytosine; D003596:Cytosine; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases; C462539:TET1 protein, human; C578792:TET3 protein, human; D049308:Dioxygenases; C541081:TET2 protein, human
keywords: 5-hmC; DNA methylation; TET; cancer; epigenetics