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Chromatin organization and nuclear microenvironments in cancer cells
Author(s) -
He Shihua,
Dunn Katherine L.,
Espino Paula S.,
Drobic Bojan,
Li Lin,
Yu Jenny,
Sun JianMin,
Chen Hou Yu,
Pritchard Susan,
Davie James R.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of cellular biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 165
eISSN - 1097-4644
pISSN - 0730-2312
DOI - 10.1002/jcb.21485
Subject(s) - chromatin , microbiology and biotechnology , cancer cell , scaffold/matrix attachment region , cancer , chemistry , chromatin remodeling , computational biology , biology , dna , genetics
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. J. Cell. Biochem. 104: 2004–2015, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.