Figure 1
Current understanding of some of the changes to DNA and chromatin that occur in cancer cells. In the normal cell, promoters of actively transcribed genes are unmethylated and found within regions of euchromatin. Expression of other genes is repressed by promoter methylation and heterochromatin formation. In cancer, this is deregulated, resulting in the aberrant expression of normally silent genes and repression of tumour suppressor genes. Abbreviations: HAT, histone acetyltransferase; SWI/SNF, switch/sucrose nonfermentable nucleosome remodelling complex; MeCP2, methyl CpG-binding protein 2; HDAC, histone deacetylase.
