Understanding the Role of EZH2 in Cancer Pathogenesis

This animation explains the role of EZH2 in the regulation of cell growth and the effects of EZH2 overexpression.

Transcript:

A number of genes play key roles in the mechanisms and development of various cancers. EZH2 is one of those genes. It encodes for a type of enzyme that is part of polycomb repressive complex two. The EZH2 subunit is one component of this histone methyltransferase. This complex acts on histones to methylate certain amino acids. Depending on how these histones are modified, DNA can wrap or unwrap giving more or less access to transcription proteins and thereby affecting expression of genes.

In this case, EZH2 generally functions by turning off genes associated with development and cell fate determination. However, if EZH2 is over expressed, it may lead to tumor progression in many cancer types, including prostate, breast, lymphomas, and others. This suggests that its function may be linked to changes in how genes are expressed in tumor cells.