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It is thought that epigenetic changes that arise from smoking cigarettes or exposure to cigarette smoke play a role in the development of these conditions. Epigenetic modifications to the genome, including histone modifications , DNA methylation , and the modulation of RNAi , are major epigenetic events used to modulate gene expression.
Oncogenomics is a sub-field of genomics that characterizes cancer-associated genes.It focuses on genomic, epigenomic and transcript alterations in cancer. Cancer is a genetic disease caused by accumulation of DNA mutations and epigenetic alterations leading to unrestrained cell proliferation and neoplasm formation.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-caused fatalities in men, and within a man's lifetime, one in six men will have the disease. [104] Alterations in histone acetylation and DNA methylation occur in various genes influencing prostate cancer, and have been seen in genes involved in hormonal response. [ 105 ]
Smoking, stress, and diet can produce epigenetic modifications to the genome that alter the regulation of immune system-specific genes leading to the onset of these conditions. The main mechanisms of epigenetic alterations are DNA methylation, histone modifications, and regulation by non-coding RNAs. These epigenetic changes regulate the ...
The central role of DNA damage and epigenetic defects in DNA repair genes in carcinogenesis. DNA damage is considered to be the primary cause of cancer. [17] More than 60,000 new naturally-occurring instances of DNA damage arise, on average, per human cell, per day, due to endogenous cellular processes (see article DNA damage (naturally occurring)).
In addition to well studied epigenetic promoter methylation, more recently there have been substantial findings of epigenetic alterations in cancer due to changes in histone and chromatin architecture and alterations in the expression of microRNAs (microRNAs either cause degradation of messenger RNAs or block their translation) [54] For ...
Alternately, different chemical compounds that can be linked to genetic material (DNA or RNA) may have an impact on which genes are active. An oncogene may sporadically become activated due to these epigenetic modifications. Visit Gene Alterations and Cancer to learn more about epigenetic alterations.
For example, smoking cigarettes can alter the DNA methylation state of genes and thereby expression of genes through different mechanisms. Epigenetic changes in genes caused by factors such as environment can result in abnormal gene expression and the initiation of diseases.