The role of maintenance proteins in the preservation of epithelial cell identity during mammary gland remodeling and breast cancer initiation

作     者：Danila Coradini Saro Oriana 

作者机构：Department of Clinical and Community Health Sciences Medical Statistics Biometry and BioinformaticsUniversity of Milan20133 Italy Senology Center Casa di Cura Ambrosiana Istituto Sacra FamigliaCesano BosconeMilan Italy 

出 版 物：《Chinese Journal of Cancer》 (Chinese Journal of Cancer)

年 卷 期：2014年第33卷第2期

页      面：51-67页

核心收录：

学科分类：1002[医学-临床医学] 100214[医学-肿瘤学] 10[医学] 

主　　题：上皮细胞 乳腺癌 蛋白质 保存 表观遗传学 组蛋白修饰 雌激素受体 引发 

摘      要：During normal postnatal mammary gland development and adult remodeling related to the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and lactation, ovarian hormones and peptide growth factors contribute to the delineation of a definite epithelial cell identity. This identity is maintained during cell replication in a heritable but DNAindependent manner. The preservation of cell identity is fundamental, especially when cells must undergo changes in response to intrinsic and extrinsic signals. The maintenance proteins, which are required for cell identity preservation, act epigenetically by regulating gene expression through DNA methylation, histone modification, and chromatin remodeling. Among the maintenance proteins, the Trithorax(TrxG) and Polycomb(PcG) group proteins are the best characterized. In this review, we summarize the structures and activities of the TrxG and PcG complexes and describe their pivotal roles in nuclear estrogen receptor activity. In addition, we provide evidence that perturbations in these epigenetic regulators are involved in disrupting epithelial cell identity, mammary gland remodeling, and breast cancer initiation.