Effects of histone acetylation and DNA methylation on p21~(WAF1) regulation

摘要

Cell cycle progression is regulated by interactions cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). p21~(WAF1) is one of the CIP/KIP family which inhibits CDKs activity. Increased expression of p21~(WAF1) may play an important role in the growth arrest induced in transformed cells. Although the stability of the p21~(WAF1) mRNA could be altered by different signals, cell differentiation and numerous influencing factors. However, recent studies suggest that two known mechanisms of epigenesis, i. e. gene inactivation by methylation in promoter region and changes to an inactive chromatin by histone deacetylation, seem to be the best candidate mechanisms for inactivation of p21~(WAF1).