Maintaining cell identity: PRC2-mediated regulation of transcription and cancer

TY - JOUR

T1 - Maintaining cell identity

T2 - PRC2-mediated regulation of transcription and cancer

AU - Comet, Itys

AU - Riising, Eva M

AU - Leblanc, Benjamin

AU - Helin, Kristian

PY - 2016/12/1

Y1 - 2016/12/1

N2 - Enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2), the catalytic subunit of Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), has attracted broad research attention in the past few years because of its involvement in the development and maintenance of many types of cancer and the use of specific EZH2 inhibitors in clinical trials. Several observations show that PRC2 can have both oncogenic and tumour-suppressive functions. We propose that these apparently opposing roles of PRC2 in cancer are a consequence of the molecular function of the complex in maintaining, rather than specifying, the transcriptional repression state of its several thousand target genes.

AB - Enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2), the catalytic subunit of Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), has attracted broad research attention in the past few years because of its involvement in the development and maintenance of many types of cancer and the use of specific EZH2 inhibitors in clinical trials. Several observations show that PRC2 can have both oncogenic and tumour-suppressive functions. We propose that these apparently opposing roles of PRC2 in cancer are a consequence of the molecular function of the complex in maintaining, rather than specifying, the transcriptional repression state of its several thousand target genes.

U2 - 10.1038/nrc.2016.83

DO - 10.1038/nrc.2016.83

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 27658528

SN - 1474-175X

VL - 16

SP - 803

EP - 810

JO - Nature Reviews. Cancer

JF - Nature Reviews. Cancer

ER -