DNA methylation in endometriosis (Review)

Endometriosis is defined by the presence and growth of functional endometrial tissue, outside the uterine cavity, primarily in the ovaries, pelvic peritoneum and rectovaginal septum. Although it is a benign disease, it presents with malignant characteristics, such as invasion to surrounding tissues,...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	KOUKOURA, OURANIA, SIFAKIS, STAVROS, SPANDIDOS, DEMETRIOS A.
Format:	Online
Language:	English
Published:	D.A. Spandidos 2016
Online Access:	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4805102/

id	pubmed-4805102
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	pubmed-48051022016-04-04 DNA methylation in endometriosis (Review) KOUKOURA, OURANIA SIFAKIS, STAVROS SPANDIDOS, DEMETRIOS A. Articles Endometriosis is defined by the presence and growth of functional endometrial tissue, outside the uterine cavity, primarily in the ovaries, pelvic peritoneum and rectovaginal septum. Although it is a benign disease, it presents with malignant characteristics, such as invasion to surrounding tissues, metastasis to distant locations and recurrence following treatment. Accumulating evidence suggests that various epigenetic aberrations may play an essential role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Aberrant DNA methylation represents a possible mechanism repsonsible for this disease, linking gene expression alterations observed in endometriosis with hormonal and environmental factors. Several lines of evidence indicate that endometriosis may partially be due to selective epigenetic deregulations influenced by extrinsic factors. Previous studies have shed light into the epigenetic component of endometriosis, reporting variations in the epigenetic patterns of genes known to be involved in the aberrant hormonal, immunologic and inflammatory status of endometriosis. Although recent studies, utilizing advanced molecular techniques, have allowed us to further elucidate the possible association of DNA methylation with altered gene expression, whether these molecular changes represent the cause or merely the consequence of the disease is a question which remains to be answered. This review provides an overview of the current literature on the role of DNA methylation in the pathophysiology and malignant evolution of endometriosis. We also provide insight into the mechanisms through which DNA methylation-modifying agents may be the next step in the research of the pharmaceutical treatment of endometriosis. D.A. Spandidos 2016-04 2016-02-22 /pmc/articles/PMC4805102/ /pubmed/26934855 http://dx.doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2016.4925 Text en Copyright: © Koukoura et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) , which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
repository_type	Open Access Journal
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building	NCBI PubMed
collection	Online Access
language	English
format	Online
author	KOUKOURA, OURANIA SIFAKIS, STAVROS SPANDIDOS, DEMETRIOS A.
spellingShingle	KOUKOURA, OURANIA SIFAKIS, STAVROS SPANDIDOS, DEMETRIOS A. DNA methylation in endometriosis (Review)
author_facet	KOUKOURA, OURANIA SIFAKIS, STAVROS SPANDIDOS, DEMETRIOS A.
author_sort	KOUKOURA, OURANIA
title	DNA methylation in endometriosis (Review)
title_short	DNA methylation in endometriosis (Review)
title_full	DNA methylation in endometriosis (Review)
title_fullStr	DNA methylation in endometriosis (Review)
title_full_unstemmed	DNA methylation in endometriosis (Review)
title_sort	dna methylation in endometriosis (review)
description	Endometriosis is defined by the presence and growth of functional endometrial tissue, outside the uterine cavity, primarily in the ovaries, pelvic peritoneum and rectovaginal septum. Although it is a benign disease, it presents with malignant characteristics, such as invasion to surrounding tissues, metastasis to distant locations and recurrence following treatment. Accumulating evidence suggests that various epigenetic aberrations may play an essential role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Aberrant DNA methylation represents a possible mechanism repsonsible for this disease, linking gene expression alterations observed in endometriosis with hormonal and environmental factors. Several lines of evidence indicate that endometriosis may partially be due to selective epigenetic deregulations influenced by extrinsic factors. Previous studies have shed light into the epigenetic component of endometriosis, reporting variations in the epigenetic patterns of genes known to be involved in the aberrant hormonal, immunologic and inflammatory status of endometriosis. Although recent studies, utilizing advanced molecular techniques, have allowed us to further elucidate the possible association of DNA methylation with altered gene expression, whether these molecular changes represent the cause or merely the consequence of the disease is a question which remains to be answered. This review provides an overview of the current literature on the role of DNA methylation in the pathophysiology and malignant evolution of endometriosis. We also provide insight into the mechanisms through which DNA methylation-modifying agents may be the next step in the research of the pharmaceutical treatment of endometriosis.
publisher	D.A. Spandidos
publishDate	2016
url	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4805102/
_version_	1613556894887051264

DNA methylation in endometriosis (Review)

Similar Items