[Research progress on the relationship between nutrition and cancer epigenetics---histone modification mechanisms]

Epigenetics is the study of processes that establish metastable (that is, somatically heritable) state of gene expression without altering the sequence. Epigenetic information includes nucleosome remodelingû genomic imprintingû X chromosome inactivationû DNA methylationû chromosome protein changes, including histone modification [acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, poly(ADP-ribosylation), lysine (K) residue biotinylation, and so on], histone variants exchange, non-histone changesû and uncoding RNA-regulating transcription. Carcinogenesis springs from the combined forces of both genetic and epigenetic events. Although the importance of genetic mutations in cancer has long been recognized, the role of epigenetic modification has been suggested more recently. Nutrients play essential roles in human health, and may modify cancer risk. This article sumed up recent researches on histone modification mechanism, approached the molecular mechanism during cancer initiation and development and the application in cancer prevention and treatment in histone modification level respectively, and summarized the relationship between diet nutrition and cancer epigenetic mechanism in histone modification level.