Histone modifications associated with cancer cell migration and invasion

Genome-wide aberrant histone modifications are present in a wide range of cancers, and they are associated with carcinogenesis and cancer progression. Aberrant histone modification patterns affect transcriptional regulation, chromosome stability, chromatin structure, chromatin remodeling, and DNA methylation; furthermore, these patterns can predict clinical outcome in many types of cancer. The main cause of poor clinical outcome is metastasis, which is strongly associated with tissue invasion at the primary tumor site. Invasion of cancer cells into surrounding tissue and the vasculature is an important initial step in tumor metastasis, and cell migration is a critical requirement for metastasis. Here, we describe the advantages of detecting global histone modifications by immunohistochemical analysis and provide a collection of protocols for assaying cell migration, invasion, and cell-extracellular matrix adhesion in vitro.