Oxidative stress induced lung cancer and COPD: opportunities for epigenetic therapy.

ABSTRACT: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) form as a natural by-product of the normal metabolism of oxygen and play important roles within the cell. Under normal circumstances the cell is able to maintain an adequate homeostasis between the formation of ROS and its removal through particular enzymatic pathways or via antioxidants. If however, this balance is disturbed a situation called oxidative stress occurs. Critically, oxidative stress plays important roles in the pathogenesis of many diseases, including cancer. Epigenetics is a process where gene expression is regulated by heritable mechanisms that do not cause any direct changes to the DNA sequence itself, and disruption of epigenetic mechanisms has important implications in disease. Evidence is emerging that histone deacetylases (HDACs) play dec

SUBMITTER: Lawless MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4498937 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature