Home LiteratureArticle Details
PMID: 23636686 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Review

EZH2, an epigenetic driver of prostate cancer.

Protein & cell ·Vol. 4 ·No. 5 ·2013-05-00 ·Pages 331-41

Yang YA, Yu J

Abstract

The histone methyltransferase EZH2 has been in the limelight of the field of cancer epigenetics for a decade now since it was first discovered to exhibit an elevated expression in metastatic prostate cancer. It persists to attract much scientific attention due to its important role in the process of cancer development and its potential of being an effective therapeutic target. Thus here we review the dysregulation of EZH2 in prostate cancer, its function, upstream regulators, downstream effectors, and current status of EZH2-targeting approaches. This review therefore provides a comprehensive overview of EZH2 in the context of prostate cancer.

MeSH Terms
DNA Methylation/genetics Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 Protein Epigenesis, Genetic Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic Humans Male Molecular Targeted Therapy Polycomb Repressive Complex 2/genetics,metabolism Prostatic Neoplasms/drug therapy,genetics,pathology
Chemicals
EZH2 protein, human Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 Protein Polycomb Repressive Complex 2
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Yang Yeqing Angela
Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Yu Jindan
References (108)
108 references, click to expand
  1. Integrated data from 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trials of active cellular immunotherapy with sipuleucel-T in advanced prostate cancer.
    Cancer. 2009 Aug 15;115(16):3670-9 PMID: 19536890
  2. Pharmacokinetics of the antiviral agent 3-deazaneplanocin A.
    Eur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet. 1995 Jul-Sep;20(3):197-202 PMID: 8751041
  3. Depsipeptide (FK228) inhibits growth of human prostate cancer cells.
    Urol Oncol. 2008 Mar-Apr;26(2):182-9 PMID: 18312939
  4. Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid, an inhibitor of histone deacetylase, suppresses the growth of prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.
    Cancer Res. 2000 Sep 15;60(18):5165-70 PMID: 11016644
  5. The phosphatase interactor NIPP1 regulates the occupancy of the histone methyltransferase EZH2 at Polycomb targets.
    Nucleic Acids Res. 2010 Nov;38(21):7500-12 PMID: 20671031
  6. Reflecting on 25 years with MYC.
    Nat Rev Cancer. 2008 Dec;8(12):976-90 PMID: 19029958
  7. Phase III study of mitoxantrone plus low dose prednisone versus low dose prednisone alone in patients with asymptomatic hormone refractory prostate cancer.
    J Urol. 2002 Dec;168(6):2439-43 PMID: 12441935
  8. Tobacco smoke induces polycomb-mediated repression of Dickkopf-1 in lung cancer cells.
    Cancer Res. 2009 Apr 15;69(8):3570-8 PMID: 19351856
  9. Loading 3-deazaneplanocin A into pegylated unilamellar liposomes by forming transient phenylboronic acid-drug complex and its pharmacokinetic features in Sprague-Dawley rats.
    Eur J Pharm Biopharm. 2012 Feb;80(2):323-31 PMID: 22061261
  10. Myc enforces overexpression of EZH2 in early prostatic neoplasia via transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms.
    Oncotarget. 2011 Sep;2(9):669-83 PMID: 21941025
  11. Epigenetic mechanisms in the biology of prostate cancer.
    Semin Cancer Biol. 2009 Jun;19(3):172-80 PMID: 19429481
  12. The gene for polycomb group protein enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is amplified in late-stage prostate cancer.
    Genes Chromosomes Cancer. 2006 Jul;45(7):639-45 PMID: 16575874
  13. Essential role for activation of the Polycomb group (PcG) protein chromatin silencing pathway in metastatic prostate cancer.
    Cell Cycle. 2006 Aug;5(16):1886-901 PMID: 16963837
  14. EZH2 is a marker of aggressive breast cancer and promotes neoplastic transformation of breast epithelial cells.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Sep 30;100(20):11606-11 PMID: 14500907
  15. Pharmacologic disruption of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 inhibits tumorigenicity and tumor progression in prostate cancer.
    Mol Cancer. 2011 Apr 18;10:40 PMID: 21501485
  16. MicroRNA-101 negatively regulates Ezh2 and its expression is modulated by androgen receptor and HIF-1alpha/HIF-1beta.
    Mol Cancer. 2010 May 17;9:108 PMID: 20478051
  17. Vitamin A and apoptosis in prostate cancer.
    Endocr Relat Cancer. 2002 Jun;9(2):87-102 PMID: 12121833
  18. Induction of differentiation in myeloid leukemia cell lines and acute promyelocytic leukemia cells by liposomal all-trans-retinoic acid.
    Cancer Res. 1993 May 1;53(9):2100-4 PMID: 8481912
  19. Role of histone H3 lysine 27 methylation in Polycomb-group silencing.
    Science. 2002 Nov 1;298(5595):1039-43 PMID: 12351676
  20. Histone modifying and chromatin remodelling enzymes in cancer and dysplastic syndromes.
    Hum Mol Genet. 2005 Apr 15;14 Spec No 1:R85-92 PMID: 15809277
  21. EZH2 inhibition as a therapeutic strategy for lymphoma with EZH2-activating mutations.
    Nature. 2012 Dec 6;492(7427):108-12 PMID: 23051747
  22. Expression of the enhancer of zeste homolog 2 is correlated with poor prognosis in human gastric cancer.
    Cancer Sci. 2006 Jun;97(6):484-91 PMID: 16734726
  23. Role of histone H2A ubiquitination in Polycomb silencing.
    Nature. 2004 Oct 14;431(7010):873-8 PMID: 15386022
  24. Programming off and on states in chromatin: mechanisms of Polycomb and trithorax group complexes.
    Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2002 Apr;12(2):210-8 PMID: 11893495
  25. Transcriptional repression mediated by the human polycomb-group protein EED involves histone deacetylation.
    Nat Genet. 1999 Dec;23(4):474-8 PMID: 10581039
  26. Coordinated regulation of polycomb group complexes through microRNAs in cancer.
    Cancer Cell. 2011 Aug 16;20(2):187-99 PMID: 21840484
  27. Polycomb group protein-mediated repression of transcription.
    Trends Biochem Sci. 2010 Jun;35(6):323-32 PMID: 20346678
  28. Polycomb group proteins: multi-faceted regulators of somatic stem cells and cancer.
    Cell Stem Cell. 2010 Sep 3;7(3):299-313 PMID: 20804967
  29. Epigenetic and chromatin modifiers as targeted therapy of hematologic malignancies.
    J Clin Oncol. 2005 Jun 10;23(17):3971-93 PMID: 15897549
  30. Integrative genomics analysis reveals silencing of beta-adrenergic signaling by polycomb in prostate cancer.
    Cancer Cell. 2007 Nov;12(5):419-31 PMID: 17996646
  31. Development and validation of reagents and assays for EZH2 peptide and nucleosome high-throughput screens.
    J Biomol Screen. 2012 Dec;17(10):1279-92 PMID: 22904200
  32. Regulation of tumor angiogenesis by EZH2.
    Cancer Cell. 2010 Aug 9;18(2):185-97 PMID: 20708159
  33. An oncogene-tumor suppressor cascade drives metastatic prostate cancer by coordinately activating Ras and nuclear factor-kappaB.
    Nat Med. 2010 Mar;16(3):286-94 PMID: 20154697
  34. Epigenetic alterations in human prostate cancers.
    Endocrinology. 2009 Sep;150(9):3991-4002 PMID: 19520778
  35. DNA methylation in prostate cancer.
    Biochim Biophys Acta. 2004 Sep 20;1704(2):87-102 PMID: 15363862
  36. Control of developmental regulators by Polycomb in human embryonic stem cells.
    Cell. 2006 Apr 21;125(2):301-13 PMID: 16630818
  37. Epigenetic-mediated dysfunction of the bone morphogenetic protein pathway inhibits differentiation of glioblastoma-initiating cells.
    Cancer Cell. 2008 Jan;13(1):69-80 PMID: 18167341
  38. The Polycomb Ezh2 methyltransferase regulates muscle gene expression and skeletal muscle differentiation.
    Genes Dev. 2004 Nov 1;18(21):2627-38 PMID: 15520282
  39. Polycomb protein EZH2 regulates tumor invasion via the transcriptional repression of the metastasis suppressor RKIP in breast and prostate cancer.
    Cancer Res. 2012 Jun 15;72(12):3091-104 PMID: 22505648
  40. A microRNA expression signature of human solid tumors defines cancer gene targets.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Feb 14;103(7):2257-61 PMID: 16461460
  41. Histone methyltransferase activity of a Drosophila Polycomb group repressor complex.
    Cell. 2002 Oct 18;111(2):197-208 PMID: 12408864
  42. Mechanisms underlying the development of androgen-independent prostate cancer.
    Clin Cancer Res. 2006 Mar 15;12(6):1665-71 PMID: 16551847
  43. Widespread deregulation of microRNA expression in human prostate cancer.
    Oncogene. 2008 Mar 13;27(12):1788-93 PMID: 17891175
  44. Down-regulation of human DAB2IP gene expression mediated by polycomb Ezh2 complex and histone deacetylase in prostate cancer.
    J Biol Chem. 2005 Jun 10;280(23):22437-44 PMID: 15817459
  45. Inactive yet indispensable: the tale of Jarid2.
    Trends Cell Biol. 2011 Feb;21(2):74-80 PMID: 21074441
  46. Coordinated activities of wild-type plus mutant EZH2 drive tumor-associated hypertrimethylation of lysine 27 on histone H3 (H3K27) in human B-cell lymphomas.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Dec 7;107(49):20980-5 PMID: 21078963
  47. Polycomb recruitment to DNA in vivo by the YY1 REPO domain.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Dec 19;103(51):19296-301 PMID: 17158804
  48. Increased expression of the polycomb group gene, EZH2, in transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.
    Clin Cancer Res. 2005 Dec 15;11(24 Pt 1):8570-6 PMID: 16361539
  49. 16-hydroxycleroda-3,13-dien-15,16-olide regulates the expression of histone-modifying enzymes PRC2 complex and induces apoptosis in CML K562 cells.
    Life Sci. 2011 Dec 5;89(23-24):886-95 PMID: 21983300
  50. The polycomb group protein EZH2 is involved in progression of prostate cancer.
    Nature. 2002 Oct 10;419(6907):624-9 PMID: 12374981
  51. Transcriptome sequencing across a prostate cancer cohort identifies PCAT-1, an unannotated lincRNA implicated in disease progression.
    Nat Biotechnol. 2011 Jul 31;29(8):742-9 PMID: 21804560
  52. Functional demarcation of active and silent chromatin domains in human HOX loci by noncoding RNAs.
    Cell. 2007 Jun 29;129(7):1311-23 PMID: 17604720
  53. Pharmacologic disruption of Polycomb-repressive complex 2-mediated gene repression selectively induces apoptosis in cancer cells.
    Genes Dev. 2007 May 1;21(9):1050-63 PMID: 17437993
  54. Long non-coding RNA HOTAIR reprograms chromatin state to promote cancer metastasis.
    Nature. 2010 Apr 15;464(7291):1071-6 PMID: 20393566
  55. Polycomb silencers control cell fate, development and cancer.
    Nat Rev Cancer. 2006 Nov;6(11):846-56 PMID: 17060944
  56. Overall survival analysis of a phase II randomized controlled trial of a Poxviral-based PSA-targeted immunotherapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
    J Clin Oncol. 2010 Mar 1;28(7):1099-105 PMID: 20100959
  57. Estimates of worldwide burden of cancer in 2008: GLOBOCAN 2008.
    Int J Cancer. 2010 Dec 15;127(12):2893-917 PMID: 21351269
  58. Recurrent gene fusions in prostate cancer.
    Nat Rev Cancer. 2008 Jul;8(7):497-511 PMID: 18563191
  59. The Polycomb group protein EZH2 directly controls DNA methylation.
    Nature. 2006 Feb 16;439(7078):871-4 PMID: 16357870
  60. Anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic diterpenes from formosan Polyalthia longifolia var. pendula.
    Planta Med. 2006 Nov;72(14):1344-7 PMID: 17022008
  61. Drosophila enhancer of Zeste/ESC complexes have a histone H3 methyltransferase activity that marks chromosomal Polycomb sites.
    Cell. 2002 Oct 18;111(2):185-96 PMID: 12408863
  62. MicroRNA expression profiling in prostate cancer.
    Cancer Res. 2007 Jul 1;67(13):6130-5 PMID: 17616669
  63. 5-Azacytidine and 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine as inhibitors of DNA methylation: mechanistic studies and their implications for cancer therapy.
    Oncogene. 2002 Aug 12;21(35):5483-95 PMID: 12154409
  64. Aberrations of EZH2 in cancer.
    Clin Cancer Res. 2011 May 1;17(9):2613-8 PMID: 21367748
  65. MicroRNA expression profiles classify human cancers.
    Nature. 2005 Jun 9;435(7043):834-8 PMID: 15944708
  66. 3-Deazaneplanocin: a new and potent inhibitor of S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase and its effects on human promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60.
    Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1986 Mar 13;135(2):688-94 PMID: 3457563
  67. Regulation of chromatin structure by site-specific histone H3 methyltransferases.
    Nature. 2000 Aug 10;406(6796):593-9 PMID: 10949293
  68. Hypermethylation of CpG islands in primary and metastatic human prostate cancer.
    Cancer Res. 2004 Mar 15;64(6):1975-86 PMID: 15026333
  69. All-trans retinoic acid inhibits KIT activity and induces apoptosis in gastrointestinal stromal tumor GIST-T1 cell line by affecting on the expression of survivin and Bax protein.
    J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2010 Dec 16;29:165 PMID: 21159206
  70. The gene encoding the prostatic tumor suppressor PSP94 is a target for repression by the Polycomb group protein EZH2.
    Oncogene. 2007 Jul 5;26(31):4590-5 PMID: 17237810
  71. Stem cell regulation by polycomb repressors: postponing commitment.
    Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2008 Apr;20(2):201-7 PMID: 18291635
  72. Akt-mediated phosphorylation of EZH2 suppresses methylation of lysine 27 in histone H3.
    Science. 2005 Oct 14;310(5746):306-10 PMID: 16224021
  73. Expression changes in EZH2, but not in BMI-1, SIRT1, DNMT1 or DNMT3B are associated with DNA methylation changes in prostate cancer.
    Cancer Biol Ther. 2007 Sep;6(9):1403-12 PMID: 18637271
  74. The c-Myc target gene network.
    Semin Cancer Biol. 2006 Aug;16(4):253-64 PMID: 16904903
  75. A history of prostate cancer treatment.
    Nat Rev Cancer. 2002 May;2(5):389-96 PMID: 12044015
  76. Repression of E-cadherin by the polycomb group protein EZH2 in cancer.
    Oncogene. 2008 Dec 11;27(58):7274-84 PMID: 18806826
  77. The language of covalent histone modifications.
    Nature. 2000 Jan 6;403(6765):41-5 PMID: 10638745
  78. Long noncoding RNA as modular scaffold of histone modification complexes.
    Science. 2010 Aug 6;329(5992):689-93 PMID: 20616235
  79. Polycomb group complexes--many combinations, many functions.
    Trends Cell Biol. 2009 Dec;19(12):692-704 PMID: 19889541
  80. EZH2 promotes expansion of breast tumor initiating cells through activation of RAF1-β-catenin signaling.
    Cancer Cell. 2011 Jan 18;19(1):86-100 PMID: 21215703
  81. Polycomb complexes repress developmental regulators in murine embryonic stem cells.
    Nature. 2006 May 18;441(7091):349-53 PMID: 16625203
  82. Increased expression of EZH2, a polycomb group protein, in bladder carcinoma.
    Urol Int. 2005;75(3):252-7 PMID: 16215315
  83. FK228 (depsipeptide) as a natural prodrug that inhibits class I histone deacetylases.
    Cancer Res. 2002 Sep 1;62(17):4916-21 PMID: 12208741
  84. The neuronal repellent SLIT2 is a target for repression by EZH2 in prostate cancer.
    Oncogene. 2010 Sep 30;29(39):5370-80 PMID: 20622896
  85. Widespread microRNA repression by Myc contributes to tumorigenesis.
    Nat Genet. 2008 Jan;40(1):43-50 PMID: 18066065
  86. Deregulation of histone lysine methyltransferases contributes to oncogenic transformation of human bronchoepithelial cells.
    Cancer Cell Int. 2008 Nov 03;8:15 PMID: 18980680
  87. Mechanisms of prostate cancer initiation and progression.
    Adv Cancer Res. 2010;109:1-50 PMID: 21070913
  88. Histone deacetylase inhibitors: molecular mechanisms of action.
    Oncogene. 2007 Aug 13;26(37):5541-52 PMID: 17694093
  89. Multigene methylation analysis for detection and staging of prostate cancer.
    Clin Cancer Res. 2005 Sep 15;11(18):6582-8 PMID: 16166436
  90. Activated p53 suppresses the histone methyltransferase EZH2 gene.
    Oncogene. 2004 Jul 29;23(34):5759-69 PMID: 15208672
  91. Sipuleucel-T immunotherapy for castration-resistant prostate cancer.
    N Engl J Med. 2010 Jul 29;363(5):411-22 PMID: 20818862
  92. Suz12 binds to silenced regions of the genome in a cell-type-specific manner.
    Genome Res. 2006 Jul;16(7):890-900 PMID: 16751344
  93. Cooperation between Polycomb and androgen receptor during oncogenic transformation.
    Genome Res. 2012 Feb;22(2):322-31 PMID: 22179855
  94. Expression levels of the EZH2 polycomb transcriptional repressor correlate with aggressiveness and invasive potential of bladder carcinomas.
    Int J Mol Med. 2005 Aug;16(2):349-53 PMID: 16012774
  95. Current and emerging treatments in the management of castration-resistant prostate cancer.
    Expert Rev Anticancer Ther. 2012 Jul;12(7):951-64 PMID: 22845410
  96. Clinicopathological significance of EZH2 mRNA expression in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
    Br J Cancer. 2005 May 9;92(9):1754-8 PMID: 15856046
  97. An integrated network of androgen receptor, polycomb, and TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusions in prostate cancer progression.
    Cancer Cell. 2010 May 18;17(5):443-54 PMID: 20478527
  98. Somatic mutations altering EZH2 (Tyr641) in follicular and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas of germinal-center origin.
    Nat Genet. 2010 Feb;42(2):181-5 PMID: 20081860
  99. Loss of let-7 up-regulates EZH2 in prostate cancer consistent with the acquisition of cancer stem cell signatures that are attenuated by BR-DIM.
    PLoS One. 2012;7(3):e33729 PMID: 22442719
  100. Ellagic acid, a natural polyphenolic compound, induces apoptosis and potentiates retinoic acid-induced differentiation of human leukemia HL-60 cells.
    Int J Hematol. 2010 Jul;92(1):136-43 PMID: 20559758
  101. Emerging therapies in castrate-resistant prostate cancer.
    Curr Opin Oncol. 2009 May;21(3):260-5 PMID: 19363343
  102. A polycomb repression signature in metastatic prostate cancer predicts cancer outcome.
    Cancer Res. 2007 Nov 15;67(22):10657-63 PMID: 18006806
  103. The role of EZH2 in the regulation of the activity of matrix metalloproteinases in prostate cancer cells.
    PLoS One. 2012;7(1):e30393 PMID: 22272343
  104. FOXC1, a target of polycomb, inhibits metastasis of breast cancer cells.
    Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2012 Jan;131(1):65-73 PMID: 21465172
  105. EZH2 is downstream of the pRB-E2F pathway, essential for proliferation and amplified in cancer.
    EMBO J. 2003 Oct 15;22(20):5323-35 PMID: 14532106
  106. ATRA inhibits the proliferation of DU145 prostate cancer cells through reducing the methylation level of HOXB13 gene.
    PLoS One. 2012;7(7):e40943 PMID: 22808286
  107. Genomic loss of microRNA-101 leads to overexpression of histone methyltransferase EZH2 in cancer.
    Science. 2008 Dec 12;322(5908):1695-9 PMID: 19008416
  108. Polycomb complexes act redundantly to repress genomic repeats and genes.
    Genes Dev. 2010 Feb 1;24(3):265-76 PMID: 20123906
Article Info
Journal
Protein & cell
Abbr.
Protein Cell
ISSN
1674-8018
Published
2013-05-00
Epub
2013-00-30
Pages
331-41
Language
English
Region
Germany
NLM ID
101532368
PMCID
PMC4131440
Subset
IM
Grants
NCI NIH HHS · R00 CA129565 · United States
Analysis Services
Analysis Services

Contact

No. 2 Wenbo Road, Zhangqiu District, Jinan, Shandong

Qilu Normal University · Genelibs Bioinformatics Lab

750 Shunhua Rd, Jinan

2F, Bldg F, University Science Park

Tel: 0531-88819269

WeChat Official Account

Follow our WeChat subscription account for real-time updates and the latest in medical and biological research.


Business Email

E-mail: product@genelibs.com