hSET1: A novel approach for colon cancer therapy

Cancer was and still one of the difficult diseases that has not yet been totally cured. Recently, it has been shown that there are several genetic and epigenetic factors that play major roles in this disease. One of the epigenetic regulations of gene expression in cancerous and normal cells is DNA methylation. This process is achieved by addition of methyl group (CH3) to lysine amino acid at position 9 (K9) or lysine amino acid at position 4 (K4) of the H3 histone. Methylation of K9 will lead to inactivation (silencing) of the gene while methylation of K4 will boost the active state of the gene. Histone-methyltransferaes (HMT) are the enzymes that are responsible for the methylation process. This paper deals with the enzyme histone methyltransferase hSET1 (human SET1) which catalyzes the methylation of H3K4. In this study, Yadav S, Singhal J, Singhal SS, et al found that in malignant cells there is over- expression of hSET1 gene which induces the division and survival of cancer cells. When they used hSET1 antisense* in malignant and normal tissues, they observed a remarkable cell death of maliganant tissue whereas no change occurred for normal cells. Therefore, they suggested that hSET1 could be a new target for tumour treatment.

I hope that this spectacular therapy be available soon in order to alleviate the suffering of many people.


Amjad Yousuf
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Antisense* “Antisense drugs are designed to bind to the mRNA of a target protein, inhibiting the protein production process” http://www.antisense.com.au/_108.asp