The Research Progress of EZH2 Genes in Tumors

The polycomb group( PcG) protein family is a group of gene regulatory elements playing roles in embryonic development,functioning in two distinct protein complexe: polycomb-repressive complex 1( PRC1) and polycomb-repressive complex 2( PRC2). EZH2 is the catalytic subunit of PRC2,which is a highly conserved histone methyltransferase that targets lysine-27 of histone H3. Most studies on human tumors show that EZH2 is over-expressed in a variety of tumors,such as prostate cancer,breast cancer. Here is to make a review of the basic molecular biology of EZH2 and its relationships with different cancers,and discuss EZH2 connections to other epigenetic modifying enzymes,as well as the consequences of EZH2 overexpression and its roles in tumorigenesis.