Progresses of DNA methylation in common ocular tumor

Abstract

DNA methylation is a major event of epigenetic modifications. In the presence of DNA methyltransferases (DNMT), the addition of methyl groups from cytosines can impact gene expression and alter cell and organism function. Methyl groups of CpG sites in the promoter can directly interfere with binding of transcription factors to their recognition cis elements or, on the other side, can facilitate interaction with a family of methyl-binding proteins and result in gene silencing. Analysis of DNA methylation includes genome-wide DNA methylation assessment, analysis of gene-specific DNA methylation and finding of new DNA methylation sites. The implication of DNA methylation has been suggested with the pathogenesis of retinoblastoma, uveal tract melanoma and ocular surface tumor. We focus on the progresses of DNA methylation on ocular tumors in this article.