Epigenetic silencing of 14-3-3sigma in cancer

The 14-3-3 sigma gene is a direct target of the p53 tumor suppressor and its product inhibits cell cycle progression. Recently, a proteomic analysis revealed that 14-3-3 sigma regulates additional cellular processes relevant to carcinogenesis, as migration and MAP-kinase signalling. The expression of 14-3-3o- is down-regulated by CpG methylation in several types of human cancer, among them prostate, lung, breast and several types of skin cancer. The epigenetic inactivation of 14-3-3 sigma occurs at an early stage of tumor development and may allow evasion from senescence and promote genomic instability. In the future the detection of CpG methylation of 14-3-3 sigma may be used for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.