Epigenetics and space effects on tumour cells.

Paper number

IAC-08.A1.7.-A2.7.10

Author

Prof. Habiba Bouhamed-Chaabouni, Tunisia

Year

2008

Abstract

Genotype-phenotype correlation aims to determine the degree of relation between the genotype and its expression. During several decades we considered that the phenotype was the visible expression of the genotype. As monozygotic twins share exactly the same genome; they are supposed to have an identical phenotype during the whole life. It appears that this dogma is not available at all since the cell activity and evolution may be different for the same genotype in several cases. In fact we know from long time that monozygotic twins have not always the same diseases pattern, which was demonstrated for example in cancer pathologies. This was an argument to declare and confirm that cancer in most cases is not hereditary.  There are molecular mechanism in the cell and the nuclear other than classical ones. More recently we explained that factor different from gene expression are at the origin of the difference, it is epigenetics. 
How can space environment contribute to the gene expression in general and in Human Being in particular?
To evaluate the role of space environment on cell functions, in particular the genome expression, it is pertinent to study the distance expression between twins on the earth and in space. The comparison of epigenetics phenomena between monozygotic twins on earth and in space may be a good marker to determine whether other cell components interact differently in the two environments.
A fundamental characteristic of epigenetics is that the same genome can show alternative phenotypes, which are based in different epigenetic states. One of the fundamental epigenetics phenomena is histones’ methylation. How histone modifications influence transcriptional competence is incompletely understood. Histones can also be modified by phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and ADP-ribosylation, but the effects of these modifications are less well characterized. Several aspects of epigenetics are strongly linked to non-coding RNAs, especially small RNAs that can direct the cytosine methylation and histone modifications that are implicated in gene expression regulation in complex organisms.What is the interaction between heterochromatic regions, RNA and other molecules which have unknown activity. The aim is to determine whether there are other factors which play a consistent role in cancer process. Such factors may be used as biomarkers in cancer and may be a key for cancer treatment. 

Abstract document

IAC-08.A1.7.-A2.7.10.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-08.A1.7.-A2.7.10.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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