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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 14, 2015; 21(30): 9021-9037
Published online Aug 14, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i30.9021
Epigenetic regulation of DNA repair machinery in Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric carcinogenesis
Juliana Carvalho Santos, Marcelo Lima Ribeiro
Juliana Carvalho Santos, Marcelo Lima Ribeiro, Sao Francisco University Medical School Clinical Pharmacology and Gastroenterology Unit Laboratory of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Bragança Paulista, SP 12916900, Brazil
Juliana Carvalho Santos, Marcelo Lima Ribeiro, UNICAMP, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Campinas, SP 12916900, Brazil
Author contributions: Santos JC and Ribeiro ML solely contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Marcelo L Ribeiro, Bsc, PhD, Sao Francisco University Medical School Clinical Pharmacology and Gastroenterology Unit Laboratory of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Bragança Paulista, Av. São Francisco de Assis, 218. Jd. São José, Bragança Paulist, SP 12916900, Brazil. marcelo.ribeiro@usf.edu.br
Telephone: +55-11-24548982 Fax: +55-11-40341825
Received: April 28, 2015
Peer-review started: April 28, 2015
First decision: May 18, 2015
Revised: June 2, 2015
Accepted: July 8, 2015
Article in press: July 8, 2015
Published online: August 14, 2015
Processing time: 111 Days and 9.4 Hours
Abstract

Although thousands of DNA damaging events occur in each cell every day, efficient DNA repair pathways have evolved to counteract them. The DNA repair machinery plays a key role in maintaining genomic stability by avoiding the maintenance of mutations. The DNA repair enzymes continuously monitor the chromosomes to correct any damage that is caused by exogenous and endogenous mutagens. If DNA damage in proliferating cells is not repaired because of an inadequate expression of DNA repair genes, it might increase the risk of cancer. In addition to mutations, which can be either inherited or somatically acquired, epigenetic silencing of DNA repair genes has been associated with carcinogenesis. Gastric cancer represents the second highest cause of cancer mortality worldwide. The disease develops from the accumulation of several genetic and epigenetic changes during the lifetime. Among the risk factors, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is considered the main driving factor to gastric cancer development. Thus, in this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the role of H. pylori infection on the epigenetic regulation of DNA repair machinery in gastric carcinogenesis.

Keywords: Helicobacter pylori; DNA repair; Epigenetic; DNA methylation; Gastric cancer; Histone modification

Core tip: Considering the relevance of DNA repair mechanisms in the maintenance of genome integrity and the role of epigenetics in its regulation on gastric carcinogenesis, in this review, we highlight the effects of Helicobacter pylori infection on the modulation of epigenetics mechanisms regulating DNA repair pathways associated with gastric carcinogenesis.