Cancer : a dysmethylation syndrome ?

In this book, the authors suggest that a «dysmethylation syndrome» disrupts essential regulations controlling cellular growth, metabolism and mitosis, and may then cause cancer. Dysmethylations (hyper or hypomethylations) affect not only the expression of genes controlling growth and mitosis, but also the activity of enzymes such as (PP2A) phosphatase, which is assembled after methylation. PP2A limits the action of trophic kinases activated by growth factors or by oncogenes.

In neurones, the syndrome associated to a poor methylation of the phosphatase and other substrates, leads to hyperphosphorylated proteins, as found in Alzheimer's disease. Cancer, Alzheimer's disease may possibly have, like Biermer's anemia, essential links with methylation processes.