This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
The Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are epigenetic modulators that add histone modifications at specific locations to bring about a change in gene expression and have been shown to be required for lineage specification and organ homeostasis. PcG proteins such as RING1B and MEL18 help in X chromosome inactivation in females during early development; while EZH2 regulates the proliferation of epidermal and intestinal stem cells, thereby maintaining tissue homeostasis. In cancer pathobiology PcG proteins such as EED, BMI1 and EZH2 have been implicated in breast, prostate, colon, pancreatic and other cell type cancer etc. Thus, Polycomb group (PcG) proteins play a major role in both development and disease. However, there are several aspects of Polycomb group (PcG) mediated gene regulation that remain to be uncovered. In this Research Topic, we have brought together the recent advances in terms of the role of PcG proteins in development and disease.
Brain tissue is one of the most complex tissue, composed of different kinds of neuronal cells with each cell exhibiting unique gene expression profile. Epigenetic mechanisms allow for this differential gene expression for normal brain functioning, but in some cases when the epigenetic mechanisms including PcG regulation fail it may lead to disrupted functions.
Diabetes is another complex disease characterized by eventual loss of the pancreatic β-cells and understanding the development of pancreatic β cell at the molecular level will give us leads which could be used to treat diabetes. EZH2 catalyzed H3K27me3 histone modification at specific gene promoters has been shown to play a critical role in differentiation of progenitor cells into pancreatic or hepatic cells during murine development (
It has become increasingly clear that 3D genome organization plays a critical role gene expression. Techniques such as 3C, Hi-C and 4C have demonstrated that the numerous protein complexes assist in DNA looping and this allows transcriptional machinery to access regions of DNA that are far apart; thus these newer techniques have helped us to better understand the importance of protein complexes such as PcGs in 3D DNA arrangement.
Mutations in some of the PcG proteins such as BMI1, EZH2, SUZ12, and EED are known to result in cancers of various tissues (
The articles published in this Research Topic showcase the role of Polycomb group (PcG) protein in regulating several developmental genes and impact on the developmental trajectory and later functioning. The PcG proteins assemble into large protein subunits that regulate the higher 3 dimensional structure of the DNA and thereby execute transcription.
PP: Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing. SR: Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing. ST: Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing. RT: Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing.
The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
The authors wish to dedicate this Research Topic to SR who sadly passed away in 2023. SR was one of the pioneers of chromatin biology in India and made great scientific contributions to this field. He will be remembered as a great researchers and great mentor by researchers worldwide.
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.