Three different global histone modification patterns and their significance in human gliomas

Objective To investigate the relationship between epigenetic changes involving multiple modifications of histones and both happening of glioma and pathological grades of glioma.Methods Immunohistochemistry was performed on 67 samples that were cut off from patients with gliomas who made their definite diagnosis from 2006 to 2008 to evaluate the level of histone 4 lysine 12 acetylation （H4K12Ac）, histone 4 arginine 3 monomethylation （H4R3monoMe） and histone 4 lysine 20 acetylation （H3K18Ac）. Results H4K12Ac, H4R3monoMe and H4K20triMe were all detected at high frequencies in tumor tissue of glioma. The expressions of H4K12Ac and H4R3monoMe were positively correlated with increasing WHO pathological grades （P〈0.05）, while H4K20triMe staining was not significantly correlated with WHO pathological grades （P〉0.05）. Conclusion Multiple modifications of histones may affect several steps in tumor cell biology, and may have a prognostic value in gliomas since specific modifications were correlated with WHO pathological grades of glioma. Key words: Histones;  Protein modification, translation;  Glioma