Targeting Histone Onco- Modifications Using Plant- Derived Products.

The regulatory mechanisms laying over the genome that determines the differential expression of genes are termed as epigenetic mechanisms. DNA methylation, acetylation, methylation and phosphorylation of histone proteins and RNAi are typical examples. These epigenetic modifications are important determinants of normal growth and metabolism at the same time aberrant histone modifications play a major role in pathological conditions and are emerging as a new area of research for the last decades. Histone onco-modification is a term introduced by scientific world to denote histone post translational modifications that are associated with cancer development and progression. These modifications are likely to act in certain conditions as adaptive mechanisms to environmental and social factors. The enzymes that regulate DNA methylation as well as histone modifications are thus become a target for cancer therapy and, chemoprevention. Since oxidative stress has been shown to modulate epigenetic changes, phytocompounds with powerful antioxidant properties assume significant place in disease pathology. Nowadays "nutri- epigenetics" is becoming an emerging area of research which deals with the influence of dietary compounds in epigenetics. This review aims to discuss the biological efficacy of promising phytocompounds that are able to counteract deleterious epigenetic modifications especially histone onco- modifications.