Polycomb group proteins and their functions: A review

Liang Xu, Peng Wang and Guangp

Abstract

The biological individual embryonic development and cellular proliferation, differentiation are strictly regulated by multiple genes. PcG gene group is a kind of important development related genes, PcG proteins can be in the form of protein complexes involved in inhibition of HOX genes expression, in order to maintain the body's normal development and cell proliferation and directional differentiation, for instance, PcG protein formation of chromatin complex of embryo and stem cell self-renewal played an important role. If the hox gene transcription regulation of protein function can be caused by changing the hox gene expression patterns and abnormal cell proliferation, differentiation, and presents some special pathological phenotypes, such as abnormal hematopoiesis, prostate cancer, breast cancer, abnormality of individual development, and histone modification plays a key on PcG silence