human breast cancers. Enzymatic activity EZH2 function is highly dependent upon its recruitment by the PRC2 complex. In particular, WD40-repeat protein embryonic ectoderm development (EED) and zinc finger protein suppressor of zeste 12 (SUZ12) are needed to stabilize the interaction of EZH2 with its histone substrate Recently, two isoforms of EZH2 generated from alternative splicing have been identified in humans: EZH2α and EZH2β. Both isoforms contain elements that have been identified as important for EZH2 function including the nuclear localization signal, the EED and SUZ12 binding sites as well as the conserved SET domain. Most studies have thus far focused on the longer isoform EZH2α, but EZH2β, which lacks exons 4 and 8, has been shown to be active. Furthermore, PRC2/EZH2β complexes act on distinct genes from that of its PRC2/EZH2α counterpart suggesting that each isoform may act to regulate a specific subset of genes. Additional evidence suggests that EZH2 may also be capable of lysine methylation independent of association with PRC2, when EZH2 is highly upregulated. Lysine methylation Methylation is the addition of a -CH3, or methyl group, to another molecule. In biology, methylation is typically catalyzed by enzymes, and methyl groups are commonly added to either proteins or nucleic acids. In EZH2-catalyzed methylation, the amino acid lysine in the histone h3 is methylated. This amino acid residue can be methylated up to three times on its terminal ammonium group. These methylated lysines are important in the control of mammalian gene expression and have a functional role in heterochromatin formation, X-chromosome inactivation and transcriptional regulation. In mammalian chromosomes, histone lysine methylation can either activate or repress genes depending the site of methylation. Recent work has shown that at least part of the silencing function of the EZH2 complex is the methylation of histone H3 on lysine 27. Methylation, and other modifications, take place on the histones. Methyl modifications can affect the binding of proteins to these histones and either activate or inhibit transcription. Mechanism of catalysis EZH2 is a member of the SET domain family of lysine methyltransferases which function to add methyl groups to lysine side chains of substrate proteins. SET methyltransferases depend on a S-Adenosyl methionine (SAM) cofactor to act as a methyl donor for their catalytic activity. SET domain proteins differ from other SAM-dependent methyltransferases in that they bind their substrate and SAM cofactor on opposite sides of the active site of the enzyme. This orientation