RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Cancer Progenitor Cells: The Result of an Epigenetic Event?
JF Anticancer Research
JO Anticancer Res
FD International Institute of Anticancer Research
SP 1
OP 6
VO 38
IS 1
A1 LAPINSKA, KAROLINA
A1 FARIA, GABRIELA
A1 MCGONAGLE, SANDRA
A1 MACUMBER, KATE MORGAN
A1 HEERBOTH, SARAH
A1 SARKAR, SIBAJI
YR 2018
UL http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/38/1/1.abstract
AB The concept of cancer stem cells was proposed in the late 1990s. Although initially the idea seemed controversial, the existence of cancer stem cells is now well established. However, the process leading to the formation of cancer stem cells is still not clear and thus requires further research. This article discusses epigenetic events that possibly produce cancer progenitor cells from predisposed cells by the influence of their environment. Every somatic cell possesses an epigenetic signature in terms of histone modifications and DNA methylation, which are obtained during lineage-specific differentiation of pluripotent stem cells, which is specific to that particular tissue. We call this signature an epigenetic switch. The epigenetic switch is not fixed. Our epigenome alters with aging. However, depending on the predisposition of the cells of a particular tissue and their microenvironment, the balance of the switch (histone modifications and the DNA methylation) may be tilted to immortality in a few cells, which generates cancer progenitor cells.