Epigenetic Regulation of Cancer Stem Cells

Dear Colleagues,

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Cancer stem cell hypothesis proposes that cancers arise in stem or progenitor cells through dysregulation of self-renewal, which is found in most types of cancers. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer stem cell transformation and maintain remain to be elucidated.

Epigenetics is dynamic and heritable modifications to the genome that occur independently of DNA sequence. Multiple enzymes and other molecular components are involved in this cellular process. Abnormal epigenetic alterations can link to inappropriate onset of genetic expressions and promote tumorigenesis. Since the epigenetic modifiers are susceptible to extrinsic factors and reversible, they are becoming promising targets in multiple cancer therapies.

In this Special Issue, we focus on the epigenetic regulation of cancer stem cells in a variety of cancer types. To achieve this goal, human patient tissues, animal models, organoids and edited cell lines may be applied. Multi-omics approaches to illustrate genome-wide epigenetic marks distribution in cancer stem cells are welcomed.     

In this Special issue, both original research and review articles are covered. Topics contributed to this Special Issue may include, but are not limited to:

• Altered DNA methylation in cancer stem cells
• Covalent histone modification remodeling in cancer stem cells
• Ectopic expression of noncoding RNAs in cancer stem cells
• Novel cancer stem cell related mutations, such as H3K27M and H3K36M
• Interaction between cancer stem cells and microenvironment
• Novel drugs target to epigenetic modifications
• Epigenetic-drugs alone, or in combination with chemotherapy or immunotherapy
• Cancer stem cells related case report

Dr. Yuen Gao
Guest Editor

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• cancer stem cells