Alterations of Epigenetics and MicroRNAs in Cancer and Cancer Stem Cell
A special issue of Genes (ISSN 2073-4425). This special issue belongs to the section "Epigenomics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2022) | Viewed by 3791
Special Issue Editor
Interests: cancer; stem cells; epigenetics; digestive systems; pharmacology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Despite substantial improvements in its prevention, diagnosis, and treatments, the global annual death toll for cancer is still estimated to be around 8.2 million. Previous studies have focused on cellular heterogeneity within tumors, highlighting the existence of rare cell populations harboring self-renewal and tumor initiation capacities. Such highly tumorigenic cells have been designated cancer stem cells and have been observed in several types of human neoplasms, including leukemia, glioblastoma, breast, and colorectal tumors. Cancer stem cells are now recognized as the “root of cancer” and represent a major challenge for cancer treatments due to their involvement in therapeutic resistance mechanisms. Thus, investigations aiming to understand cancer stem cell development and maintenance are necessary in order to develop innovative therapies combating the disease at its source. Advances in cancer epigenetics have demonstrated the central requirements of the chromatin-remodeling machinery during the emergence of cancer stem cell populations and tumor initiation. Cancer stem cells are marked by a distinct, transformation-acquired epigenetic signature compared to normal stem cells and bulk tumors, conferring upon them unique oncogenic properties. MicroRNAs also represent key regulators of neoplastic stemness, acting on oncogenic pathways such as canonical WNT/beta-catenin, PI3K/AKT, and NF-kB, and contributing to sustaining self-renewal, differentiation blockades, and the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.
For this Special Issue of Genes, we welcome the submission of reviews, new methods, commentaries, and original articles covering aspects of altered epigenetic and microRNA regulatory processes in cancer. We hope to put a special emphasis on the implication of such processes in cancer stem cell development and maintenance. Contributions are expected to cover topics within the scope of the journal, including but not limited to genetic factors influencing the cancer epigenome, mechanisms impacting mRNA stability in cancer, key chromatin modifiers aberrantly expressed and/or activated in cancer stem cells, as well as pharmacological and genome editing strategies as novel therapeutic tools targeting cancer stem cells’ epigenetic signatures.
Dr. Yannick D. Benoit
Guest Editor
Keywords
- cancer
- epigenetics
- microRNA
- cancer stem cell
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