Bapat Sharmila A
National Centre for Cell Science, NCCS Complex, Pune University Campus, Ganeshkhind, Pune, 411 007, India,
Subcell Biochem. 2013;61:419-34. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-4525-4_18.
The concept of cancer as a stem cell disease has slowly gained ground over the last decade. A 'stem-like' state essentially necessitates that some cells in the developing tumor express the properties of remaining quiescent, self-renewing and regenerating tumors through establishment of aberrant cellular hierarchies. Alternatively, such capacities may also be reacquired through a de-differentiation process. The abnormal cellular differentiation patterns involved during either process during carcinogenesis are likely to be driven through a combination of genetic events and epigenetic regulation. The role(s) of the latter is increasingly being appreciated in acquiring the requisite genomic specificity and flexibility required for phenotypic plasticity, specifically in a context wherein genome sequences are not altered for differentiation to ensue. In this chapter, the recent advances in elucidating epigenetic mechanisms that govern the self-renewal, differentiation and regenerative potentials of cancer stem cells will be presented.
在过去十年中，癌症作为一种干细胞疾病的概念逐渐得到认可。一种“干细胞样”状态本质上要求发育中的肿瘤中的一些细胞通过建立异常的细胞层次结构来表现出保持静止、自我更新和再生肿瘤的特性。或者，这些能力也可以通过去分化过程重新获得。致癌过程中任一过程所涉及的异常细胞分化模式可能是由遗传事件和表观遗传调控共同驱动的。后者在获得表型可塑性所需的必要基因组特异性和灵活性方面的作用越来越受到重视，特别是在基因组序列不发生改变就能实现分化的情况下。在本章中，将介绍在阐明调控癌症干细胞自我更新、分化和再生潜能的表观遗传机制方面的最新进展。
