| Abstract: | Dedifferentiation of cell identity to a progenitor-like or stem cell-like state with increased cellular plasticity is frequently observed in cancer formation.During this process,a subpopulation of cells in tumours acquires a stem cell-like state partially resembling to naturally occurring pluripotent stem cells that are temporarily present during early embryogenesis.Such characteris-tics allow these cancer stem cells (CSCs) to give rise to the whole tumour with its entire cellular heterogeneity and thereby support metastases formation while being resistant to current cancer therapeutics.Cancer devel-opment and progression are demarcated by transcrip-tional dysregulation.In this article,we explore the epigenetic mechanisms shaping gene expression dur-ing tumorigenesis and cancer stem cell formation,with an emphasis on 3D chromatin architecture.Comparing the pluripotant stem cell state and epigenetic repro-gramming to dedifferentiation in cellular transformation provides intriguing insight to chromatin dynamics.We suggest that the 3D chromatin architecture could be used as a target for re-sensitizing cancer stem cells to therapeutics. |
