TY - JOUR
T1 - Self-renewal of tumor cells
T2 - Epigenetic determinants of the cancer stem cell phenotype
AU - Ravasio, Roberto
AU - Ceccacci, Elena
AU - Minucci, Saverio
PY - 2016/2/1
Y1 - 2016/2/1
N2 - Among the functional subpopulations that coexist within the tumor, 'cancer stem cells' are characterized by increased self-renewal and the ability to derive all of the other subpopulations of tumor cells ('bulk'). The functional heterogeneity among cancer stem cells and bulk cells must reflect distinct cellular epigenetic landscapes, but - due to the difficulty to isolate bona fide cancer stem cells with a high degree of purity - those different epigenetic landscapes, and the molecular mechanisms underlying them, remain largely unknown. Cues of intratumor phenotypic plasticity complicate the interpretation of the cancer stem cell phenotype: we contend that, however, the concept of cancer stem cell has crucial therapeutic implication, and remains a key target for the exploration of the cancer epigenome.
AB - Among the functional subpopulations that coexist within the tumor, 'cancer stem cells' are characterized by increased self-renewal and the ability to derive all of the other subpopulations of tumor cells ('bulk'). The functional heterogeneity among cancer stem cells and bulk cells must reflect distinct cellular epigenetic landscapes, but - due to the difficulty to isolate bona fide cancer stem cells with a high degree of purity - those different epigenetic landscapes, and the molecular mechanisms underlying them, remain largely unknown. Cues of intratumor phenotypic plasticity complicate the interpretation of the cancer stem cell phenotype: we contend that, however, the concept of cancer stem cell has crucial therapeutic implication, and remains a key target for the exploration of the cancer epigenome.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84966348894&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84966348894&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.gde.2016.04.002
DO - 10.1016/j.gde.2016.04.002
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84966348894
VL - 36
SP - 92
EP - 99
JO - Current Opinion in Genetics and Development
JF - Current Opinion in Genetics and Development
SN - 0959-437X
ER -