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Stem cells

Distal memory in wound healing and cancer

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Skin wounds induce an epigenetic memory that accelerates the healing of subsequent injuries. The underlying mechanism is now shown to involve epigenetic chromatin modifications in stem cells from a field of distal hair follicles that surround the injury. Importantly, this mechanism also results in a predisposition for skin cancer development.

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Fig. 1: Wound-induced epigenetic field cancerization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Epigenetics, DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany

    Frank Lyko

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  1. Frank Lyko
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Correspondence to Frank Lyko.

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F.L. has received consultation fees from Beiersdorf.

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Lyko, F. Distal memory in wound healing and cancer. Nat Cell Biol 25, 631–632 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41556-023-01132-w

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