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Chromatin engineering offers an opportunity to advance epigenetic cancer therapy

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Misregulation of gene cohorts, which is caused by aberrant chromatin features and is observed in various cancers, has spurred the development and use of epigenetic anti-cancer drugs. Here, we argue that, in addition to small-molecule inhibitors that target chromatin regulators, synthetic reader-effectors that are recruited to abnormal chromatin features have the potential to correct gene misregulation in epigenetic therapy.

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Fig. 1: Epigenetic interventions target chromatin and coordinate the expression of multiple genes.
Fig. 2: Comparison of loss-of-function versus gain-of-function approaches to perturb chromatin in cancer cells.
Fig. 3: Targeting cohorts of misregulated genes in cancer cells with synthetic reader-effectors.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are supported by start-up support from the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biological Engineering at the Emory School of Medicine.

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  1. Emory University, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Natecia L. Baskin & Karmella A. Haynes

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  1. Natecia L. Baskin
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  2. Karmella A. Haynes
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Correspondence to Karmella A. Haynes.

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Baskin, N.L., Haynes, K.A. Chromatin engineering offers an opportunity to advance epigenetic cancer therapy. Nat Struct Mol Biol 26, 842–845 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-019-0299-6

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