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Medical Applications of iPS Cells pp 29–43Cite as

iPS Cell Technology for Dissecting Cancer Epigenetics

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Part of the book series: Current Human Cell Research and Applications ((CHCRA))

Abstract

A dynamic reorganization of epigenetic regulation takes place during cellular reprogramming. Given that reprogramming does not require changes in the underlying genome information, reprogramming technology can be used to actively modify the epigenetic regulation and thus is useful for studying the genome-epigenome relationship. Cancer cells harbor both genetic and epigenetic alterations. Although the causal role of genetic aberrations on cancer development has been well characterized by reverse genetics in vivo, the impact of epigenetic abnormalities remains to be fully understood, especially in vivo. Recent genome-wide sequencing studies have identified frequent mutations at epigenetic modifier genes, thus indicating that epigenetic alterations in cancer could be the consequence of genetic mutations. However, recent studies that utilized reprogramming technology for cancer research have demonstrated cellular context-associated epigenetic regulation that is independent of genetic mutations and plays a critical role on both the development and maintenance of cancer cells. In this review, we propose that reprogramming technology could be a powerful tool for dissecting the role of epigenetic regulation in cancer biology.

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Abbreviations

AML:

Acute myeloid leukemia

DMRs:

Differentially methylated regions

ESCs:

Embryonic stem cells

GBM:

Glioblastoma

iPCCs:

Induced pluripotent cancer cells

iPSCs :

Induced pluripotent stem cells

LOH:

Loss of heterogeneity

NT-ESCs:

Nuclear transferred embryonic stem cells

PDAC:

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

PRC2:

Polycomb repressive complex 2

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

RTCs:

Reprogrammed tumor cells

SAM:

S-adenosylmethyonine

SCNT:

Somatic cell nuclear transfer

TPCs:

Tumor-propagating cells

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Science Frontiers, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Hirofumi Shibata & Yasuhiro Yamada

  2. Department of Otolaryngology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan

    Hirofumi Shibata

  3. Division of Stem Cell Pathology, Center for Experimental Medicine and Systems Biology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Yasuhiro Yamada

Authors
  1. Hirofumi Shibata
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Correspondence to Yasuhiro Yamada .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CiRA, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Haruhisa Inoue

  2. Cell Engineering Division, RIKEN BioResource Research Center, Tsukuba-shi Ibaraki, Japan

    Yukio Nakamura

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Shibata, H., Yamada, Y. (2019). iPS Cell Technology for Dissecting Cancer Epigenetics. In: Inoue, H., Nakamura, Y. (eds) Medical Applications of iPS Cells . Current Human Cell Research and Applications. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3672-0_3

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