Cancer_stem_cell_epigenome_profiling_in_mouse. Cancer_stem_cell_epigenome_profiling_in_mouse

In spite of the advances in our knowledge of cancer biology, most cancers remain incurable with present therapies. Although current treatments can reduce tumour burden, relapse occurs in most cases. This was long attributed to incomplete tumour elimination, but an increasing body of research is showing that cancers, like normal tissues, contain their own stem cells, the so-called Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs), that share biomarkers with normal stem cells, proliferate indefinitely through a deregulated cellular self-renewal capacity and that are able to resist differentiation and apoptosis. Gaining insight into the genome of such cells is crucial for the understanding of cancer biology and for the design of appropriate therapeutic strategies that target these Cancer Stem Cells. In this project, we intend to characterize the epigenome of Cancer Stem Cells. This investigation will provide the basis for understanding for the first time what makes a cell a cancer stem cell. This data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/