title: Induced malignant genome reprogramming in somatic cells by testis-specific factors.
abstract: Germline cell differentiation is controlled by a specific set of genes whose expression is tightly locked into the repressed state in somatic cells. Large-scale epigenome alterations, now evidenced in nearly all cancers, lead to aberrant activation of these normally silenced genes, as attested by the many reports describing the expression of testis-specific factors, known as cancer-testis genes, in various cancer cells. Here, based on the literature, we argue that off-context activity of some of the testis-specific epigenome regulators can reprogram the somatic cell epigenome toward a malignant state by favoring self-renewal and sustaining cell proliferation under stressful conditions, thereby constituting a major oncogenic mechanism.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, U823, Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1, Institut Albert Bonniot, Grenoble, F-38706, France.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Anouk
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Emadali
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Le Bescont
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Callanan
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rousseaux
authors.forename: Saadi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khochbin
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D015894:Genome, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology