title: Cancer: pathological nuclear reprogramming?
abstract: The ability of stem cells to self-renew and generate different lineages during development and organogenesis is a fundamental, tightly controlled, and generally unidirectional process, whereas the 'immortality' of cancer cells could be regarded as pathological self-renewal. The molecular mechanisms that underpin the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells are remarkably similar to those that are deregulated in cancer - so much so that aberrant reprogramming is tumorigenic. The similarities also suggest that mutations in genes implicated in DNA methylation dynamics might represent a hallmark of cancers with a stem cell origin, and they highlight an alternative view of cancer that may be of clinical benefit.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Old Road Campus Research Building, Old Road Campus, University of Oxford, Headington, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK.
authors.forename: Colin R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Goding
authors.affiliation: South China Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510530 China.
authors.forename: Duanqing
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pei
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Old Road Campus Research Building, Old Road Campus, University of Oxford, Headington, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D065150:Cellular Reprogramming; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D006801:Humans; D007521:Isocitrate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment
chemical_list: D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D007521:Isocitrate Dehydrogenase; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases