title: Zebrafish Discoveries in Cancer Epigenetics.
abstract: The cancer epigenome is fundamentally different than that of normal cells. How these differences arise in and contribute to carcinogenesis is not known, and studies using model organisms such as zebrafish provide an opportunity to address these important questions. Modifications of histones and DNA comprise the complex epigenome, and these influence chromatin structure, genome stability and gene expression, all of which are fundamental to the cellular changes that cause cancer. The cancer genome atlas covers the wide spectrum of genetic changes associated with nearly every cancer type, however, this catalog is currently uni-dimensional. As the pattern of epigenetic marks and chromatin structure in cancer cells is described and overlaid on the mutational landscape, the map of the cancer genome becomes multi-dimensional and highly complex. Two major questions remain in the field: (1) how the epigenome becomes repatterned in cancer and (2) which of these changes are cancer-causing. Zebrafish provide a tractable in vivo system to monitor the epigenome during transformation and to identify epigenetic drivers of cancer. In this chapter, we review principles of cancer epigenetics and discuss recent work using zebrafish whereby epigenetic modifiers were established as cancer driver genes, thus providing novel insights into the mechanisms of epigenetic reprogramming in cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1020, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA.|Division of Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1020, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Yelena
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chernyavskaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1020, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA.|Division of Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1020, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA.|School of Biomedical Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1020, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Brandon
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kent
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1020, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA. kirsten.edepli@nyu.edu.|Division of Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1020, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA. kirsten.edepli@nyu.edu.|School of Biomedical Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1020, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA. kirsten.edepli@nyu.edu.|Biology Program, New York University Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Campus, 129188, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. kirsten.edepli@nyu.edu.
authors.forename: Kirsten C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Sadler
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000818:Animals; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D015027:Zebrafish