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Levra Levron C, Elettrico L, Duval C, Piacenti G, Proserpio V, Donati G. Bridging tissue repair and epithelial carcinogenesis: epigenetic memory and field cancerization. Cell Death Differ 2024:10.1038/s41418-023-01254-6. [PMID: 38228801 DOI: 10.1038/s41418-023-01254-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Revised: 12/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2024] Open
Abstract
The epigenome coordinates spatial-temporal specific gene expression during development and in adulthood, for the maintenance of homeostasis and upon tissue repair. The upheaval of the epigenetic landscape is a key event in the onset of many pathologies including tumours, where epigenetic changes cooperate with genetic aberrations to establish the neoplastic phenotype and to drive cell plasticity during its evolution. DNA methylation, histone modifiers and readers or other chromatin components are indeed often altered in cancers, such as carcinomas that develop in epithelia. Lining the surfaces and the cavities of our body and acting as a barrier from the environment, epithelia are frequently subjected to acute or chronic tissue damages, such as mechanical injuries or inflammatory episodes. These events can activate plasticity mechanisms, with a deep impact on cells' epigenome. Despite being very effective, tissue repair mechanisms are closely associated with tumour onset. Here we review the similarities between tissue repair and carcinogenesis, with a special focus on the epigenetic mechanisms activated by cells during repair and opted by carcinoma cells in multiple epithelia. Moreover, we discuss the recent findings on inflammatory and wound memory in epithelia and describe the epigenetic modifications that characterise them. Finally, as wound memory in epithelial cells promotes carcinogenesis, we highlight how it represents an early step for the establishment of field cancerization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Levra Levron
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Torino, Italy
- Molecular Biotechnology Center "Guido Tarone", University of Turin, Torino, Italy
| | - Luca Elettrico
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Torino, Italy
- Molecular Biotechnology Center "Guido Tarone", University of Turin, Torino, Italy
| | - Carlotta Duval
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Torino, Italy
- Molecular Biotechnology Center "Guido Tarone", University of Turin, Torino, Italy
| | - Gabriele Piacenti
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Torino, Italy
- Molecular Biotechnology Center "Guido Tarone", University of Turin, Torino, Italy
| | - Valentina Proserpio
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Torino, Italy
- Molecular Biotechnology Center "Guido Tarone", University of Turin, Torino, Italy
- Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine, Candiolo (TO), Italy
| | - Giacomo Donati
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Torino, Italy.
- Molecular Biotechnology Center "Guido Tarone", University of Turin, Torino, Italy.
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