Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Epigenetics: Development and Disease pp 545–565Cite as

Stem Cell Plasticity in Development and Cancer: Epigenetic Origin of Cancer Stem Cells

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Subcellular Biochemistry ((SCBI,volume 61))

Abstract

Stem cells are unique cells that can self-renew and differentiate into many cell types. Plasticity is a fundamental characteristic of stem cells and it is regulated by reversible epigenetic modifications. Although gene-restriction programs are established during embryonic development when cell lineages are formed, stem cells retain a degree of flexibility that is essential for tissue regeneration. For instance, quiescent adult stem cells can be induced to proliferate and trans-differentiate in response to injury. The same degree of plasticity is observed in cancer, where cancer cells with stem cell characteristics (or cancer stem cells) are formed by transformation of normal stem cells or de-differentiation of somatic cells. Reprogramming experiments with normal somatic cells and cancer cells show that epigenetic landscapes are more plastic than originally thought and that their manipulation can induce changes in cell fate. Our knowledge of stem cell function is still limited and only by understanding the mechanisms regulating developmental potential together with the definition of epigenetic maps of normal and diseased tissues we can reveal the true extent of their plasticity. In return, the control of plastic epigenetic programs in stem cells will allow us to develop effective treatments for degenerative diseases and cancer.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Al-Hajj M, Wicha MS, Benito-Hernandez A, Morrison SJ, Clarke MF (2003) Prospective identification of tumorigenic breast cancer cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100:3983–3988

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Allegrucci C, Thurston A, Lucas E, Young L (2005) Epigenetics and the germline. Reproduction 129:137–149

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Allegrucci C, Wu YZ, Thurston A, Denning CN, Priddle H, Mummery CL, Ward-van Oostwaard D, Andrews PW, Stojkovic M, Smith N, Parkin T, Jones ME, Warren G, Yu L, Brena RM, Plass C, Young LE (2007) Restriction landmark genome scanning identifies culture-induced DNA methylation instability in the human embryonic stem cell epigenome. Hum Mol Genet 16:1253–1268

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Allegrucci C, Rushton MD, Dixon JE, Sottile V, Shah M, Kumari R, Watson S, Alberio R, Johnson AD (2011) Epigenetic reprogramming of breast cancer cells with oocyte extracts. Mol Cancer 10:7

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Asp P, Blum R, Vethantham V, Parisi F, Micsinai M, Cheng J, Bowman C, Kluger Y, Dynlacht BD (2011) PNAS Plus: genome-wide remodeling of the epigenetic landscape during myogenic differentiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108:E149–E158

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ball MP, Li JB, Gao Y, Lee J-H, LeProust EM, Park I-H, Xie B, Daley GQ, Church GM (2009) Targeted and genome-scale strategies reveal gene-body methylation signatures in human cells. Nat Biotechnol 27:361–368

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bapat SA, Mali AM, Koppikar CB, Kurrey NK (2005) Stem and progenitor-like cells contribute to the aggressive behavior of human epithelial ovarian cancer. Cancer Res 65:3025–3029

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barrero MJ, Boue S, Izpisua Belmonte JC (2010) Epigenetic mechanisms that regulate cell identity. Cell Stem Cell 7:565–570

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baylin SB, Ohm JE (2006) Epigenetic gene silencing in cancer – a mechanism for early oncogenic pathway addiction? Nat Rev Cancer 6:107–116

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Porath I, Thomson MW, Carey VJ, Ge R, Bell GW, Regev A, Weinberg RA (2008) An embryonic stem cell-like gene expression signature in poorly differentiated aggressive human tumors. Nat Genet 40:499–507

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Berdasco M, Esteller M (2010) Aberrant epigenetic landscape in cancer: how cellular identity goes awry. Dev Cell 19:698–711

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein BE, Mikkelsen TS, Xie X, Kamal M, Huebert DJ, Cuff J, Fry B, Meissner A, Wernig M, Plath K, Jaenisch R, Wagschal A, Feil R, Schreiber SL, Lander ES (2006) A bivalent chromatin structure marks key developmental genes in embryonic stem cells. Cell 125:315–326

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bird A (2002) DNA methylation patterns and epigenetic memory. Genes Dev 16:6–21

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bird A (2007) Perceptions of epigenetics. Nature 447:396–398

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blelloch RH, Hochedlinger K, Yamada Y, Brennan C, Kim M, Mintz B, Chin L, Jaenisch R (2004) Nuclear cloning of embryonal carcinoma cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:13985–13990

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bloushtain-Qimron N, Yao J, Snyder EL, Shipitsin M, Campbell LL, Mani SA, Hu M, Chen H, Ustyansky V, Antosiewicz JE, Argani P, Halushka MK, Thomson JA, Pharoah P, Porgador A, Sukumar S, Parsons R, Richardson AL, Stampfer MR, Gelman RS, Nikolskaya T, Nikolsky Y, Polyak K (2008) Cell type-specific DNA methylation patterns in the human breast. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:14076–14081

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bonnet D, Dick JE (1997) Human acute myeloid leukemia is organized as a hierarchy that originates from a primitive hematopoietic cell. Nat Med 3:730–737

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brabletz S, Brabletz T (2010) The ZEB/miR-200 feedback loop–a motor of cellular plasticity in development and cancer? EMBO Rep 11:670–677

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bracken AP, Helin K (2009) Polycomb group proteins: navigators of lineage pathways led astray in cancer. Nat Rev Cancer 9:773–784

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bracken AP, Dietrich N, Pasini D, Hansen KH, Helin K (2006) Genome-wide mapping of Polycomb target genes unravels their roles in cell fate transitions. Genes Dev 20:1123–1136

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Broske AM, Vockentanz L, Kharazi S, Huska MR, Mancini E, Scheller M, Kuhl C, Enns A, Prinz M, Jaenisch R, Nerlov C, Leutz A, Andrade-Navarro MA, Jacobsen SE, Rosenbauer F (2009) DNA methylation protects hematopoietic stem cell multipotency from myeloerythroid restriction. Nat Genet 41:1207–1215

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell LL, Polyak K (2007) Breast tumor heterogeneity: cancer stem cells or clonal evolution? Cell Cycle 6:2332–2338

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Caretti G, Di Padova M, Micales B, Lyons GE, Sartorelli V (2004) The Polycomb Ezh2 methyltransferase regulates muscle gene expression and skeletal muscle differentiation. Genes Dev 18:2627–2638

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen X, Hiller M, Sancak Y, Fuller MT (2005) Tissue-specific TAFs counteract Polycomb to turn on terminal differentiation. Science 310:869–872

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clarkson BD (1974) The survival value of the dormant state in neoplastic and normal cell populations. In: Clarkson B, Baserga R (eds) Control of proliferation in animal cells, vol 1, Cold spring harbor conferences on cell proliferation. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, pp 945–972

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohnheim J (1867) Ueber entzundung und eiterung. Path Anat Physiol Klin Med 40:1–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox CV, Evely RS, Oakhill A, Pamphilon DH, Goulden NJ, Blair A (2004) Characterization of acute lymphoblastic leukemia progenitor cells. Blood 104:2919–2925

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dalerba P, Dylla SJ, Park IK, Liu R, Wang X, Cho RW, Hoey T, Gurney A, Huang EH, Simeone DM, Shelton AA, Parmiani G, Castelli C, Clarke MF (2007) Phenotypic characterization of human colorectal cancer stem cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:10158–10163

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Daley GQ (2008) Common themes of dedifferentiation in somatic cell reprogramming and cancer. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 73:171–174

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Durante F (1974) Nesso fisio-patologico tra la struttura dei nei materni e la genesi di alcuni tumori maligni. Arch Memori ed Osservazioni di Chirurgia Practica 11:217–2226

    Google Scholar 

  • Eramo A, Lotti F, Sette G, Pilozzi E, Biffoni M, Di Virgilio A, Conticello C, Ruco L, Peschle C, De Maria R (2008) Identification and expansion of the tumorigenic lung cancer stem cell population. Cell Death Differ 15:504–514

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fang D, Nguyen TK, Leishear K, Finko R, Kulp AN, Hotz S, Van Belle PA, Xu X, Elder DE, Herlyn M (2005) A tumorigenic subpopulation with stem cell properties in melanomas. Cancer Res 65:9328–9337

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Feinberg AP, Ohlsson R, Henikoff S (2006) The epigenetic progenitor origin of human cancer. Nat Rev Genet 7(1):21–33

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ficz G, Branco MR, Seisenberger S, Santos F, Krueger F, Hore TA, Marques CJ, Andrews S, Reik W (2011) Dynamic regulation of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in mouse ES cells and during differentiation. Nature 473:398–402

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garraway LA, Sellers WR (2006) Lineage dependency and lineage-survival oncogenes in human cancer. Nat Rev Cancer 6:593–602

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ginestier C, Hur MH, Charafe-Jauffret E, Monville F, Dutcher J, Brown M, Jacquemier J, Viens P, Kleer CG, Liu S, Schott A, Hayes D, Birnbaum D, Wicha MS, Dontu G (2007) ALDH1 is a marker of normal and malignant human mammary stem cells and a predictor of poor clinical outcome. Cell Stem Cell 1:555–567

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein AS, Stoyanova T, Witte ON (2010) Primitive origins of prostate cancer: in vivo evidence for prostate-regenerating cells and prostate cancer-initiating cells. Mol Oncol 4:385–396

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins RD, Hon GC, Lee LK, Ngo Q, Lister R, Pelizzola M, Edsall LE, Kuan S, Luu Y, Klugman S, Antosiewicz-Bourget J, Ye Z, Espinoza C, Agarwahl S, Shen L, Ruotti V, Wang W, Stewart R, Thomson JA, Ecker JR, Ren B (2010) Distinct epigenomic landscapes of pluripotent and lineage-committed human cells. Cell Stem Cell 6:479–491

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hemberger M, Dean W, Reik W (2009) Epigenetic dynamics of stem cells and cell lineage commitment: digging Waddington’s canal. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 10:526–537

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hermann PC, Huber SL, Herrler T, Aicher A, Ellwart JW, Guba M, Bruns CJ, Heeschen C (2007) Distinct populations of cancer stem cells determine tumor growth and metastatic activity in human pancreatic cancer. Cell Stem Cell 1:313–323

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hochedlinger K, Blelloch R, Brennan C, Yamada Y, Kim M, Chin L, Jaenisch R (2004) Reprogramming of a melanoma genome by nuclear transplantation. Genes Dev 18:1875–1885

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Howell CY, Bestor TH, Ding F, Latham KE, Mertineit C, Trasler JM, Chaillet JR (2001) Genomic imprinting disrupted by a maternal effect mutation in the Dnmt1 gene. Cell 104:829–838

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jaenisch R, Bird A (2003) Epigenetic regulation of gene expression: how the genome integrates intrinsic and environmental signals. Nat Genet 33(Suppl):245–254

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang F, Qiu Q, Khanna A, Todd NW, Deepak J, Xing L, Wang H, Liu Z, Su Y, Stass SA, Katz RL (2009) Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 is a tumor stem cell-associated marker in lung cancer. Mol Cancer Res 7:330–338

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones PA, Baylin SB (2007) The epigenomics of cancer. Cell 128:683–692

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kamminga LM, Bystrykh LV, de Boer A, Houwer S, Douma J, Weersing E, Dontje B, de Haan G (2006) The Polycomb group gene Ezh2 prevents hematopoietic stem cell exhaustion. Blood 107:2170–2179

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keshet I, Schlesinger Y, Farkash S, Rand E, Hecht M, Segal E, Pikarski E, Young RA, Niveleau A, Cedar H, Simon I (2006) Evidence for an instructive mechanism of de novo methylation in cancer cells. Nat Genet 38:149–153

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim J, Woo AJ, Chu J, Snow JW, Fujiwara Y, Kim CG, Cantor AB, Orkin SH (2010) A Myc network accounts for similarities between embryonic stem and cancer cell transcription programs. Cell 143:313–324

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koh KP, Yabuuchi A, Rao S, Huang Y, Cunniff K, Nardone J, Laiho A, Tahiliani M, Sommer CA, Mostoslavsky G, Lahesmaa R, Orkin SH, Rodig SJ, Daley GQ, Rao A (2011) Tet1 and Tet2 regulate 5-hydroxymethylcytosine production and cell lineage specification in mouse embryonic stem cells. Cell Stem Cell 8:200–213

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lapidot T, Sirard C, Vormoor J, Murdoch B, Hoang T, Caceres-Cortes J, Minden M, Paterson B, Caligiuri MA, Dick JE (1994) A cell initiating human acute myeloid leukaemia after transplantation into SCID mice. Nature 367:645–648

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lessard J, Sauvageau G (2003) Bmi-1 determines the proliferative capacity of normal and leukaemic stem cells. Nature 423:255–260

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li C, Heidt DG, Dalerba P, Burant CF, Zhang L, Adsay V, Wicha M, Clarke MF, Simeone DM (2007) Identification of pancreatic cancer stem cells. Cancer Res 67:1030–1037

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lister R, Pelizzola M, Dowen RH, Hawkins RD, Hon G, Tonti-Filippini J, Nery JR, Lee L, Ye Z, Ngo QM, Edsall L, Antosiewicz-Bourget J, Stewart R, Ruotti V, Millar AH, Thomson JA, Ren B, Ecker JR (2009) Human DNA methylomes at base resolution show widespread epigenomic differences. Nature 462:315–322

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lotem J, Sachs L (2006) Epigenetics and the plasticity of differentiation in normal and cancer stem cells. Oncogene 25:7663–7672

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mani SA, Guo W, Liao MJ, Eaton EN, Ayyanan A, Zhou AY, Brooks M, Reinhard F, Zhang CC, Shipitsin M, Campbell LL, Polyak K, Brisken C, Yang J, Weinberg RA (2008) The epithelial-mesenchymal transition generates cells with properties of stem cells. Cell 133:704–715

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marson A, Levine SS, Cole MF, Frampton GM, Brambrink T, Johnstone S, Guenther MG, Johnston WK, Wernig M, Newman J, Calabrese JM, Dennis LM, Volkert TL, Gupta S, Love J, Hannett N, Sharp PA, Bartel DP, Jaenisch R, Young RA (2008) Connecting microRNA genes to the core transcriptional regulatory circuitry of embryonic stem cells. Cell 134:521–533

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer W, Niveleau A, Walter J, Fundele R, Haaf T (2000) Demethylation of the zygotic paternal genome. Nature 403:501–502

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meissner A (2010) Epigenetic modifications in pluripotent and differentiated cells. Nat Biotechnol 28:1079–1088

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meissner A, Mikkelsen TS, Gu H, Wernig M, Hanna J, Sivachenko A, Zhang X, Bernstein BE, Nusbaum C, Jaffe DB, Gnirke A, Jaenisch R, Lander ES (2008) Genome-scale DNA methylation maps of pluripotent and differentiated cells. Nature 454:766–770

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer MJ, Fleming JM, Ali MA, Pesesky MW, Ginsburg E, Vonderhaar BK (2009) Dynamic regulation of CD24 and the invasive, CD44posCD24neg phenotype in breast cancer cell lines. Breast Cancer Res 11:R82

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mikkelsen TS, Ku M, Jaffe DB, Issac B, Lieberman E, Giannoukos G, Alvarez P, Brockman W, Kim TK, Koche RP, Lee W, Mendenhall E, O’Donovan A, Presser A, Russ C, Xie X, Meissner A, Wernig M, Jaenisch R, Nusbaum C, Lander ES, Bernstein BE (2007) Genome-wide maps of chromatin state in pluripotent and lineage-committed cells. Nature 448:553–560

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Milne TA, Martin ME, Brock HW, Slany RK, Hess JL (2005) Leukemogenic MLL fusion proteins bind across a broad region of the Hox a9 locus, promoting transcription and multiple histone modifications. Cancer Res 65:11367–11374

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Molofsky AV, Pardal R, Iwashita T, Park IK, Clarke MF, Morrison SJ (2003) Bmi-1 dependence distinguishes neural stem cell self-renewal from progenitor proliferation. Nature 425:962–967

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan HD, Santos F, Green K, Dean W, Reik W (2005) Epigenetic reprogramming in mammals. Hum Mol Genet 14(Spec No 1):R47–R58

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Myant K, Termanis A, Sundaram AY, Boe T, Li C, Merusi C, Burrage J, de Las Heras JI, Stancheva I (2011) LSH and G9a/GLP complex are required for developmentally programmed DNA methylation. Genome Res 21:83–94

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nowell PC (1976) The clonal evolution of tumor cell populations. Science 194:23–28

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien CA, Pollett A, Gallinger S, Dick JE (2007) A human colon cancer cell capable of initiating tumour growth in immunodeficient mice. Nature 445:106–110

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ohm JE, McGarvey KM, Yu X, Cheng L, Schuebel KE, Cope L, Mohammad HP, Chen W, Daniel VC, Yu W, Berman DM, Jenuwein T, Pruitt K, Sharkis SJ, Watkins DN, Herman JG, Baylin SB (2007) A stem cell-like chromatin pattern may predispose tumor suppressor genes to DNA hypermethylation and heritable silencing. Nat Genet 39:237–242

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Okano M, Bell DW, Haber DA, Li E (1999) DNA methyltransferases Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b are essential for de novo methylation and mammalian development. Cell 99:247–257

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oswald J, Engemann S, Lane N, Mayer W, Olek A, Fundele R, Dean W, Reik W, Walter J (2000) Active demethylation of the paternal genome in the mouse zygote. Curr Biol 10:475–478

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pastor WA, Pape UJ, Huang Y, Henderson HR, Lister R, Ko M, McLoughlin EM, Brudno Y, Mahapatra S, Kapranov P, Tahiliani M, Daley GQ, Liu XS, Ecker JR, Milos PM, Agarwal S, Rao A (2011) Genome-wide mapping of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in embryonic stem cells. Nature 473:394–397

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pauli A, Rinn JL, Schier AF (2011) Non-coding RNAs as regulators of embryogenesis. Nat Rev Genet 12:136–149

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pierce GB, Johnson LD (1971) Differentiation and cancer. In Vitro 7:140–145

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pietersen AM, Evers B, Prasad AA, Tanger E, Cornelissen-Steijger P, Jonkers J, van Lohuizen M (2008) Bmi1 regulates stem cells and proliferation and differentiation of committed cells in mammary epithelium. Curr Biol 18:1094–1099

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prince ME, Sivanandan R, Kaczorowski A, Wolf GT, Kaplan MJ, Dalerba P, Weissman IL, Clarke MF, Ailles LE (2007) Identification of a subpopulation of cells with cancer stem cell properties in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:973–978

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rajasekhar VK, Studer L, Gerald W, Socci ND, Scher HI (2011) Tumour-initiating stem-like cells in human prostate cancer exhibit increased NF-kappaB signalling. Nat Commun 2:162

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ran D, Schubert M, Pietsch L, Taubert I, Wuchter P, Eckstein V, Bruckner T, Zoeller M, Ho AD (2009) Aldehyde dehydrogenase activity among primary leukemia cells is associated with stem cell features and correlates with adverse clinical outcomes. Exp Hematol 37:1423–1434

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roesch A, Fukunaga-Kalabis M, Schmidt EC, Zabierowski SE, Brafford PA, Vultur A, Basu D, Gimotty P, Vogt T, Herlyn M (2010) A temporarily distinct subpopulation of slow-cycling melanoma cells is required for continuous tumor growth. Cell 141:583–594

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sangiorgi E, Capecchi MR (2008) Bmi1 is expressed in vivo in intestinal stem cells. Nat Genet 40:915–920

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Santos F, Hendrich B, Reik W, Dean W (2002) Dynamic reprogramming of DNA methylation in the early mouse embryo. Dev Biol 241:172–182

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki H, Matsui Y (2008) Epigenetic events in mammalian germ-cell development: reprogramming and beyond. Nat Rev Genet 9:129–140

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schatton T, Murphy GF, Frank NY, Yamaura K, Waaga-Gasser AM, Gasser M, Zhan Q, Jordan S, Duncan LM, Weishaupt C, Fuhlbrigge RC, Kupper TS, Sayegh MH, Frank MH (2008) Identification of cells initiating human melanomas. Nature 451:345–349

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger Y, Straussman R, Keshet I, Farkash S, Hecht M, Zimmerman J, Eden E, Yakhini Z, Ben-Shushan E, Reubinoff BE, Bergman Y, Simon I, Cedar H (2007) Polycomb-mediated methylation on Lys27 of histone H3 pre-marks genes for de novo methylation in cancer. Nat Genet 39:232–236

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sell S, Pierce GB (1994) Maturation arrest of stem cell differentiation is a common pathway for the cellular origin of teratocarcinomas and epithelial cancers. Lab Invest 70:6–22

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sen GL (2011) Remembering one’s identity: the epigenetic basis of stem cell fate decisions. FASEB J 25(7):2123–2128

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sen GL, Reuter JA, Webster DE, Zhu L, Khavari PA (2010) DNMT1 maintains progenitor function in self-renewing somatic tissue. Nature 463:563–567

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma S, Kelly TK, Jones PA (2010) Epigenetics in cancer. Carcinogenesis 31:27–36

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shen Y, Chow J, Wang Z, Fan G (2006) Abnormal CpG island methylation occurs during in vitro differentiation of human embryonic stem cells. Hum Mol Genet 15:2623–2635

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh SK, Clarke ID, Terasaki M, Bonn VE, Hawkins C, Squire J, Dirks PB (2003) Identification of a cancer stem cell in human brain tumors. Cancer Res 63:5821–5828

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sperger JM, Chen X, Draper JS, Antosiewicz JE, Chon CH, Jones SB, Brooks JD, Andrews PW, Brown PO, Thomson JA (2003) Gene expression patterns in human embryonic stem cells and human pluripotent germ cell tumors. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100:13350–13355

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sun C, Liu YK (2011) Induced pluripotent cancer cells: progress and application. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 137:1–8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tahiliani M, Koh KP, Shen Y, Pastor WA, Bandukwala H, Brudno Y, Agarwal S, Iyer LM, Liu DR, Aravind L, Rao A (2009) Conversion of 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in mammalian DNA by MLL partner TET1. Science 324:930–935

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi K, Yamanaka S (2006) Induction of pluripotent stem cells from mouse embryonic and adult fibroblast cultures by defined factors. Cell 126:663–676

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Takaishi S, Okumura T, Tu S, Wang SS, Shibata W, Vigneshwaran R, Gordon SA, Shimada Y, Wang TC (2009) Identification of gastric cancer stem cells using the cell surface marker CD44. Stem Cells 27:1006–1020

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tang DG, Patrawala L, Calhoun T, Bhatia B, Choy G, Schneider-Broussard R, Jeter C (2007) Prostate cancer stem/progenitor cells: identification, characterization, and implications. Mol Carcinog 46:1–14

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tay Y, Zhang J, Thomson AM, Lim B, Rigoutsos I (2008) MicroRNAs to Nanog, Oct4 and Sox2 coding regions modulate embryonic stem cell differentiation. Nature 455:1124–1128

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Telerman A, Amson R (2009) The molecular programme of tumour reversion: the steps beyond malignant transformation. Nat Rev Cancer 9:206–216

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thiery JP, Acloque H, Huang RY, Nieto MA (2009) Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions in development and disease. Cell 139(5):871–890

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tirino V, Desiderio V, d’Aquino R, De Francesco F, Pirozzi G, Graziano A, Galderisi U, Cavaliere C, De Rosa A, Papaccio G, Giordano A (2008) Detection and characterization of CD133+ cancer stem cells in human solid tumours. PLoS One 3:e3469

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trowbridge JJ, Snow JW, Kim J, Orkin SH (2009) DNA methyltransferase 1 is essential for and uniquely regulates hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Cell Stem Cell 5:442–449

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Turner BM (2007) Defining an epigenetic code. Nat Cell Biol 9:2–6

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Virchow R (1855) Editorial Archiv fuer pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und fuer klinisque Madizin 8:23–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Vire E, Brenner C, Deplus R, Blanchon L, Fraga M, Didelot C, Morey L, Van Eynde A, Bernard D, Vanderwinden JM, Bollen M, Esteller M, Di Croce L, de Launoit Y, Fuks F (2006) The Polycomb group protein EZH2 directly controls DNA methylation. Nature 439:871–874

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Visvader JE (2011) Cells of origin in cancer. Nature 469:314–322

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Visvader JE, Lindeman GJ (2008) Cancer stem cells in solid tumours: accumulating evidence and unresolved questions. Nat Rev Cancer 8:755–768

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Waddington CH (1935) Cancer and the theory of organisers. Nature 135:606–608

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waddington CH (1940) Organisers & genes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang JCY, Dick JE (2005) Cancer stem cells: lessons from leukemia. Trends Cell Biol 15:494–501

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Widschwendter M, Fiegl H, Egle D, Mueller-Holzner E, Spizzo G, Marth C, Weisenberger DJ, Campan M, Young J, Jacobs I, Laird PW (2007) Epigenetic stem cell signature in cancer. Nat Genet 39:157–158

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wossidlo M, Arand J, Sebastiano V, Lepikhov K, Boiani M, Reinhardt R, Scholer H, Walter J (2010) Dynamic link of DNA demethylation, DNA strand breaks and repair in mouse zygotes. EMBO J 29:1877–1888

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wossidlo M, Nakamura T, Lepikhov K, Marques CJ, Zakhartchenko V, Boiani M, Arand J, Nakano T, Reik W, Walter J (2011) 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine in the mammalian zygote is linked with epigenetic reprogramming. Nat Commun 2:241

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wray J, Kalkan T, Smith AG (2010) The ground state of pluripotency. Biochem Soc Trans 38:1027–1032

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu N, Papagiannakopoulos T, Pan G, Thomson JA, Kosik KS (2009) MicroRNA-145 regulates OCT4, SOX2, and KLF4 and represses pluripotency in human embryonic stem cells. Cell 137:647–658

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu Y, Wu F, Tan L, Kong L, Xiong L, Deng J, Barbera AJ, Zheng L, Zhang H, Huang S, Min J, Nicholson T, Chen T, Xu G, Shi Y, Zhang K, Shi YG (2011) Genome-wide regulation of 5hmC, 5mC, and gene expression by Tet1 hydroxylase in mouse embryonic stem cells. Mol Cell 42:451–464

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang ZF, Ho DW, Ng MN, Lau CK, Yu WC, Ngai P, Chu PW, Lam CT, Poon RT, Fan ST (2008) Significance of CD90+ cancer stem cells in human liver cancer. Cancer Cell 13:153–166

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Young RA (2011) Control of the embryonic stem cell state. Cell 144:940–954

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang S, Balch C, Chan MW, Lai HC, Matei D, Schilder JM, Yan PS, Huang TH, Nephew KP (2008) Identification and characterization of ovarian cancer-initiating cells from primary human tumors. Cancer Res 68:4311–4320

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman AL, Wu S (2011) MicroRNAs, cancer and cancer stem cells. Cancer Lett 300:10–19

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge funding from the University of Nottingham, the Royal Society of London and EvoCell Ltd. We are obliged to Dr Ramiro Alberio for valuable discussion and critical evaluation of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, LE12 5RD, Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK

    Mansi Shah & Cinzia Allegrucci

  2. Centre for Genetics and Genomics, University of Nottingham, Queen’s Medical Centre, NG7 2UH, Nottingham, UK

    Cinzia Allegrucci

Authors
  1. Mansi Shah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cinzia Allegrucci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cinzia Allegrucci .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Scientific Research, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for, Jakkur P.O., Bangalore, 560064, India

    Tapas K. Kundu

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Shah, M., Allegrucci, C. (2013). Stem Cell Plasticity in Development and Cancer: Epigenetic Origin of Cancer Stem Cells. In: Kundu, T. (eds) Epigenetics: Development and Disease. Subcellular Biochemistry, vol 61. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4525-4_24

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation