Guest Editors
Rashid Mehmood
Alfaisal University
Dr. Mehmood completed his PhD from the Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Japan. He did his postdoc in Japan and Canada, where he initiated projects related to epigenetics. Dr. Mehmood worked at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, USA, as a senior research affiliate, where he studied the interaction of epigenetic regulators with stem cell factors during cancer progression by utilizing epigenetic approaches. At Alfaisal University, he continues his research on the role of epigenetic regulation in cancer and stem cell maintenance. He utilizes bioinformatic and molecular approaches to unravel important epigenetic signaling pathways regulating normal and cancer development. Another area in which Dr. Mehmood is interested is non-coding RNAs, important mediators of gene function, and their interplay with the cellular machinery.
Noriko Yasuhara
Nihon University
Dr. Yasuhara completed her PhD from the Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Japan. During her postdoctoral degree, she initiated projects related to molecular and cell biology. She is currently a professor at Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan. Her primary research interest has been investigating the regulation of molecular traffic between the cytoplasm and the nucleus of mammalian cells, which contributes to gene expression for multiple cell responses, including epigenetic regulation. Her work focuses on the interplay between nuclear import receptors and chromatin regulation, using biochemistry and bioinformatics approaches.
Collection Overview
Epigenetics is the study of how the environment and behavior influence gene expression. Epigenetic regulation is essential for the normal development of organisms, and it is not surprising that many diseases have underlying aberrant epigenetic profiles. Carcinogenesis is a multiple-step process wherein the acquisition of genetic and epigenetic deregulation results in the development and progression of malignancies. Epigenetic regulation involves several mechanisms, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNA-mediated gene regulation.
Unlike genetic mutations, epigenetic alterations do not change the DNA sequence and are potentially reversible, making them promising targets for cancer therapy. Owing to their reversible nature, various epigenetic drugs have already been FDA-approved or are being tested in clinical trials.
Our understanding of the role of epigenetic modifications in cancer development has been significantly improved by various epigenetic tools coupled with next-generation sequencing. Developing bioinformatic tools further strengthened our ability to comprehend the epigenetic landscape at a higher resolution. Epigenetic dysregulation is now regarded as an important hallmark of cancer.
This Methods Collection aims to compile experimental and computational tools to investigate epigenetic regulation in cancer. We hope this compendium will augment our understanding of epigenetics in cancer biology.
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