V Parreno, V Loubiere, B Schuettengruber, L Fritsch, C C Rawal, M Erokhin, B Győrffy, D Normanno, M Di Stefano, J Moreaux, N L Butova, I Chiolo, D Chetverina, A-M Martinez, G Cavalli
Although cancer initiation and progression are generally associated with the accumulation of somatic mutations1,2 , substantial epigenomic alterations underlie many aspects of tumorigenesis and cancer susceptibility3-6 , suggesting that genetic mechanisms might not be the only drivers of malignant transformation7 . However, whether purely non-genetic mechanisms are sufficient to initiate tumorigenesis irrespective of mutations has been unknown. Here, we show that a transient perturbation of transcriptional silencing mediated by Polycomb group proteins is sufficient to induce an irreversible switch to a cancer cell fate in Drosophila...
April 24, 2024: Nature