Nuclear reprogramming of cancer stem cells: Corrupting the epigenetic code of cell identity with oncometabolites

Abstract

Generation of cancer stem cell (CSC)-like cells might occur through metabolic corruption of the epigenetic codes that govern cell identity. We recently identified how archetypal oncometabolites, without altering the baseline expression of endogenous stem cell maintenance genes but endowing cells with epigenetic states refractory to differentiation, considerably enhance the global kinetic efficiency of nuclear reprogramming processes that generate CSC-like states de novo. This study highlights that metabolo-epigenetic axes of communication can direct the development and maintenance of CSCs during the natural history of cancer diseases.