Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 25, 2025

Investigation of the Transcriptional Role of a RUNX1 Intronic Silencer by CRISPR/Cas9 Ribonucleoprotein in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells
Published on: September 1, 2019
Cancer-associated chromatin variants uncover the oncogenic role of transposable elements
Giacomo Grillo1, Mathieu Lupien2
1Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract:
The vast array of cell states found across human tissue arises from chromatin variants, which correspond to segments of the genome, known as DNA elements, adopting a different chromatin state over cell state transitions. Oncogenesis stems from alterations to the chromatin states over DNA elements that result in cancer-associated chromatin variants. Here, we review how cancer-associated chromatin variants call attention to repetitive DNA elements, and guide the functional characterization of transposable elements to decode their role in oncogenesis. We further discuss prevailing opportunities in the study of repetitive DNA elements to move towards the 'complete cancer genome' goal for precision medicine in oncology.
Related Concept Videos
Overview of Transposition and Recombination
Non-LTR Retrotransposons
DNA-only Transposons
The donor site from where the transposon is excised is either degraded or...
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Somatic...
Transposons
Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...

