Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026
06:07
Continuous Fluorescence-Based Endonuclease-Coupled DNA Methylation Assay to Screen for DNA Methyltransferase Inhibitors
Published on: August 5, 2022
Interplay between DNA and RNA methylation shapes cancer cell plasticity
Guglielmo Bove1, Ugo Chianese2, Antonio Beato1
1Department of Precision Medicine, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Vico L. de Crecchio 7, Naples, Italy.
Seminars in Cancer Biology
|July 22, 2026
Summary
Cancer stem cells use cellular plasticity to survive and spread. DNA and RNA methylation crosstalk regulates this plasticity, offering potential new therapeutic targets.
Area of Science:
- Epigenetics and Epitranscriptomics
- Cancer Biology
- Cellular Plasticity
Background:
- Cellular plasticity enables healthy cells to maintain homeostasis.
- Cancer stem cells (CSCs) exploit plasticity for survival, dissemination, and therapy evasion.
- Epigenetic regulation, including DNA methylation, drives tumor plasticity by altering gene expression and chromatin accessibility.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the interplay between DNA and RNA methylation in regulating tumor plasticity.
- To highlight emerging mechanistic insights and functional interactions.
- To explore potential implications for future epigenetic and epitranscriptomic therapies.
Main Methods:
- Review of current scientific literature on DNA and RNA methylation in cancer.
- Analysis of studies investigating the crosstalk between DNA methylation (CpG sites) and RNA modifications (m6A, m5C, m1A, m7G).
- Synthesis of evidence on how these epigenetic and epitranscriptomic mechanisms influence CSC stemness, survival, and EMT.
Main Results:
- DNA and RNA methylation signatures are frequently dysregulated in tumors.
- These modifications cooperate to influence stemness, survival, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated signaling.
- Interactions between DNA and RNA methylation converge in regulatory networks controlling cancer cell identity and plasticity.
Conclusions:
- The crosstalk between DNA and RNA methylation is a key driver of CSC plasticity.
- Understanding these interactions may reveal novel therapeutic vulnerabilities.
- Targeting these epigenetic and epitranscriptomic pathways could offer new strategies against cancer.
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