Remodeling of the epigenome: link to chemosensitivity and adjunct therapy in colon cancer

The human genome itself is extremely compact and needs to be remodeled so that every cell in the body have the full and complete repertoire of transcripts at the correct time and location. When the above process is aberrant - it can lead to multiple abnormalities - one of which is neoplastic transformation leading to carcinogenesis. Hence maintenance of genome integrity by modulating the compaction and decompaction of the human genome is one of the hallmarks which can prevent neoplastic transformation.

Chemoresistance is one of the features of recurrent carcinogenesis. When chemoresistance occur - the frontline drugs used for cancer treatment either partially or completely lose their efficacy, leading to the recurrence of cancer at the same or distal sites. Using colon cancer as the model system, we have tried to understand whether chemoresistance can be linked to chromatin remodeling and if so - whether there are ways to revert the process. Some of these results will be presented.