Year: 2022
Type: editorial
Abstract: Epigenetics is the study of DNA sequence-independent heritable changes in phenotype and gene expression.Major epigenetic mechanisms include DNA methylation, histone modification, chromatin structure regulation, and non-coding RNA regulation.Emerging evidence suggests that epigenetic regulation plays central roles in tumor immunosurveillance, including tumor antigen production, the interaction between tumor cells and immune cells, and T cell development, priming, activation, and exhaustion.On the other hand, tumors commonly hijack various epigenetic mechanisms to escape immune restriction (1, 2).Therefore, modulating epigenetic regulators can normalize the impaired immunosurveillance and/or trigger antitumor immune responses.Numerous preclinical and clinical studies revealed that epigenetic agents, including DNMT inhibitors (3), HDAC inhibitors (4), EZH2 inhibitors (5), LSD1 inhibitors (6), KDM5 inhibitors (7), G9a inhibitors (8), and BET inhibitors (9-11), have the capacity to induce anti-tumor immune responses and modulate tumor immune microenvironment.Currently, hundreds of clinical trials that combine epigenetic agents and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are ongoing, aiming to achieve synergistic effects, reduce adverse effects, and overcome intrinsic and acquired resistance.Thus, combining epigenetic therapy with immunotherapy is a promising new strategy to improve clinical outcomes.This Research Topic leads to a better understanding of epigenetics in tumor immunity and immunotherapy and highlights the clinical significance of epigenetic drugs.This Research Topic accepted a total of 18 articles from 123 authors, demonstrating great interest in this field.
Source: Frontiers in Oncology
Authors: Hongyin Sun, Bihui Huang, Jian Cao, Qin Yan, Mingzhu Yin
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,950
OpenAlex ID: W4229037591