Single-cell analysis of clonal maintenance of transcriptional and epigenetic states in cancer cells.

ABSTRACT: Propagation of clonal regulatory programs contributes to cancer development. It is poorly understood how epigenetic mechanisms interact with genetic drivers to shape this process. Here, we combine single-cell analysis of transcription and DNA methylation with a Luria-Delbrück experimental design to demonstrate the existence of clonally stable epigenetic memory in multiple types of cancer cells. Longitudinal transcriptional and genetic analysis of clonal colon cancer cell populations reveals a slowly drifting spectrum of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transcriptional identities that is seemingly independent of genetic variation. DNA methylation landscapes correlate with these identities but also reflect an independent clock-like methylation loss process. Methylation variation can be explained as

SUBMITTER: Meir Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7610382 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature