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Epigenetics and Regulation Program

The newly formed Epigenetics and Regulation Program was created in recognition of the accelerating appreciation of the importance of epigenetic mechanisms to cancer development, diagnosis and therapy, and to support the increasingly integrated view of gene regulation, signal transduction, DNA methylation, histone modification, chromatin structure and development.

The Epigenetics and Regulation Program seeks to discover the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate normal and cancer cell function, and that will stimulate new translational research in the prevention, etiology, detection, progression and treatment of cancer.

The program fosters interactions with translational and clinical researchers in other programs to exploit these discoveries in the formulation of new strategies for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cancer. The Epigenetics and Regulation Program has 23 members from nine academic departments in three schools, representing both the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

The epigenetics component of the program is expanding rapidly, as USC/Norris seeks to take full advantage of its premier reputation in this field and the translational research opportunities afforded by epigenetics. Program members working on regulation have contributed greatly to the understanding of cytoplasmic signaling, stress response, development and cell cycle regulation. Areas of synergy include the relationship between hormonal signaling and histone modification, and the interaction between DNA methylation, histone modification, and transcription.

Basic science contributions by this program include these accomplishments:

• The discovery of histone arginine methylation's important role in transcriptional activation.
• The development of a novel DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, Zebularine.
• The establishment of transgenic mouse models to define physiological patterns of endoplasmic reticulum stress in vivo.
• The application of a homegrown, high-throughput DNA methylation analysis technology, MethyLight, to cancer diagnostics and cancer epidemiology, and the initiation of clinical trials in epigenetic therapy. This is an example of interprogrammatic translational research.

Publications