Epigenomic profiling of cancer cells

DNA methylation, post-translational modifications of histones and high order organization of chromatin in cell nuclei are the components of the epigenome. Epigenetic regulation of gene expression is specific for each cell type, within different tissues, according to stages of development and (in the adult organism) of differentiation. Almost invariably, this regulation is altered in disease states, including cancer. The complete understanding of the identity of the epigenome of cancer has been so far hampered, due to the technical limitations and costs of the genome-wide analyses required. The recent development of next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, however, holds the promise of fast, reliable and cost-effective analyses. Here we review the main approaches employed thus far to identify altered epigenetic patterns in cancer cells, and analyse how they are predicted to evolve in the scenario of the ultra high-throughput (UHT) screening