Pathway landscape and regulatory networks of epigenetic regulation in breast cancer and melanoma. Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling

Background Epigenetic variation is a main regulation mechanism of gene expression in various cancer histotypes, and due to its reversibility, the potential impact in therapy can be very relevant. Methods Based on a selected pair, breast cancer (BC) and melanoma, we conducted inference analysis in parallel on a few cell lines (MCF-7 for BC and A375 for melanoma). Starting from differential expression after treatment with a demethylating agent, the 5-Aza-2'- deoxycytidine (DAC), we provided pathway enrichment analysis and gene regulatory maps with cross-linked microRNAs and transcription factors. Results Several oncogenic signaling pathways altered upon DAC treatment were detected with significant enrichment. We represented the association between these cancers by depicting the landscape of common and specific variation affecting them.