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The Role Of Soxe Transcription Factors In Melanoma Initiation, Eva Tulchinsky Kramer

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cutaneous melanoma, a cancer of transformed melanocytes, has the highest mortality rate among skin cancers and remains difficult to treat once metastasized. Melanoma is characterized by high genetic heterogeneity, implicating epigenetic dysfunction as an additional regulator of oncogenesis. Indeed, an increasing number of epigenetic modifiers and modifications have been identified in melanoma linked to faster melanoma onset, and then targeted with therapeutics with success. Thus, identifying and mechanistically characterizing these epigenetic and transcriptional alterations in melanoma will further our understanding of their contributions to oncogenesis and enable more diverse therapeutic options.

To evaluate global epigenetic and transcriptional differences between melanocytes …