About this Research Topic
For many years, cancer has been at the forefront of molecular and genomic studies facilitated by the relative ease of access to patient tumor tissues, the ability to culture cancer cells in vitro, and the vast availability of established cancer cell lines. Technological advances in gene analysis, the increased availability of mouse models of neurological diseases, and state-of-the-art neuronal culture techniques such as brain organoids, have allowed for the expansion of molecular and genomic studies to neuronal cells. While similar basic biological principles often apply in epithelial and neuronal differentiation and function, understanding cell-type specific context, cell-specific signaling pathways, epigenetic modifications, developmental timing, and the susceptibility to environmental factors will be required to help us explain why neurodevelopmental disorders and cancer can arise from mutations in the same risk genes or even the same mutation within a single gene.
We invite the submission of Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, and Perspectives that cover a wide range of basic and translational research focusing on, but not limited to:
• converging/diverging mechanisms in brain and epithelial tissue development and in neuronal and epithelial cell differentiation
• signaling pathways and/or molecules that are affected both in neurodevelopmental disorders and cancer
• systems biology approaches that explore the influence of genomic context, epigenetic modifications, and environment within this context.
Descriptive studies consisting solely of bioinformatic investigation of publicly available genomic/transcriptomic/proteomic data do not fall within the scope of the section unless they are expanded and provide significant biological or mechanistic insight into the process being studied.
Keywords: neurodevelopmental disorders, cancer, neuronal cells, epithelial cells, signaling, epigenetics, cellular differentiation
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.