PathsToDormancy: Identifying dormancy pathways for selective targeting

The survival and propagation of species fundamentally depend on the precise regulation of cellular growth and dormancy. This balance is crucial across various biological processes including reproduction, regeneration, and repair, where mechanisms such as embryonic diapause allow organisms to endure adverse conditions by temporarily halting development. During this dormant state, embryonic cells undergo significant rewiring of their transcriptional, epigenetic, and metabolic pathways, preserving their stem cell characteristics and enabling reactivation under more favorable conditions. Despite its essential role, dormancy presents challenges in cancer treatment. Cancer cells exploit conserved dormancy pathways to evade therapies, resulting in drug-tolerant persister (DTP) cells that can survive treatment, potentially leading to relapse with more aggressive and metastatic tumors. This phenomenon undermines efforts to combat cancer, as detecting and targeting dormant cancer cells remains a significant obstacle. Here we will leverage our in vitro dormancy culture systems identify regulators of cancer dormancy with embryonic origin.