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REVIEW article

Front. Microbiol.

Sec. Virology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1602497

This article is part of the Research TopicEpigenetic/Epigenomic Rewiring in Cancers Caused by VirusesView all 5 articles

THE ROLE OF PIONEERING TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS, CHROMATIN ACCESSIBILITY AND EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING IN ONCOGENIC VIRUSES

Provisionally accepted
Mankgopo KgatleMankgopo Kgatle1,2*Saidon MbambaraSaidon Mbambara1,2Leon KhozaLeon Khoza1,2Olalekan FadebiOlalekan Fadebi1,2Tivani Mashamba-ThompsonTivani Mashamba-Thompson2Mike SathekgeMike Sathekge1,2
  • 1Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure, Pretoria, South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
  • 2University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

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Oncogenic viruses typically manipulate host cellular mechanisms to drive tumorigenesis. They exploit pioneering transcription factors to modify gene expression, enabling uncontrolled proliferation. These viruses alter chromatin accessibility and induce chromatin remodelling, disrupting DNA repair and promoting viral genome integration. Additionally, epigenetic reprogramming through mechanisms like DNA methylation and histone modifications silences tumor suppressor genes and activates oncogenes. Understanding these mechanisms is critical for identifying more improved therapeutic targets, improving diagnostics, and predicting disease progression. Advances in this field can guide the development of innovative treatments and early detection tools. This comprehensive review synthesizes existing knowledge on the contributions of oncogenic viruses such as hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human papillomavirus (HPV), and human T-cell leukaemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), and Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) to cancer development, highlighting their therapeutic relevance and driving forward research in viral oncogenesis.

Keywords: chromatin accessibility, DNA Methylation, ebv, epigenetics, Epigenetics reprogramming, HBV, HCV, HPV

Received: 29 Mar 2025; Accepted: 26 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Kgatle, Mbambara, Khoza, Fadebi, Mashamba-Thompson and Sathekge. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Mankgopo Kgatle, Nuclear Medicine Research Infrastructure, Pretoria, South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material