Splicing switch of an epigenetic regulator by RNA helicases promotes tumor-cell invasiveness

Both epigenetic and splicing regulation contribute to tumor progression, but how these contributions are linked is not well understood. A new study reveals a cascade of altered gene-expression events that underlie tumor progression, wherein splicing factors Ddx5 and Ddx17 control the alternative splicing of an epigenetic factor, macroH2A1, leading to transcriptional alterations that switch tumor cells to an invasive phenotype.