Epigenomic contributions to tumor cell heterogeneity and plasticity.

Heterogeneity in brain tumors has been viewed through many lenses—from microscopes and experimental models to ‘omic’ analysis at the tissue and single-cell levels. Two studies now characterize patterns of DNA methylation and gene expression in single cells to reveal epigenomic underpinnings of cellular heterogeneity and plasticity in exquisite detail, including mechanistic insight into cellular transitions between stem-like and differentiated-like states.