卤虫（Artemia）能够释放出胚胎，这些胚胎可以保持休眠状态长达十年。目前认识到控制Artemia胚胎休眠的分子和细胞水平控制因素正在被运用或被认可为癌症休眠（静止）的活跃控制器。特别是，SET domain-containing protein 4（SETD4）通过表观遗传调控的方式，被揭示为高度保守的、从Artemia胚胎细胞到癌症干细胞（CSCs）维持细胞休眠的主要控制因素。相反，DEK最近已经被确认为控制休眠解除/重激活的主要因素。 DEK已经成功应用于恢复静止CSCs，抵抗疗法，导致乳腺癌小鼠模型中没有复发或转移的破坏。在这篇综述中，我们介绍了从Artemia生态学中转化为癌症生物学的许多休眠机制，并预示了Artemia到达模型生物阶段。我们展示了Artemia研究如何解锁细胞休眠的维持和终止机制。然后我们讨论了SETD4和DEK的对抗性平衡如何基础性地控制染色质结构，从而控制了CSCs功能、化疗/放疗抗性和癌症中的休眠。还注意到了从转录因子到小RNA、tRNA运输、分子伴侣、离子通道和各种信号通路和方面的联系，所有这些都将Artemia的研究与分子或细胞水平的癌症研究联系起来。我们特别强调，新出现的因素，如SETD4和DEK的应用，可能为各种人类癌症的治疗开辟新的明确途径。版权所有©2023 Elsevier Inc.

The brine shrimp (Artemia), releases embryos that can remain dormant for up to a decade. Molecular and cellular level controlling factors of dormancy in Artemia are now being recognized or applied as active controllers of dormancy (quiescence) in cancers. Most notably, the epigenetic regulation by SET domain-containing protein 4 (SETD4), is revealed as highly conserved and the primary control factor governing the maintenance of cellular dormancy from Artemia embryonic cells to cancer stem cells (CSCs). Conversely, DEK, has recently emerged as the primary factor in the control of dormancy exit/reactivation, in both cases. The latter has been now successfully applied to the reactivation of quiescent CSCs, negating their resistance to therapy and leading to their subsequent destruction in mouse models of breast cancer, without recurrence or metastasis potential. In this review, we introduce the many mechanisms of dormancy from Artemia ecology that have been translated into cancer biology, and herald Artemia's arrival on the model organism stage. We show how Artemia studies have unlocked the mechanisms of the maintenance and termination of cellular dormancy. We then discuss how the antagonistic balance of SETD4 and DEK fundamentally controls chromatin structure and consequently governs CSCs function, chemo/radiotherapy resistance, and dormancy in cancers. Many key stages from transcription factors to small RNAs, tRNA trafficking, molecular chaperones, ion channels, and links with various pathways and aspects of signaling are also noted, all of which link studies in Artemia to those of cancer on a molecular and/or cellular level. We particularly emphasize that the application of such emerging factors as SETD4 and DEK may open new and clear avenues for the treatment for various human cancers.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.