Department of Pathobiology, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA.
Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2013 Jul;29(4):370-7. doi: 10.1097/MOG.0b013e328360bd12.
Epigenetic studies are transforming our understanding of a variety of complex pathological conditions including cancer, autoimmune, and inflammatory diseases. A selection of the major recent advances in this area will be reviewed, focusing on the important emerging themes that are relevant to these diseases including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
The main current themes that will be addressed on the role of epigenetics in disease pathogenesis include current understanding of the nature and function of histone modifications and DNA methylation; the connection between epigenetics and metabolic pathways; new studies on the mechanism of heritability of epigenetic changes; the role of stochastic noise and the expanding research on chromatin readers and their potential as selective therapeutic targets. The recent contribution of epigenetic modifications in defining the molecular basis of IBD and how such changes may act as fine-tuners of gene expression in these intestinal disorders are also discussed.
Published evidence over the last 12-18 months indicates that targeting epigenetic factors can be efficacious in cancer and inflammatory disease. All the indications are that future research will continue to reveal new epigenetic targets and mechanisms that will advance the prospects for selective epigenetic therapy for IBD and other complex diseases.
表观遗传学研究正在改变我们对多种复杂病理状况的理解，包括癌症、自身免疫和炎症性疾病。本文将回顾该领域的一些主要最新进展，重点关注与这些疾病相关的重要新兴主题，包括炎症性肠病（IBD）。
将讨论表观遗传学在疾病发病机制中的作用的当前主要主题，包括目前对组蛋白修饰和 DNA 甲基化的性质和功能的理解；表观遗传学与代谢途径之间的联系；关于表观遗传变化遗传机制的新研究；随机噪声的作用以及对染色质读码器的研究不断扩大，及其作为选择性治疗靶点的潜力。还讨论了表观遗传修饰在定义 IBD 的分子基础中的最新贡献，以及这些变化如何作为这些肠道疾病中基因表达的微调器。
过去 12-18 个月发表的证据表明，靶向表观遗传因子在癌症和炎症性疾病中是有效的。所有迹象都表明，未来的研究将继续揭示新的表观遗传靶标和机制，这将为 IBD 和其他复杂疾病的选择性表观遗传治疗提供前景。
