Cribbs Adam, Feldmann Marc, Oppermann Udo
Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Oxford, and Botnar Research Centre, NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Unit, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7LD, UK.
Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Oxford, UK.
Ther Adv Musculoskelet Dis. 2015 Oct;7(5):206-19. doi: 10.1177/1759720X15598307.
The term 'epigenetics' loosely describes DNA-templated processes leading to heritable changes in gene activity and expression, which are independent of the underlying DNA sequence. Epigenetic mechanisms comprise of post-translational modifications of chromatin, methylation of DNA, nucleosome positioning as well as expression of noncoding RNAs. Major advances in understanding the role of DNA methylation in regulating chromatin functions have been made over the past decade, and point to a role of this epigenetic mechanism in human disease. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder where altered DNA methylation patterns have been identified in a number of different disease-relevant cell types. However, the contribution of DNA methylation changes to RA disease pathogenesis is at present poorly understood and in need of further investigation. Here we review the current knowledge regarding the role of DNA methylation in rheumatoid arthritis and indicate its potential therapeutic implications.
“表观遗传学”一词大致描述了以DNA为模板的过程，这些过程导致基因活性和表达的可遗传变化，且这些变化独立于潜在的DNA序列。表观遗传机制包括染色质的翻译后修饰、DNA甲基化、核小体定位以及非编码RNA的表达。在过去十年中，人们对DNA甲基化在调节染色质功能中的作用有了重大进展，这表明这种表观遗传机制在人类疾病中发挥作用。类风湿性关节炎（RA）是一种自身免疫性疾病，在许多不同的疾病相关细胞类型中已发现DNA甲基化模式发生改变。然而，目前对DNA甲基化变化在RA疾病发病机制中的作用了解甚少，需要进一步研究。在此，我们综述了目前关于DNA甲基化在类风湿性关节炎中的作用的知识，并指出其潜在的治疗意义。
