Cortés Alfred, Deitsch Kirk W
ISGlobal, Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia 08036, Spain.
ICREA, Barcelona, Catalonia 08010, Spain.
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2017 Jul 5;7(7):a025528. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a025528.
Organisms with identical genome sequences can show substantial differences in their phenotypes owing to epigenetic changes that result in different use of their genes. Epigenetic regulation of gene expression plays a key role in the control of several fundamental processes in the biology of malaria parasites, including antigenic variation and sexual differentiation. Some of the histone modifications and chromatin-modifying enzymes that control the epigenetic states of malaria genes have been characterized, and their functions are beginning to be unraveled. The fundamental principles of epigenetic regulation of gene expression appear to be conserved between malaria parasites and model eukaryotes, but important peculiarities exist. Here, we review the current knowledge of malaria epigenetics and discuss how it can be exploited for the development of new molecular markers and new types of drugs that may contribute to malaria eradication efforts.
具有相同基因组序列的生物体可能由于表观遗传变化而在表型上表现出显著差异，表观遗传变化导致其基因的不同利用方式。基因表达的表观遗传调控在疟原虫生物学的几个基本过程的控制中起着关键作用，包括抗原变异和性别分化。一些控制疟疾基因表观遗传状态的组蛋白修饰和染色质修饰酶已被鉴定，其功能也开始被揭示。基因表达表观遗传调控的基本原理在疟原虫和模式真核生物之间似乎是保守的，但也存在重要的独特之处。在这里，我们综述了当前关于疟疾表观遗传学的知识，并讨论了如何利用它来开发新的分子标记和新型药物，这些可能有助于疟疾根除工作。
