DeVries Avery, Vercelli Donata
Graduate Program in Cellular & Molecular Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Asthma & Airway Disease Research Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Epigenomics. 2017 Apr;9(4):585-593. doi: 10.2217/epi-2016-0149. Epub 2017 Mar 21.
Asthma is a heterogeneous group of conditions that typically begin in early life and result in recurrent, reversible bronchial obstruction. The role played by epigenetic mechanisms in the pathogenesis of childhood asthma is understood only in part. Here we discuss asthma epigenetics within a developmental perspective based on our recent demonstration that the epigenetic trajectory to childhood asthma begins at birth. We next discuss how this trajectory may be affected by prenatal environmental exposures. Finally, we examine in vitro studies that model the impact of asthma-associated exposures on the epigenome. All of these studies specifically surveyed human DNA methylation and involved a genome-wide component. In combination, their results broaden our understanding of asthma pathogenesis and the role the methylome plays in this process.
哮喘是一组异质性疾病，通常始于幼年，导致反复、可逆的支气管阻塞。表观遗传机制在儿童哮喘发病机制中所起的作用仅部分为人所知。在此，我们基于我们最近的研究结果，即儿童哮喘的表观遗传轨迹始于出生，从发育角度讨论哮喘表观遗传学。接下来，我们讨论这种轨迹可能如何受到产前环境暴露的影响。最后，我们研究模拟哮喘相关暴露对表观基因组影响的体外研究。所有这些研究都专门调查了人类DNA甲基化，并涉及全基因组成分。综合起来，它们的结果拓宽了我们对哮喘发病机制以及甲基化组在此过程中所起作用的理解。
