Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Division of Molecular Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2018;1065:31-47. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-77932-4_2.
Epigenetic regulation of gene expression is integral to cell differentiation, development, and disease. Modes of epigenetic regulation-including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and ncRNA-based regulation-alter chromatin structure, promotor accessibility, and contribute to posttranscriptional modifications. In the cardiovascular system, epigenetic regulation is necessary for proper cardiovascular development and homeostasis, while epigenetic dysfunction is associated with improper cardiac development and disease.Early sexualization of tissues, including X-inactivation in females and maternal and paternal imprinting, is also orchestrated through epigenetic mechanisms. Furthermore, sex chromosomes encode various sex-specific genes involved in epigenetic regulation, while sex hormones can act as regulatory cofactors that may predispose or protect males and females against developing diseases with a marked sex bias.The following book chapter summarizes the field of epigenetics in the context of cardiovascular development and disease while also highlighting the role of epigenetic regulation as a powerful source of sex differences within the cardiovascular system.
基因表达的表观遗传调控是细胞分化、发育和疾病的重要组成部分。表观遗传调控的模式——包括 DNA 甲基化、组蛋白修饰和 ncRNA 调控——改变染色质结构、启动子可及性，并促进转录后修饰。在心血管系统中，表观遗传调控对于心血管的正常发育和稳态是必要的，而表观遗传功能障碍与心脏发育和疾病的异常有关。组织的早期性分化，包括女性的 X 染色体失活和母系和父系印迹，也是通过表观遗传机制来协调的。此外，性染色体编码各种参与表观遗传调控的性别特异性基因，而性激素可以作为调节因子，可能使男性和女性易患或易患具有明显性别偏倚的疾病。以下章节总结了心血管发育和疾病背景下的表观遗传学领域，同时强调了表观遗传调控作为心血管系统内性别差异的有力来源的作用。
