Whelan Rose, Tönges Sina, Böhl Florian, Lyko Frank
Creavis, Evonik Operations GmbH, Hanau, Germany.
Innovation Management, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.
Front Vet Sci. 2023 Jan 11;9:1107843. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.1107843. eCollection 2022.
Biomarkers for holistic animal welfare monitoring represent a considerable unmet need in veterinary medicine. Epigenetic modifications, like DNA methylation, provide important information about cellular states and environments, which makes them highly attractive for biomarker development. Up until now, much of the corresponding research has been focused on human cancers. However, the increasing availability of animal genomes and epigenomes has greatly improved our capacity for epigenetic biomarker development. In this review, we provide an overview about animal DNA methylation patterns and the technologies that enable the analysis of these patterns. We also describe the key frameworks for compound DNA methylation biomarkers, DNA methylation clocks and environment-specific DNA methylation signatures, that allow complex, context-dependent readouts about animal health and disease. Finally, we provide practical examples for how these biomarkers could be applied for health and environmental exposure monitoring, two key aspects of animal welfare assessments. Taken together, our article provides an overview about the molecular and biological foundations for the development of epigenetic biomarkers in veterinary science and their application potential in animal welfare monitoring.
用于全面动物福利监测的生物标志物是兽医学中一个尚未得到充分满足的重大需求。表观遗传修饰，如DNA甲基化，可提供有关细胞状态和环境的重要信息，这使得它们在生物标志物开发方面极具吸引力。到目前为止，大部分相关研究都集中在人类癌症上。然而，动物基因组和表观基因组的可得性不断提高，极大地提升了我们开发表观遗传生物标志物的能力。在这篇综述中，我们概述了动物DNA甲基化模式以及能够分析这些模式的技术。我们还描述了复合DNA甲基化生物标志物、DNA甲基化时钟和环境特异性DNA甲基化特征的关键框架，这些框架能够提供有关动物健康和疾病的复杂的、依赖于背景的读数。最后，我们给出了这些生物标志物如何应用于健康和环境暴露监测的实际例子，这是动物福利评估的两个关键方面。总之，我们的文章概述了兽医学中表观遗传生物标志物开发的分子和生物学基础及其在动物福利监测中的应用潜力。
