RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Epigenetic mechanisms and the relationship to childhood asthma
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP 950
OP 961
DO 10.1183/09031936.00019310
VO 36
IS 4
A1 M. Kabesch
A1 S. Michel
A1 J. Tost
YR 2010
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/36/4/950.abstract
AB Epigenetic mechanisms mediate genomic adaption to the environment and epigenetic alterations can contribute to the development of disease phenotypes, as can genetic variants. A variety of molecular mechanisms are involved in epigenetic regulation, including post-transcriptional histone modifications, histone variants, ATP-dependent chromatin remodelling complexes, polycomb/trithorax protein complexes, small and other noncoding RNAs (small interfering RNA and micro RNAs) and DNA methylation. Epigenetic mechanisms have been identified in cancer but very little is known about these effects in complex diseases such as asthma. Epigenetic mechanisms have been found to play a primordial role in T-cell differentiation and novel aspects of asthma and allergy development are now investigated by systematic epigenetic studies. Here we give an introduction to epigenetics, review the existing literature in relation to asthma and asthma-related mechanisms and hypothesise on feasible approaches for the study of epigenetics in asthma in the future.