Using epigenomics to understand cellular responses to environmental influences in diseases

It is a generally accepted model that environmental influences can exert their effects, at least in part, by changing the molecular regulators of transcription that are described as epigenetic. As there is biochemical evidence that some epigenetic regulators of transcription can maintain their state...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS genetics 2023-01, Vol.19 (1), p.e1010567
Main Authors: Wattacheril, Julia J, Raj, Srilakshmi, Knowles, David A, Greally, John M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Biology and life sciences
Cell division
Cellular control mechanisms
Development and progression
DNA methylation
Environmental aspects
Environmental Exposure - adverse effects
Epigenesis, Genetic
Epigenetic inheritance
Epigenetics
Epigenomics
Fatty liver
Gene expression
Genetic aspects
Genetic transcription
Genomes
Genotype & phenotype
Health aspects
Humans
Influence
Liver diseases
Mediation
Mediators
Medical research
Medicine and Health Sciences
Medicine, Experimental
Mutation
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - genetics
Obesity
Phenotype
Phenotypes
Reptiles & amphibians
Review
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Summary:It is a generally accepted model that environmental influences can exert their effects, at least in part, by changing the molecular regulators of transcription that are described as epigenetic. As there is biochemical evidence that some epigenetic regulators of transcription can maintain their states long term and through cell division, an epigenetic model encompasses the idea of maintenance of the effect of an exposure long after it is no longer present. The evidence supporting this model is mostly from the observation of alterations of molecular regulators of transcription following exposures. With the understanding that the interpretation of these associations is more complex than originally recognised, this model may be oversimplistic; therefore, adopting novel perspectives and experimental approaches when examining how environmental exposures are linked to phenotypes may prove worthwhile. In this review, we have chosen to use the example of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a common, complex human disease with strong environmental and genetic influences. We describe how epigenomic approaches combined with emerging functional genetic and single-cell genomic techniques are poised to generate new insights into the pathogenesis of environmentally influenced human disease phenotypes exemplified by NAFLD.
ISSN:1553-7404
1553-7390
1553-7404
DOI:10.1371/journal.pgen.1010567