Chromatin Readers In Health And Disease

Chromatin Readers in Health and Disease, Volume 35, a new release in the Translational Epigenetics series, gathers and makes actionable our current understanding of how chromatin readers regulate access to genetic information, and how their aberrant regulation can contribute to human pathologies. Chromatin readers discussed include 14-3-3 Dinshaw, ADD, Ankyrin, BAH, BET, BIR, BRCT, bromodomains and Kac readers, chromodomains and chromobarrel readers, citrullination readers, macrodomains and poly-ADP-ribose readers, MBT, PHD and double PHD, PWWP, SUMO (H4K12) readers, Tudor and TTD, UDR and ubiquitin, WD40, YEATS (crotonyl reader), MBD, SRA, and Methyl-RNA readers.In the book, more than a dozen leaders in the field examine a range of protein readers, their relationship to human disease, and the early therapeutics that act as chromatin signaling factors to treat cancers and Huntington's disease, among other disorders. Enables researchers and clinicians to understand chromatin signaling mechanisms that regulate gene expression through chromatin readers Highlights the role of chromatin readers in a variety of human pathologies, as well as early therapeutics that act on chromatin signaling Includes chapter contributions from international leaders in the field

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Epigenetic modifications underlie all aspects of human physiology, including stem cell renewal, formation of cell types and tissues. They also underlie environmental impacts on human health, including aging and diseases like cancer. Consequently, cracking the epigenetic "code" is considered a key challenge in biomedical research. Chromatin structure and function are modified by protein complexes, causing genes to be turned “on” or “off” and controlling other aspects of DNA function. Yet while there has been explosive growth in the epigenetics field, human chromatin-modifying machines have only recently started to be characterized. To meet this challenge, our book explores complementary experimental tracks, pursued by expert international research groups, aimed at the physical and functional characterization of the diverse repertoire of chromatin protein machines - namely, the "readers, writers and erasers" of epigenomic marks. These studies include the identification of RNA molecules and drugs that interact selectively with components of the chromatin machinery. What makes this book distinctive is its emphasis on the systematic exploration of chromatin protein complexes in the context of human development and disease networks.

There are now compelling human epidemiological and animal experimental data that indicate the risk of developing adult-onset complex diseases and neurological disorders are influenced by persistent epigenetic adaptations in response to prenatal and early postnatal exposures to environmental factors. Epigenetics refers to heritable changes in gene function that occur without a change in the sequence of the DNA. The main components of the epigenetic code are DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNAs. The epigenetic programs are established as stem cell differentiate during embryogenesis, and they are normally faithfully reproduced during mitosis. Moreover, they can also be maintained during meiosis, resulting in epigenetic transgenerational disease inheritance, and also potentially introducing phenotypic variation that is selected for in the evolution of new species. The objective of this book is to provide evidence that environmental exposures during early development can alter the risk of developing medical conditions, such as asthma, autism, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and schizophrenia later in life by modifying the epigenome.

Chromatin Signaling and Diseases covers the molecular mechanisms that regulate gene expression, which govern everything from embryonic development, growth, and human pathologies associated with aging, such as cancer. This book helps researchers learn about or keep up with the quickly expanding field of chromatin signaling. After reading this book, clinicians will be more capable of explaining the mechanisms of gene expression regulation to their patients to reassure them about new drug developments that target chromatin signaling mechanisms. For example, several epigenetic drugs that act on chromatin signaling factors are in clinical trials or even approved for usage in cancer treatments, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's diseases. Other epigenetic drugs are in development to regulate various class of chromatin signaling factors. To keep up with this changing landscape, clinicians and doctors will need to stay familiar with genetic advances that translate to clinical practice, such as chromatin signaling. Although sequencing of the human genome was completed over a decade ago and its structure investigated for nearly half a century, molecular mechanisms that regulate gene expression remain largely misunderstood. An emerging concept called chromatin signaling proposes that small protein domains recognize chemical modifications on the genome scaffolding histone proteins, facilitating the nucleation of enzymatic complexes at specific loci that then open up or shut down the access to genetic information, thereby regulating gene expression. The addition and removal of chemical modifications on histones, as well as the proteins that specifically recognize these, is reviewed in Chromatin Signaling and Diseases. Finally, the impact of gene expression defects associated with malfunctioning chromatin signaling is also explored.

Transcriptional Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Volume 335, the latest release in the International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology reviews and details current advances in cell and molecular biology. The IRCMB series has a worldwide readership, maintaining a high standard by publishing invited articles on important and timely topics that are authored by prominent cell and molecular biologists. The articles published in IRCMB have a high impact and an average cited half-life of nine years. This great resource ranks high amongst scientific journals dealing with cell biology. Publishes only invited review articles on selected topics Authored by established and active cell and molecular biologists drawn from international sources Offers a wide range of perspectives on specific subjects

The term epigenetics describes regulatory and information storing mechanisms of specific genes that do not involve any change of their DNA sequence. Epigenetics is closely related to the extensively folded state, in which the genome is packaged, known as chromatin. New genomic tools nowadays allow the genome-wide assessment of, for example, chromatin states and DNA modifications, and led to the discovery of unexpected new epigenetic principles, such as epigenomic memory. This was the start of the field of epigenomics, the relation of which to human health and disease is discussed in this textbook. This book aims to summarize, in a condensed form, the role of epigenomics in defining chromatin states that are representative of active genes (euchromatin) and repressed genes (heterochromatin). Moreover, this book discusses the principles of gene regulation, chromatin stability, genomic imprinting and the reversibility of DNA methylation and histone modifications. This information should enable a better understanding of cell type identities and will provide new directions for studies of, for example, cellular reprograming, the response of chromatin to environmental signals and epigenetic therapies that can improve or restore human health. In order to facilitate the latter, we favor a high figure-to-text ratio following the rule “a picture tells more than thousand words”. The content of the book is based on the lecture course “Molecular Medicine and Genetics” that is given by one of us (C. Carlberg) in different forms since 2002 at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. Thematically, this book is located between our textbooks “Mechanisms of Gene Regulation” (ISBN 978-94-017-7741-4) and “Nutrigenomics” (ISBN 978-3-319-30415-1), studying of which may also be interesting to our readers. The book is sub-divided into three sections and 13 chapters. Following the Introduction (section A), section B will explain the molecular basis of epigenomics, while section C will provide examples for the impact of epigenomics in human health and disease. The lecture course is primarily designed for Master level students of biomedicine, but is also frequented by PhD students as well as by students of other bioscience disciplines. Besides its value as a textbook, Human Epigenomics will be a useful reference for individuals working in biomedicine.

The term epigenetics describes regulatory and information storing mechanisms of specific genes that do not involve any change of their DNA sequence. Epigenetics is closely related to the extensively folded state, in which the genome is packaged, known as chromatin. New genomic tools nowadays allow the genome-wide assessment of, for example, chromatin states and DNA modifications, and led to the discovery of unexpected new epigenetic principles, such as epigenomic memory. This was the start of the field of epigenomics, the relation of which to human health and disease is discussed in this textbook. This book aims to summarize, in a condensed form, the role of epigenomics in defining chromatin states that are representative of active genes (euchromatin) and repressed genes (heterochromatin). Moreover, this book discusses the principles of gene regulation, chromatin stability, genomic imprinting and the reversibility of DNA methylation and histone modifications. This information should enable a better understanding of cell type identities and will provide new directions for studies of, for example, cellular reprograming, the response of chromatin to environmental signals and epigenetic therapies that can improve or restore human health. In order to facilitate the latter, we favor a high figure-to-text ratio following the rule “a picture tells more than thousand words”. The content of the book is based on the lecture course “Molecular Medicine and Genetics” that is given by one of us (C. Carlberg) in different forms since 2002 at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. Thematically, this book is located between our textbooks “Mechanisms of Gene Regulation” (ISBN 978-94-017-7741-4) and “Nutrigenomics” (ISBN 978-3-319-30415-1), studying of which may also be interesting to our readers. The book is sub-divided into three sections and 13 chapters. Following the Introduction (section A), section B will explain the molecular basis of epigenomics, while section C will provide examples for the impact of epigenomics in human health and disease. The lecture course is primarily designed for Master level students of biomedicine, but is also frequented by PhD students as well as by students of other bioscience disciplines. Besides its value as a textbook, Human Epigenomics will be a useful reference for individuals working in biomedicine.

This open access textbook leads the reader from basic concepts of chromatin structure and function and RNA mechanisms to the understanding of epigenetics, imprinting, regeneration and reprogramming. The textbook treats epigenetic phenomena in animals, as well as plants. Written by four internationally known experts and senior lecturers in this field, it provides a valuable tool for Master- and PhD- students who need to comprehend the principles of epigenetics, or wish to gain a deeper knowledge in this field. After reading this book, the student will: Have an understanding of the basic toolbox of epigenetic regulation Know how genetic and epigenetic information layers are interconnected Be able to explain complex epigenetic phenomena by understanding the structures and principles of the underlying molecular mechanisms Understand how misregulated epigenetic mechanisms can lead to disease