Abstract
Neurodegenerative as well as autoimmune diseases have unclear aetiologies, but an increasing number of evidences report for a combination of genetic and epigenetic alterations that predispose for the development of disease. This review examines the major milestones in epigenetics research in the context of diseases and various computational approaches developed in the last decades to unravel new epigenetic modifications. However, there are limited studies that systematically link genetic and epigenetic alterations of DNA to the aetiology of diseases. In this work, we demonstrate how disease-related epigenetic knowledge can be systematically captured and integrated with heterogeneous information into a functional context using Biological Expression Language (BEL). This novel methodology, based on BEL, enables us to integrate epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation or acetylation of histones into a specific disease network. As an example, we depict the integration of epigenetic and genetic factors in a functional context specific to Parkinson's disease (PD) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
Highlights
In the 19th century, Gregor Mendel defined the mechanism of inheritance patterns, which laid the ground for genetics in modern biology
This review examines the major milestones in epigenetics research in the context of diseases and various computational approaches developed in the last decades to unravel new epigenetic modifications
Reviews by Van Dijk et al and Cordero et al investigated different epigenomics patterns in obesity during early and later stage of life [11, 12]. They elucidated the role of dietary supplements and environmental conditions on epigenetic mechanisms during the pregnancy period, which lead to the risk of obesity in offspring
Summary
In the 19th century, Gregor Mendel defined the mechanism of inheritance patterns, which laid the ground for genetics in modern biology. In 1942, Waddington used the term epigenotype as a name for the study of causal mechanisms through which genes exhibit phenotypic effects and their adaptive interaction with the environment [1] These epigenetic causal mechanisms involve histone modifications, DNA methylation, and abnormal RNA regulation, which can alter normal biological processes by heritable silencing of genes, they do not cause any nucleotide sequence changes in chromosomal components [2]. Reviews by Van Dijk et al and Cordero et al investigated different epigenomics patterns in obesity during early and later stage of life [11, 12] They elucidated the role of dietary supplements and environmental conditions on epigenetic mechanisms during the pregnancy period, which lead to the risk of obesity in offspring
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