Abstract
Epigenetics describes how both lifestyle and environment may affect human health through the modulation of genome functions and without any change to the DNA nucleotide sequence. The discovery of several epigenetic mechanisms and the possibility to deliver epigenetic marks in cells, gametes, and biological fluids has opened up new perspectives in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human diseases. In this respect, the depth of knowledge of epigenetic mechanisms is fundamental to preserving health status and to developing targeted interventions. In this minireview, we summarize the epigenetic modulation of the KISS1 gene in order to provide an example of epigenetic regulation in health and disease.
Highlights
Epigenetics describes how lifestyle and environment modulate genome functions without any change in the DNA nucleotide sequence [1], affecting human health
The discovery of several epigenetic mechanisms (i.e., DNA methylation of CpG islands within gene promoters, chromatin remodeling, production of non-coding RNA) [2,3,4,5,6] and the possibility of delivering epigenetic marks in biological fluids or target cells via exosomes or microvesicles has opened up new perspectives in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human diseases [7,8,9,10,11,12]
The KISS1 gene was discovered in 1996 as a metastasis suppressor gene in malignant melanoma cells [14], and it was later heavily enrolled in the control of reproduction, with functions related to the sexual differentiation of the brain, the release of hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), puberty onset, and the maintenance of reproduction in adults [15,16,17,18]
Summary
Epigenetics describes how lifestyle and environment modulate genome functions without any change in the DNA nucleotide sequence [1], affecting human health. Insights from genome-wide studies demonstrate that the epigenetic signature, such as histone modifications or non-coding RNA, can be passed on to the generation through gametes and can affect gene expression in the offspring [13]. In mammals, such an intergenerational inheritance rarely represents a stable transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, but may affect the epigenome reprogramming in the embryo with consequences on embryogenesis and on the health status of the offspring [13]. Due to the multiple facets of kisspeptin activity in biological systems, in this minireview we summarize the epigenetic modulation of the KISS1 gene in order to provide an example of epigenetic regulation in health and disease
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