Epigenetic Markers in Human Diseases | Biomedgrid llc

The human genome project (HGP) provided important information about structure, organization and predicted function of 2.85 billion nucleotides in the DNA sequence, which is the foundation for biomedical research, genetic diagnosis and evolutionary genomics [1]. However, the genetic basis of complex disorders as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer, schizophrenia, autoimmune diseases and cancer, remains unclear. The multifactorial nature of these diseases involves an intricate gene network and environmental influences that reprogram the genome and hinders the knowledge of the mechanisms involved in its pathophysiology. The environment affects the epigenetic mechanisms that control gene function, without changing the DNA sequence, leading to altered gene expression and disruption of many biological processes. Unlike the genome, the epigenome can be reprogramed and have great plasticity. Epigenetic reprogramming is the main event during cell differentiation, conferring structural and functional differences of a given cell type (phenotype) that is mitotically inheritable ensuring a tissue-specific gene expression.