Resetting the Epigenetic Code in Lupus Patients
Why does lupus* often occur in one identical twin but not the other even though they share the same DNA? The answer could lie in the epigenome.
The epigenome consists of chemical interactions that surround the DNA helix. Changes to the epigenome can affect gene expression and protein production without changing the DNA sequence itself. Histones, “spools” around which DNA winds in order to compact itself in cell nuclei, are part of the epigenome.
Previously, researchers found that abnormal histone modifications can lead to lupus. Now they’ve also found a way to “reset” part of the “epigenetic code” in mice with a lupus-like condition. Using compounds called HDAC (histone deacetylase) inhibitors, they could reverse histone modifications and reset the histone code.
The genome just keeps getting more complicated all the time. Or rather, we’re realizing more and more that we understand very little of all there is to know.
*Lupus is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disorder that affects the skin, kidneys, joints, lungs, blood and central nervous system
Newswise, November 7, 2005
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POSTED IN: Genetics of Disease
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