TY - JOUR
T1 - Epigenetics of oral infection and inflammatory diseases - DNA methylation changes in infections and inflammation diseases
AU - Abiko, Yoshihiro
AU - Uehara, Osamu
AU - Fukumoto, Satoshi
AU - Ohta, Tohru
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a Health Sciences University of Hokkaido Individual Research Grant and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 25463223 ) from the Ministry Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Japanese Association for Oral Biology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Background: Epigenetics involves alterations in gene expression that do not involve modifications in the DNA sequence, the memory of which can be passed down to the next generation in somatic cells. DNA methylation is an example of a mechanism that produces epigenetic changes. The purpose of this review is to summarize recent publications on DNA methylation in oral infections and inflammatory diseases, and to discuss its potential as a cause of disease and as a therapeutic target. Highlight: Several types of oral bacteria and viruses may lead to DNA hypermethylation in oral tissues. Aberrant DNA hypermethylation is observed in oral inflammatory diseases, including chronic period- ontitis, lichen planus, and radicular cysts. Conclusion: Since epigenetic modifications are reversible, aberrant DNA methylation is a possible therapeutic target for such diseases. However, little is known about the epigenetics in oral inflammatory diseases, and further investigation is needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms before epigenetic therapy can be used to treat oral inflammatory diseases.
AB - Background: Epigenetics involves alterations in gene expression that do not involve modifications in the DNA sequence, the memory of which can be passed down to the next generation in somatic cells. DNA methylation is an example of a mechanism that produces epigenetic changes. The purpose of this review is to summarize recent publications on DNA methylation in oral infections and inflammatory diseases, and to discuss its potential as a cause of disease and as a therapeutic target. Highlight: Several types of oral bacteria and viruses may lead to DNA hypermethylation in oral tissues. Aberrant DNA hypermethylation is observed in oral inflammatory diseases, including chronic period- ontitis, lichen planus, and radicular cysts. Conclusion: Since epigenetic modifications are reversible, aberrant DNA methylation is a possible therapeutic target for such diseases. However, little is known about the epigenetics in oral inflammatory diseases, and further investigation is needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms before epigenetic therapy can be used to treat oral inflammatory diseases.
KW - DNA methylation
KW - Epigenetic
KW - Inflammatory disease
KW - Oral infection
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U2 - 10.1016/j.job.2014.06.004
DO - 10.1016/j.job.2014.06.004
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84927911729
SN - 1349-0079
VL - 56
SP - 105
EP - 109
JO - Journal of Oral Biosciences
JF - Journal of Oral Biosciences
IS - 4
ER -