Epigenetics and Environmental Health

Overview

Journal Front Med

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2024 May 28

PMID 38806988

Authors

Min Zhang

Ting Hu

Tianyu Ma

Wei Huang

Yan Wang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Epigenetic modifications including DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin remodeling, and RNA modifications complicate gene regulation and heredity and profoundly impact various physiological and pathological processes. In recent years, accumulating evidence indicates that epigenetics is vulnerable to environmental changes and regulates the growth, development, and diseases of individuals by affecting chromatin activity and regulating gene expression. Environmental exposure or induced epigenetic changes can regulate the state of development and lead to developmental disorders, aging, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, cancers, and so on. However, epigenetic modifications are reversible. The use of specific epigenetic inhibitors targeting epigenetic changes in response to environmental exposure is useful in disease therapy. Here, we provide an overview of the role of epigenetics in various diseases. Furthermore, we summarize the mechanism of epigenetic alterations induced by different environmental exposures, the influence of different environmental exposures, and the crosstalk between environmental variation epigenetics, and genes that are implicated in the body's health. However, the interaction of multiple factors and epigenetics in regulating the initiation and progression of various diseases complicates clinical treatments. We discuss some commonly used epigenetic drugs targeting epigenetic modifications and methods to prevent or relieve various diseases regulated by environmental exposure and epigenetics through diet.

Citing Articles

Enhancing Molecular Network-Based Cancer Driver Gene Prediction Using Machine Learning Approaches: Current Challenges and Opportunities.

Zhang H, Lin C, Chen Y, Shen X, Wang R, Chen Y J Cell Mol Med. 2025; 29(1):e70351.

PMID: 39804102 PMC: 11726689. DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.70351.

Clinical Expression of Familial Hypercholesterolemia in Patients from France and French Canada Carrying Identical-by-Descent Pathogenic Gene Variants: A Proof-of-Concept Study.

Larouche M, Bluteau O, Carrie A, Lauziere A, Khoury E, Brisson D J Clin Med. 2024; 13(19).

PMID: 39407785 PMC: 11477318. DOI: 10.3390/jcm13195725.

References

Waddington C . The epigenotype. 1942. Int J Epidemiol. 2011; 41(1):10-3. DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyr184. View

Feinberg A . The Key Role of Epigenetics in Human Disease Prevention and Mitigation. N Engl J Med. 2018; 378(14):1323-1334. PMC: 11567374. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1402513. View

Loughland I, Little A, Seebacher F . DNA methyltransferase 3a mediates developmental thermal plasticity. BMC Biol. 2021; 19(1):11. PMC: 7819298. DOI: 10.1186/s12915-020-00942-w. View

Martin E, Fry R . Environmental Influences on the Epigenome: Exposure- Associated DNA Methylation in Human Populations. Annu Rev Public Health. 2018; 39:309-333. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040617-014629. View

Skvortsova K, Iovino N, Bogdanovic O . Functions and mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance in animals. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2018; 19(12):774-790. DOI: 10.1038/s41580-018-0074-2. View

Nishiyama A, Nakanishi M . Navigating the DNA methylation landscape of cancer. Trends Genet. 2021; 37(11):1012-1027. DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2021.05.002. View

Jones P . Functions of DNA methylation: islands, start sites, gene bodies and beyond. Nat Rev Genet. 2012; 13(7):484-92. DOI: 10.1038/nrg3230. View

Skvortsova K, Stirzaker C, Taberlay P . The DNA methylation landscape in cancer. Essays Biochem. 2019; 63(6):797-811. PMC: 6923322. DOI: 10.1042/EBC20190037. View

Fontana L, Tabano S, Maitz S, Colapietro P, Garzia E, Gerli A . Clinical and Molecular Diagnosis of Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome with Single- or Multi-Locus Imprinting Disturbance. Int J Mol Sci. 2021; 22(7). PMC: 8036922. DOI: 10.3390/ijms22073445. View

10.

Wu L, Zhang Y, Ren J . Epigenetic modification in alcohol use disorder and alcoholic cardiomyopathy: From pathophysiology to therapeutic opportunities. Metabolism. 2021; 125:154909. DOI: 10.1016/j.metabol.2021.154909. View

11.

Zhang Z, Lee E, Sudderth J, Yue Y, Zia A, Glass D . Glutathione Depletion, Pentose Phosphate Pathway Activation, and Hemolysis in Erythrocytes Protecting Cancer Cells from Vitamin C-induced Oxidative Stress. J Biol Chem. 2016; 291(44):22861-22867. PMC: 5087709. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.C116.748848. View

12.

Li S, Garrett-Bakelman F, Chung S, Sanders M, Hricik T, Rapaport F . Distinct evolution and dynamics of epigenetic and genetic heterogeneity in acute myeloid leukemia. Nat Med. 2016; 22(7):792-9. PMC: 4938719. DOI: 10.1038/nm.4125. View

13.

Pan H, Jiang Y, Boi M, Tabbo F, Redmond D, Nie K . Epigenomic evolution in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. Nat Commun. 2015; 6:6921. PMC: 4411286. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7921. View

14.

Recillas-Targa F . Cancer Epigenetics: An Overview. Arch Med Res. 2022; 53(8):732-740. DOI: 10.1016/j.arcmed.2022.11.003. View

15.

Tong K, Yoon S, Isaev K, Bakhtiari M, Lackraj T, He M . Combined EZH2 Inhibition and IKAROS Degradation Leads to Enhanced Antitumor Activity in Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2021; 27(19):5401-5414. DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-20-4027. View

16.

Fang Y, Liao G, Yu B . LSD1/KDM1A inhibitors in clinical trials: advances and prospects. J Hematol Oncol. 2019; 12(1):129. PMC: 6894138. DOI: 10.1186/s13045-019-0811-9. View

17.

Bajbouj K, Al-Ali A, Ramakrishnan R, Saber-Ayad M, Hamid Q . Histone Modification in NSCLC: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets. Int J Mol Sci. 2021; 22(21). PMC: 8584007. DOI: 10.3390/ijms222111701. View

18.

Pardo J, Ruiz de Porras V, Gil J, Font A, Puig-Domingo M, Jorda M . Lipid Metabolism and Epigenetics Crosstalk in Prostate Cancer. Nutrients. 2022; 14(4). PMC: 8874497. DOI: 10.3390/nu14040851. View

19.

Nombela P, Miguel-Lopez B, Blanco S . The role of mA, mC and Ψ RNA modifications in cancer: Novel therapeutic opportunities. Mol Cancer. 2021; 20(1):18. PMC: 7812662. DOI: 10.1186/s12943-020-01263-w. View

20.

Barbieri I, Kouzarides T . Role of RNA modifications in cancer. Nat Rev Cancer. 2020; 20(6):303-322. DOI: 10.1038/s41568-020-0253-2. View