Table of Contents
What is the role of interferon in gene regulation?
Interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) are a family of transcription factors that regulate many aspects of innate and adaptive immune responses—including driving anti-viral responses, responding to pathogens to drive pro-inflammatory responses and regulating immune cell differentiation (1).
What are the mechanisms of epigenetic regulation?
Epigenetic mechanisms are important regulators of gene expression that establish potentially heritable changes in gene expression without altering the underlying nucleotide sequence. These mechanisms include CpG methylation, chromatin remodeling, and regulatory ncRNAs.
What are the 3 epigenetic mechanisms?
Three classes of epigenetic regulation exist: DNA methylation, histone modification, and noncoding RNA action. In the cardiovascular system, epigenetic regulation affects development, differentiation, and disease propensity or expression.
What is the key to epigenetic regulation?
Epigenetic modifications, such as histone acetylation, occur at the amino terminal tails of the histones that protrude from the nucleosomes. Acetylation of histones is generally acknowledged to play a key role in the regulation of gene expression.
What is an interferon and what does it do?
Listen to pronunciation. (in-ter-FEER-on) A natural substance that helps the body’s immune system fight infection and other diseases, such as cancer. Interferons are made in the body by white blood cells and other cells, but they can also be made in the laboratory to use as treatments for different diseases.
What is the function of interferon alpha?
The main function of the IFN-alpha 1 is to alert the organism in case of viral infection by detection of abnormal double stranded DNA, but also to inhibit virus multiplication by action on the translation in infected cells.
How can epigenetic modifications be reversed?
Nutrients can reverse or change epigenetic phenomena such as DNA methylation and histone modifications, thereby modifying the expression of critical genes associated with physiologic and pathologic processes, including embryonic development, aging, and carcinogenesis.
Which epigenetic modification involves methylation?
A common type of epigenetic modification is called DNA methylation. DNA methylation involves the attachment of small chemical groups called methyl groups (each consisting of one carbon atom and three hydrogen atoms) to DNA building blocks.
Is phosphorylation an epigenetic?
Histone H3 phosphorylation is a highly dynamic chromatin modification that impinges on the epigenetic landscape of eukaryotic cells in several ways, which contributes to the general condensation of chromatin during mitosis.
What is epigenetic methylation?
DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that occurs by the addition of a methyl (CH3) group to DNA, thereby often modifying the function of the genes and affecting gene expression.
How does methylation stop genes?
One of these mechanisms is DNA methylation, where a small chemical residue called a methyl group is added to strategic bases on the DNA. The methyl group prevents the transcription machinery from docking and thereby shuts down gene expression.
How do you check for epigenetic changes?
One of the most useful techniques to assess genome-wide epigenetic changes is the ChIP on Chip assay that utilizes traditional ChIP protocols combined with microarray analysis [22]. In addition to ChIP, many other assays exist that can be used to assess chromatin structure.
How are interferon responses regulated?
Type I interferon (IFN) responses are regulated by host, pathogen and environmental factors. These factors calibrate the host defences while limiting tissue damage and preventing autoimmunity.
What are interferon stimulated genes and where are they found?
They are found in different protein and nucleoprotein complexes that have roles in diverse cellular responses, including transcription, mitosis, development, apoptosis and DNA damage responses. A pattern of increased expression of interferon- stimulated genes (ISGs) in tissue samples or stimulated cells.
What is the type I interferon signalling pathway?
Figure 2: The canonical type I interferon signalling pathway. Figure 3: Type I interferon signalling is regulated by heterologous pathways. Figure 4: Type I interferon induction of interferon-stimulated genes involves chromatin remodelling and recruitment of various transcriptional activators.
Why is interferon stimulated gene transcription suppressed in unstimulated cells?
In unstimulated cells, interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) transcription is suppressed by repressive transcription factors such as forkhead box protein O3 (FOXO3), high nucleosome occupancy due to low GC nucleotide content and repressive complexes bound to methylated histones.