Epigenetics
Alters Genes in Rheumatoid Arthritis
July 03,
2012
It’s not
just our DNA that makes us susceptible to disease and influences its impact and
outcome. Scientists are beginning to realize more and more that important changes
in genes that are unrelated to changes in the DNA sequence itself – a field of
study known as epigenetics – are equally influential.
A research
team at the University of California, San Diego – led by Gary S. Firestein, MD,
professor in the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology at UC San
Diego School of Medicine – investigated a mechanism usually implicated in
cancer and in fetal development, called DNA methylation, in the progression of
rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They found that epigenetic changes due to
methylation play a key role in altering genes that could potentially contribute
to inflammation and joint damage. Their
study is currently published in the online edition of the Annals of the
Rheumatic Diseases.
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