Modern approaches for investigating epigenetic signaling pathways

Evertts AG, Zee BM, Garcia BA. Modern approaches for investigating epigenetic signaling pathways. J Appl Physiol 109: 927-933, 2010. First published January 28, 2010; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00007.2010.-Epigenetics is increasingly being recognized as a central component of physiological processes as diverse as obesity and circadian rhythms. Primarily acting through DNA methylation and histone posttranslational modifications, epigenetic pathways enable both short-and long-term transcriptional activation and silencing, independently of the underlying genetic sequence. To more quantitatively study the molecular basis of epigenetic regulation in physiological processes, the present review informs the latest techniques to identify and compare novel DNA methylation marks and combinatorial histone modifications across different experimental conditions, and to localize both DNA methylation and histone modifications over specific genomic regions.