Biomaterial Database

Toward an integrated genetic and epigenetic approach to Alzheimer's disease. 2011

Jonathan Mill

Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, London, UK.

Epigenetics is the study of mitotically heritable, but reversible, changes in gene expression brought about principally through alterations in DNA methylation and chromatin structure. The comprehensive review by Mastroeni et al. (Mastroeni, D., Grover, A., Delvaux, E., Whiteside, C., Coleman, P., Rogers, J., 2010. Epigenetic mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiol. Aging, doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2010.08.017) in this issue describes mounting evidence for an involvement of epigenetic alterations in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), highlighting the potential of epigenomic approaches for uncovering novel molecular pathways involved in pathology. Here, we briefly describe some methodological issues related to epigenomic studies using postmortem brain tissue in Alzheimer's disease, and argue for an integrated genetic-epigenetic approach to disease etiology.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000375	Aging	The gradual irreversible changes in structure and function of an organism that occur as a result of the passage of time.	Senescence,Aging, Biological,Biological Aging
D000544	Alzheimer Disease	A degenerative disease of the BRAIN characterized by the insidious onset of DEMENTIA. Impairment of MEMORY, judgment, attention span, and problem solving skills are followed by severe APRAXIAS and a global loss of cognitive abilities. The condition primarily occurs after age 60, and is marked pathologically by severe cortical atrophy and the triad of SENILE PLAQUES; NEUROFIBRILLARY TANGLES; and NEUROPIL THREADS. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, pp1049-57)	Acute Confusional Senile Dementia,Alzheimer's Diseases,Dementia, Alzheimer Type,Dementia, Senile,Presenile Alzheimer Dementia,Senile Dementia, Alzheimer Type,Alzheimer Dementia,Alzheimer Disease, Early Onset,Alzheimer Disease, Late Onset,Alzheimer Sclerosis,Alzheimer Syndrome,Alzheimer Type Senile Dementia,Alzheimer's Disease,Alzheimer's Disease, Focal Onset,Alzheimer-Type Dementia (ATD),Dementia, Presenile,Dementia, Primary Senile Degenerative,Early Onset Alzheimer Disease,Familial Alzheimer Disease (FAD),Focal Onset Alzheimer's Disease,Late Onset Alzheimer Disease,Primary Senile Degenerative Dementia,Senile Dementia, Acute Confusional,Alzheimer Dementias,Alzheimer Disease, Familial (FAD),Alzheimer Diseases,Alzheimer Type Dementia,Alzheimer Type Dementia (ATD),Alzheimers Diseases,Dementia, Alzheimer,Dementia, Alzheimer-Type (ATD),Familial Alzheimer Diseases (FAD),Presenile Dementia,Sclerosis, Alzheimer,Senile Dementia
D044127	Epigenesis, Genetic	A genetic process by which the adult organism is realized via mechanisms that lead to the restriction in the possible fates of cells, eventually leading to their differentiated state. Mechanisms involved cause heritable changes to cells without changes to DNA sequence such as DNA METHYLATION; HISTONE modification; DNA REPLICATION TIMING; NUCLEOSOME positioning; and heterochromatization which result in selective gene expression or repression.	Epigenetic Processes,Epigenetic Process,Epigenetics Processes,Genetic Epigenesis,Process, Epigenetic,Processes, Epigenetic,Processes, Epigenetics
D020022	Genetic Predisposition to Disease	A latent susceptibility to disease at the genetic level, which may be activated under certain conditions.	Genetic Predisposition,Genetic Susceptibility,Predisposition, Genetic,Susceptibility, Genetic,Genetic Predispositions,Genetic Susceptibilities,Predispositions, Genetic,Susceptibilities, Genetic