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Updated: Jan 3, 2026
Optimized Analysis of DNA Methylation and Gene Expression from Small, Anatomically-defined Areas of the Brain
Published on: July 12, 2012
Epigenetic studies and pediatric research
1Departments of Pediatrics and Microbiology-Immunology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA. bellantj@georgetown.edu.
Insights
Epigenetics, involving DNA methylation and microRNA, influences pediatric diseases from fetal development to later life. Early interventions targeting epigenetic programming may prevent immune-related disorders like allergies, autoimmune conditions, and cancer.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Research
- Epigenetics
- Immunology
Background:
- Epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and microRNA regulation, play a crucial role in pediatric health.
- These mechanisms mediate the interaction between environmental factors, genetic susceptibility, and immune system development in children.
- Understanding epigenetics is vital for addressing a range of pediatric diseases from bench to bedside.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the impact of epigenetic mechanisms on pediatric diseases.
- To explore the role of epigenetics in fetal development, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, allergic and autoimmune diseases, and cancer.
- To highlight the potential for epigenetic interventions in preventing and managing pediatric diseases.
Main Methods:
- Review of current literature on epigenetic mechanisms and their role in pediatric health.
- Analysis of the impact of epigenetics on various disease entities affecting infants and children.
- Focus on the interplay between epigenetics, immune responses, and disease development.
Main Results:
- Epigenetic modifications are critical during fetal and early development, with lasting effects on health.
- Aberrant epigenetic programming is linked to cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, allergic and autoimmune diseases, and cancer.
- Dysfunctional immune responses in many pediatric disorders are increasingly recognized as epigenetically driven.
Conclusions:
- Epigenetics is a key factor in pediatric disease development and progression.
- Interventive epigenetic measures offer potential for disease prevention by altering DNA programming.
- Targeting epigenetic mechanisms holds promise for improving outcomes in a wide spectrum of pediatric conditions.
Abstract:
The 2020 Annual Review Issue, "Preventing Disease in the 21st Century" was selected by the Editors-in-Chief of Pediatric Research to include a variety of disease entities that confront health-care practitioners entrusted to the care of infants and children. In keeping with this mandate, this article reviews the subject of epigenetics, which impacts pediatric research from bench to bedside. Epigenetic mechanisms exert their effects through the interaction of environment, various susceptibility genes, and immunologic development and include: (1) DNA methylation; (2) posttranslational modifications of histone proteins through acetylation and methylation, and (3) RNA-mediated gene silencing by microRNA (miRNA) regulation. The effects of epigenetics during fetal life and early periods of development are first reviewed together with clinical applications of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders in later life. The relationships of epigenetics to the allergic and autoimmune diseases and cancer are next reviewed. A specific focus of the article is directed to the recent recognition that many of these disorders are driven by aberrant immune responses in which immunoregulatory events are often poorly functioning and where through interventive epigenetic measures prevention may be possible by alterations in programming of DNA during fetal and early periods as well as in later life.
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