Histone methylation and vascular biology

Xiang Wei1,2,3,4, Xin Yi5, Xue-Hai Zhu1,2,3,4

  • 1Division of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Ave, Wuhan, 430030, China.

Clinical Epigenetics
|February 20, 2020
PubMed

The vasculature not only transports oxygenated blood, metabolites, and waste products but also serves as a conduit for hormonal communication between distant tissues. Therefore, it is important to maintain homeostasis within the vasculature. Recent studies have greatly expanded our understanding of the regulation of vasculature development and vascular-related diseases at the epigenetic level, including by protein posttranslational modifications, DNA methylation, and noncoding RNAs. Integrating epigenetic mechanisms into the pathophysiologic conceptualization of complex and multifactorial vascular-related diseases may provide promising therapeutic approaches. Several reviews have presented detailed discussions of epigenetic mechanisms not including histone methylation in vascular biology. In this review, we primarily discuss histone methylation in vascular development and maturity, and in vascular diseases.

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