title: Epigenetics and T-cell immunity.
abstract: Epigenetic mechanisms including DNA methylation and histone modifications are critically involved in immune responses. Antigen stimulation along with a specific cytokine milieu drives helper T-cell differentiation into specific subsets with distinct functional capacities. This process occurs by inducing chromatin remodeling and altering transcriptional accessibility of key cytokine genes such as IFN-gamma, IL-4 and IL-17. These epigenetic changes, by definition, are carried over throughout cell division to ensure selective survival of a cell lineage. Over the past decade, a growing body of literature mechanistically uncovered the central role for epigenetic regulation in immunity. In this review, we focus on epigenetics in T helper cell differentiation, regulatory T-cell function, and IL-2 production.
authors.affiliation: US Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA. amr-sawalha@omrf.ouhsc.edu
authors.forename: Amr H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Sawalha
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000276:immunology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*