title: Using epigenetic mechanisms to understand the impact of common disease causing alleles.
abstract: Many common genetic variants have been identified to be associated with autoimmune diseases such as Type I diabetes. Methods to identify these genetic loci have become powerful, but deciphering the functional effects of these variants in disease progression remains a major challenge. Recent studies have shown that single nucleotide polymorphisms are associated with altered DNA methylation and chromatin accessibility, suggesting that genetic variants can alter epigenetic features and epigenetic variations can mediate genetic variability. In this review, we highlight recent studies that have examined the relationship between genetics and epigenetics, and how epigenetic studies may complement genetic studies in understanding the impact of common disease causing alleles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diabetes, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, United States.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Dustin E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Schones
authors.forename: Rama
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Natarajan
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D002843:Chromatin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin