title: Towards an understanding of the role of DNA methylation in rheumatoid arthritis: therapeutic and diagnostic implications.
abstract: The term 'epigenetics' loosely describes DNA-templated processes leading to heritable changes in gene activity and expression, which are independent of the underlying DNA sequence. Epigenetic mechanisms comprise of post-translational modifications of chromatin, methylation of DNA, nucleosome positioning as well as expression of noncoding RNAs. Major advances in understanding the role of DNA methylation in regulating chromatin functions have been made over the past decade, and point to a role of this epigenetic mechanism in human disease. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder where altered DNA methylation patterns have been identified in a number of different disease-relevant cell types. However, the contribution of DNA methylation changes to RA disease pathogenesis is at present poorly understood and in need of further investigation. Here we review the current knowledge regarding the role of DNA methylation in rheumatoid arthritis and indicate its potential therapeutic implications.
authors.affiliation: Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Oxford, and Botnar Research Centre, NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Unit, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7LD, UK.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cribbs
authors.affiliation: Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Feldmann
authors.affiliation: Botnar Research Centre, NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Unit, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, and Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Oppermann
keywords: DNA methylation; epigenetics; rheumatoid arthritis