Making Sense of Epigenetics.
The gene-environment interactions that underlie development and progression of psychiatric illness are poorly understood. Despite a century of progress, genetic approaches have failed to identify new treatment modalities, perhaps because of the heterogeneity of the disorders and lack of understanding of mechanisms. Recent exploration into epigenetic mechanisms in health and disease has uncovered changes in DNA methylation and chromatin structure that may contribute to psychiatric disorders. Epigenetic changes suggest a variety of new therapeutic options due to their reversible chemistry. However, distinguishing causal links between epigenetic changes and disease from changes consequent to life experience has remained problematic. Here we define epigenetics and explore aspects of epigenetics relevant to causes and mechanisms of psychiatric disease, and speculate on future directions.
Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Office of the Clinical Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland (Drs Schuebel, Gitik, and Goldman); Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany (Dr Domschke).
Kornel
K
Schuebel
Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Office of the Clinical Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland (Drs Schuebel, Gitik, and Goldman); Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany (Dr Domschke).
Miri
M
Gitik
Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Office of the Clinical Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland (Drs Schuebel, Gitik, and Goldman); Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany (Dr Domschke).
Katharina
K
Domschke
Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Office of the Clinical Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland (Drs Schuebel, Gitik, and Goldman); Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany (Dr Domschke). david.goldman@nih.gov.
David
D
Goldman
D000818:Animals; D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D040941:Heredity; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D010375:Pedigree; D010641:Phenotype; D012307:Risk Factors
DNA methylation; chromatin; epigenetics; neuropsychiatric disorders