DNA Methylation in Health and Disease

Dear colleagues,

Epigenetic processes determine how cells acquire, maintain, and read memories of past events. Such epigenetic information is maintained at the level of chromatin, where it can influence cellular responses long after memory has been imprinted. DNA methylation represents one of the most well-known and stable epigenetic modifications, with patterns of DNA methylation being faithfully copied through cell divisions. However, during most physiological and pathological processes of adaptation, active changes to the DNA methylation landscape occur, and major efforts are made to document them and understand how they can predict or underlie future responses.

Recent methodological developments for single cell analyses and thedeconvolution of tissue-level DNA methylation patterns now enable us to characterize these changes at an unprecedented resolution and with unsurpassed accuracy. This Special Issue will highlight advances made in this field by summarizing the roles of DNA methylation in both health and diseases as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, by reviewing where they are situated in the genome and how methylation changes come about, and by describing how stable changes can mechanistically impact future cellular and organismal processes.

Prof. Dr. Bernard Thienpont
Dr. Giovanni Amabile
Guest Editor

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