Epigenetic Therapies and Biomarkers
A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2012) | Viewed by 53073
Special Issue Editors
Interests: epigenetics; DNA methylation; histone acetylation; Histone methylation; leukaemia; biomarkers; drug resistance
Interests: chemistry for epigenetic targets; (asymetric) organic synthesis; click chemistry; drug delivery systems; organic functionalization of organic and inorganic materials
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The last 15 years has seen a dramatic increase in our understanding of epigenetics, how epigenetic factors and enzymes regulate gene expression and how this can go awry during the development of disease. Much of this research has focussed on the development of cancer and it is now clear that epigenetic factors are crucial in the development of this disease. This understanding was swiftly followed by a major push to develop novel drugs and to re-examine known drugs for their ability to therapeutically target epigenetic changes. The first epigenetically targeted drugs are already approved for use in patients and many more are currently in clinical trials or pre-clinical development. With our ever increasing understanding of the many genes and pathways required for epigenetic regulation of the human genome the number of potential therapeutic targets for epigenetic therapies continues to rise.
Epigenetic changes also represent a potentially rich source of novel biomarkers, from potential uses in early diagnosis and screening to multiple studies showing links to prognosis or prediction of therapeutic responses. Epigenetic biomarkers are likely to play an important role in the increasing push towards personalised medicine and the rapid advancement in technologies for measuring epigenetic changes should allow increasingly sophisticated combinatorial approaches. Furthermore, there is increasing interest in the role of epigenetic changes as the basis not just for cancer, but for many other common chronic conditions and epigenetic changes associated with these conditions are already being identified. Consequently, it is likely that epigenetic based therapies and biomarkers are going to be of increasing medical importance.
Dr. Gordon Strathdee
Dr. Philippe Bertrand
Guest Editors
Supported Conference
http://epigeneticsymphony.conference.univ-poitiers.fr/
Keywords
- Epigenetic
- DNA methylation
- DNMT
- Histone acetylation
- Histone methylation
- HDAC
- 5-azacytidine
- 5-methylcytosine
- Chromatin
- Biomarker