Journal of neurotrauma
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Journal of neurotrauma · Aug 2017
ReviewDNA methylation: Basic biology and application to traumatic brain injury.
This article reviews the literature pertinent to epigenetic changes, and in particular, DNA methylation following traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI is a heterogeneous disease that is a major cause of death and long-term disability. The links between TBI and epigenetics, the process by which environmental factors alter gene expression without changing the underlying DNA sequence, is an expanding area of research that may have profound consequences for understanding the disease, and for clinical care. ⋯ Here, we briefly describe the interaction of DNA methylation with the two other key epigenetic changes, and highlight key work being performed to understand the functional relevance of those mechanisms. The field of epigenetics is rapidly advancing as a result of the advent of less invasive and more versatile methods for measuring epigenetic proteins and their functional impact on cells; however, the evidence specific to TBI is limited. This review identifies several important outstanding questions that remain from the work already conducted, and highlights directions for the future.