1 225 156 ACUTE STRESS-INDUCED EPIGENETIC MODULATIONS AND THEIR POTENTIAL PROTECTIVE ROLE TOWARD DEPRESSION. PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS ENTAIL MALADAPTIVE PROCESSES IMPAIRING INDIVIDUALS' ABILITY TO APPROPRIATELY INTERFACE WITH ENVIRONMENT. AMONG THEM, DEPRESSION IS CHARACTERIZED BY DIVERSE DEBILITATING SYMPTOMS INCLUDING HOPELESSNESS AND ANHEDONIA, DRAMATICALLY IMPACTING THE PROPENSITY TO LIVE A SOCIAL AND ACTIVE LIFE AND SERIOUSLY AFFECTING WORKING CAPABILITY. RELEVANTLY, BESIDES GENETIC PREDISPOSITION, FOREMOST RISK FACTORS ARE STRESS-RELATED, SUCH AS EXPERIENCING CHRONIC PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS-INCLUDING BULLYING, MOBBING AND ABUSE-, AND UNDERGOING ECONOMIC CRISIS OR CHRONIC ILLNESSES. IN THE LAST FEW YEARS THE FIELD OF EPIGENETICS PROMISED TO UNDERSTAND CORE MECHANISMS OF GENE-ENVIRONMENT CROSSTALK, CONTRIBUTING TO GET INTO PATHOGENIC PROCESSES OF MANY DISORDERS HIGHLY INFLUENCED BY STRESSFUL LIFE CONDITIONS. HOWEVER, STILL VERY LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT MECHANISMS THAT TUNE GENE EXPRESSION TO ADAPT TO THE EXTERNAL MILIEU. IN THIS PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE, WE DISCUSS A SET OF PROTECTIVE, FUNCTIONALLY CONVERGENT EPIGENETIC PROCESSES INDUCED BY ACUTE STRESS IN THE RODENT HIPPOCAMPUS AND DEVOTED TO THE NEGATIVE MODULATION OF STRESS-INDUCED IMMEDIATE EARLY GENES (IEGS) TRANSCRIPTION, HINDERING STRESS-DRIVEN MORPHOSTRUCTURAL MODIFICATIONS OF CORTICOLIMBIC CIRCUITRY. WE ALSO SUGGEST THAT CHRONIC STRESS DAMAGING PROTECTIVE EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS, COULD BIAS THE FUNCTIONAL TRAJECTORY OF STRESS-INDUCED NEURONAL MORPHOSTRUCTURAL MODIFICATION FROM ADAPTIVE TO MALADAPTIVE, CONTRIBUTING TO THE ONSET OF DEPRESSION IN VULNERABLE INDIVIDUALS. A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE EPIGENETIC RESPONSE TO STRESS WILL BE PIVOTAL TO NEW AVENUES OF THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION TO TREAT DEPRESSION, ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF LIMITED EFFICACY OF AVAILABLE ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS. 2018 2 3407 30 HOW WELL DO WE UNDERSTAND THE LONG-TERM HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF CHILDHOOD BULLYING? ONCE DISMISSED AS AN INNOCUOUS EXPERIENCE OF CHILDHOOD, BULLYING IS NOW RECOGNIZED AS HAVING SIGNIFICANT PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS, PARTICULARLY WITH CHRONIC EXPOSURE. VICTIMS OF BULLYING ARE AT RISK FOR A NUMBER OF PSYCHIATRIC DISTURBANCES, AND GROWING EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF BULLYING, AS WITH OTHER FORMS OF TRAUMA AND CHRONIC STRESS, CREATE ADDITIONAL HEALTH RISKS. WE REVIEW THE LITERATURE ON THE KNOWN SEQUELAE OF BULLYING, INCLUDING PSYCHIATRIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL HEALTH EFFECTS, WITH A FOCUS ON IMPLICATIONS FOR THE VICTIM. IN ADDITION, SINCE IT IS NOW WELL ESTABLISHED THAT EARLY AND CHRONIC EXPOSURE TO STRESS HAS A SIGNIFICANT NEGATIVE IMPACT ON HEALTH OUTCOMES, WE EXPLORE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS RESEARCH IN RELATION TO BULLYING AND VICTIMIZATION IN CHILDHOOD. IN PARTICULAR, WE EXAMINE HOW ASPECTS OF THE STRESS RESPONSE, VIA EPIGENETIC, INFLAMMATORY, AND METABOLIC MEDIATORS, HAVE THE CAPACITY TO COMPROMISE MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH, AND TO INCREASE THE RISK OF DISEASE. RESEARCH ON THE RELEVANT MECHANISMS ASSOCIATED WITH BULLYING AND ON POTENTIAL INTERVENTIONS TO DECREASE MORBIDITY IS URGENTLY NEEDED. 2017 3 4342 36 MINIREVIEW: EPIGENETICS OF OBESITY AND DIABETES IN HUMANS. UNDERSTANDING THE DETERMINANTS OF HUMAN HEALTH AND DISEASE IS OVERWHELMINGLY COMPLEX, PARTICULARLY FOR COMMON, LATE-ONSET, CHRONIC DISORDERS, SUCH AS OBESITY AND DIABETES. ELUCIDATING THE GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISRUPTIONS IN ENERGY HOMEOSTASIS AND METABOLIC REGULATION REMAIN A CHALLENGE, AND PROGRESS WILL ENTAIL THE INTEGRATION OF MULTIPLE ASSESSMENTS OF TEMPORALLY DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES IN THE CONTEXT OF EACH INDIVIDUAL'S GENOTYPE. TO MEET THIS CHALLENGE, RESEARCHERS ARE INCREASINGLY EXPLORING THE EPIGENOME, WHICH IS THE MALLEABLE INTERFACE OF GENE-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS. EPIGENETIC VARIATION, WHETHER INNATE OR INDUCED, CONTRIBUTES TO VARIATION IN GENE EXPRESSION, THE RANGE OF POTENTIAL INDIVIDUAL RESPONSES TO INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CUES, AND RISK FOR METABOLIC DISEASE. ULTIMATELY, ADVANCEMENT IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CHRONIC DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY IN HUMANS WILL DEPEND ON REFINEMENT OF EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT TOOLS AND SYSTEMS BIOLOGY APPROACHES TO INTERPRETATION. IN THIS REVIEW, WE PRESENT RECENT PROGRESS IN EPIGENETICS OF HUMAN OBESITY AND DIABETES, EXISTING CHALLENGES, AND THE POTENTIAL FOR NEW APPROACHES TO UNRAVEL THE COMPLEX BIOLOGY OF METABOLIC DYSREGULATION. 2012 4 1411 31 DIETARY NATURAL PRODUCTS AS EPIGENETIC MODIFIERS IN AGING-ASSOCIATED INFLAMMATION AND DISEASE. COVERING: UP TO 2020CHRONIC, LOW-GRADE INFLAMMATION IS LINKED TO AGING AND HAS BEEN TERMED "INFLAMMAGING". INFLAMMAGING IS CONSIDERED A KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF METABOLIC DYSFUNCTION AND A BROAD SPECTRUM OF DISEASES OR DISORDERS INCLUDING DECLINES IN BRAIN AND HEART FUNCTION. GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES (GWAS) COUPLED WITH EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES (EWAS) HAVE SHOWN THE IMPORTANCE OF DIET IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHRONIC AND AGE-RELATED DISEASES. MOREOVER, DIETARY INTERVENTIONS E.G. CALORIC RESTRICTION CAN ATTENUATE INFLAMMATION TO DELAY AND/OR PREVENT THESE DISEASES. COMMON THEMES IN THESE STUDIES ENTAIL THE USE OF PHYTOCHEMICALS (PLANT-DERIVED COMPOUNDS) OR THE PRODUCTION OF SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACIDS (SCFAS) AS EPIGENETIC MODIFIERS OF DNA AND HISTONE PROTEINS. EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS ARE DYNAMICALLY REGULATED AND AS SUCH, SERVE AS POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC TARGETS FOR THE TREATMENT OR PREVENTION OF AGE-RELATED DISEASE. IN THIS REVIEW, WE WILL FOCUS ON THE ROLE FOR NATURAL PRODUCTS THAT INCLUDE PHYTOCHEMICALS AND SHORT CHAIN FATTY ACIDS (SCFAS) AS REGULATORS OF THESE EPIGENETIC ADAPTATIONS. SPECIFICALLY, WE DISCUSS REGULATORS OF METHYLATION, ACETYLATION AND ACYLATION, IN THE PROTECTION FROM CHRONIC INFLAMMATION DRIVEN METABOLIC DYSFUNCTION AND DETERIORATION OF NEUROCOGNITIVE AND CARDIAC FUNCTION. 2020 5 5688 38 SILENCING EFFECTS OF MUTANT RAS SIGNALLING ON TRANSCRIPTOMES. MUTATED GENES OF THE RAS FAMILY ENCODING SMALL GTP-BINDING PROTEINS DRIVE NUMEROUS CANCERS, INCLUDING PANCREATIC, COLON AND LUNG TUMORS. BESIDES THE NUMEROUS EFFECTS OF MUTANT RAS GENE EXPRESSION ON ABERRANT PROLIFERATION, TRANSFORMED PHENOTYPES, METABOLISM, AND THERAPY RESISTANCE, THE MOST STRIKING CONSEQUENCES OF CHRONIC RAS ACTIVATION ARE CHANGES OF THE GENETIC PROGRAM. BY PERFORMING SYSTEMATIC GENE EXPRESSION STUDIES IN CELLULAR MODELS THAT ALLOW COMPARISONS OF PRE-NEOPLASTIC WITH RAS-TRANSFORMED CELLS, WE AND OTHERS HAVE ESTIMATED THAT 7 PERCENT OR MORE OF ALL TRANSCRIPTS ARE ALTERED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE EXPRESSION OF THE ONCOGENE. IN THIS CONTEXT, THE NUMBER OF UP-REGULATED TRANSCRIPTS APPROXIMATES THAT OF DOWN-REGULATED TRANSCRIPTS. WHILE UP-REGULATED TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS SUCH AS MYC, FOSL1, AND HMGA2 HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AND CHARACTERIZED AS RAS-RESPONSIVE DRIVERS OF THE ALTERED TRANSCRIPTOME, THE SUPPRESSED FACTORS HAVE BEEN LESS WELL STUDIED AS POTENTIAL REGULATORS OF THE GENETIC PROGRAM AND TRANSFORMED PHENOTYPE IN THE BREADTH OF THEIR OCCURRENCE. WE THEREFORE HAVE COLLECTED INFORMATION ON DOWNREGULATED RAS-RESPONSIVE FACTORS AND DISCUSS THEIR POTENTIAL ROLE AS TUMOR SUPPRESSORS THAT ARE LIKELY TO ANTAGONIZE ACTIVE CANCER DRIVERS. TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE ACTIVE MECHANISMS THAT ENTAIL ANTI-RAS FUNCTION AND THOSE THAT LEAD TO LOSS OF TUMOR SUPPRESSOR ACTIVITY, WE FOCUS ON THE TUMOR SUPPRESSOR HREV107 (ALIAS PLAAT3 [PHOSPHOLIPASE A AND ACYLTRANSFERASE 3], PLA2G16 [PHOSPHOLIPASE A2, GROUP XVI] AND HRASLS3 [HRAS-LIKE SUPPRESSOR 3]). INACTIVATING HREV107 MUTATIONS IN TUMORS ARE EXTREMELY RARE, HENCE EPIGENETIC CAUSES MODULATED BY THE RAS PATHWAY ARE LIKELY TO LEAD TO DOWN-REGULATION AND LOSS OF FUNCTION. 2023 6 6050 29 THE CONTRIBUTION OF EPIGENETICS IN SJOGREN'S SYNDROME. SJOGREN'S SYNDROME (SS) IS A CHRONIC AUTOIMMUNE EPITHELITIS THAT COMBINES EXOCRINE GLAND DYSFUNCTIONS AND LYMPHOCYTIC INFILTRATIONS. WHILE THE PATHOGENESIS OF SS REMAINS UNCLEAR, ITS ETIOLOGY IS MULTIFUNCTIONAL AND INCLUDES A COMBINATION OF GENETIC PREDISPOSITIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, AND EPIGENETIC FACTORS. RECENTLY, INTEREST HAS GROWN IN THE INVOLVEMENT OF EPIGENETICS IN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES. EPIGENETICS IS DEFINED AS CHANGES IN GENE EXPRESSION, THAT ARE INHERITABLE AND THAT DO NOT ENTAIL CHANGES IN THE DNA SEQUENCE. IN SS, SEVERAL EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS ARE DEFECTIVE INCLUDING DNA DEMETHYLATION THAT PREDOMINATES IN EPITHELIAL CELLS, AN ABNORMAL EXPRESSION OF MICRORNAS, AND ABNORMAL CHROMATIN POSITIONING-ASSOCIATED WITH AUTOANTIBODY PRODUCTION. LAST BUT NOT LEAST, EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS ARE REVERSIBLE AS OBSERVED IN MINOR SALIVARY GLANDS FROM SS PATIENTS AFTER B CELL DEPLETION USING RITUXIMAB. THUS EPIGENETIC FINDINGS IN SS OPEN NEW PERSPECTIVES FOR THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES AS WELL AS THE POSSIBLE IDENTIFICATION OF NEW BIOMARKERS. 2014 7 6626 41 UNDERSTANDING RESILIENCE. RESILIENCE IS THE ABILITY TO ADAPT SUCCESSFULLY IN THE FACE OF STRESS AND ADVERSITY. STRESSFUL LIFE EVENTS, TRAUMA, AND CHRONIC ADVERSITY CAN HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT ON BRAIN FUNCTION AND STRUCTURE, AND CAN RESULT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD), DEPRESSION AND OTHER PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS. HOWEVER, MOST INDIVIDUALS DO NOT DEVELOP SUCH ILLNESSES AFTER EXPERIENCING STRESSFUL LIFE EVENTS, AND ARE THUS THOUGHT TO BE RESILIENT. RESILIENCE AS SUCCESSFUL ADAPTATION RELIES ON EFFECTIVE RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES AND ULTIMATE RESISTANCE TO THE DELETERIOUS EFFECTS OF STRESS, THEREFORE A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE FACTORS THAT PROMOTE SUCH EFFECTS IS OF GREAT RELEVANCE. THIS REVIEW FOCUSES ON RECENT FINDINGS REGARDING GENETIC, EPIGENETIC, DEVELOPMENTAL, PSYCHOSOCIAL, AND NEUROCHEMICAL FACTORS THAT ARE CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL CONTRIBUTORS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESILIENCE. NEURAL CIRCUITS AND PATHWAYS INVOLVED IN MEDIATING RESILIENCE ARE ALSO DISCUSSED. THE GROWING UNDERSTANDING OF RESILIENCE FACTORS WILL HOPEFULLY LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PHARMACOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS FOR ENHANCING RESILIENCE AND MITIGATING THE UNTOWARD CONSEQUENCES. 2013 8 1175 34 CONTRIBUTIONS OF AGE-RELATED THYMIC INVOLUTION TO IMMUNOSENESCENCE AND INFLAMMAGING. IMMUNE SYSTEM AGING IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE PARADOX OF IMMUNOSENESCENCE (INSUFFICIENCY) AND INFLAMMAGING (OVER-REACTION), WHICH INCORPORATE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN, RESULTING IN IMMUNE DISORDER. IMMUNOSENESCENCE REFERS TO DISRUPTION IN THE STRUCTURAL ARCHITECTURE OF IMMUNE ORGANS AND DYSFUNCTION IN IMMUNE RESPONSES, RESULTING FROM BOTH AGED INNATE AND ADAPTIVE IMMUNITY. INFLAMMAGING, DESCRIBED AS A CHRONIC, STERILE, SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATORY CONDITION ASSOCIATED WITH ADVANCED AGE, IS MAINLY ATTRIBUTED TO SOMATIC CELLULAR SENESCENCE-ASSOCIATED SECRETORY PHENOTYPE (SASP) AND AGE-RELATED AUTOIMMUNE PREDISPOSITION. HOWEVER, THE INABILITY TO REDUCE SENESCENT SOMATIC CELLS (SSCS), BECAUSE OF IMMUNOSENESCENCE, EXACERBATES INFLAMMAGING. AGE-RELATED ADAPTIVE IMMUNE SYSTEM DEVIATIONS, PARTICULARLY ALTERED T CELL FUNCTION, ARE DERIVED FROM AGE-RELATED THYMIC ATROPHY OR INVOLUTION, A HALLMARK OF THYMIC AGING. RECENTLY, THERE HAVE BEEN MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN UNDERSTANDING HOW AGE-RELATED THYMIC INVOLUTION CONTRIBUTES TO INFLAMMAGING AND IMMUNOSENESCENCE AT THE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LEVELS, INCLUDING GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC REGULATION, AS WELL AS DEVELOPMENTS OF MANY POTENTIAL REJUVENATION STRATEGIES. HEREIN, WE DISCUSS THE RESEARCH PROGRESS UNCOVERING HOW AGE-RELATED THYMIC INVOLUTION CONTRIBUTES TO IMMUNOSENESCENCE AND INFLAMMAGING, AS WELL AS THEIR INTERSECTION. WE ALSO DESCRIBE HOW T CELL ADAPTIVE IMMUNITY MEDIATES INFLAMMAGING AND PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE PROGRESSION OF AGE-RELATED NEUROLOGICAL AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES, AS WELL AS CANCER. WE THEN BRIEFLY OUTLINE THE UNDERLYING CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF AGE-RELATED THYMIC INVOLUTION, AND FINALLY SUMMARIZE POTENTIAL REJUVENATION STRATEGIES TO RESTORE AGED THYMIC FUNCTION. 2020 9 3700 29 INFLAMMATORY MEMORY AND TISSUE ADAPTATION IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH. OUR BODY HAS A REMARKABLE ABILITY TO REMEMBER ITS PAST ENCOUNTERS WITH ALLERGENS, PATHOGENS, WOUNDS AND IRRITANTS, AND TO REACT MORE QUICKLY TO THE NEXT EXPERIENCE. THIS ACCENTUATED SENSITIVITY ALSO HELPS US TO COPE WITH NEW THREATS. DESPITE MAINTAINING A STATE OF READINESS AND BROADENED RESISTANCE TO SUBSEQUENT PATHOGENS, MEMORIES CAN ALSO BE MALADAPTIVE, LEADING TO CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DISORDERS AND CANCERS. WITH THE EVER-INCREASING EMERGENCE OF NEW PATHOGENS, ALLERGENS AND POLLUTANTS IN OUR WORLD, THE URGENCY TO UNRAVEL THE MOLECULAR UNDERPINNINGS OF THESE PHENOMENA HAS RISEN TO NEW HEIGHTS. HERE WE REFLECT ON HOW THE FIELD OF INFLAMMATORY MEMORY HAS EVOLVED, SINCE 2007, WHEN RESEARCHERS REALIZED THAT NON-SPECIFIC MEMORY IS CONTAINED IN THE NUCLEUS AND PROPAGATED AT THE EPIGENETIC LEVEL. WE REVIEW THE FLURRY OF RECENT DISCOVERIES REVEALING THAT MEMORY IS NOT JUST A PRIVILEGE OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM BUT ALSO EXTENDS TO EPITHELIA OF THE SKIN, LUNG, INTESTINE AND PANCREAS, AND TO NEURONS. ALTHOUGH STILL UNFOLDING, EPIGENETIC MEMORIES OF INFLAMMATION HAVE NOW BEEN LINKED TO POSSIBLE BRAIN DISORDERS SUCH AS ALZHEIMER DISEASE, AND TO AN ELEVATED RISK OF CANCER. IN THIS REVIEW, WE CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES-GOOD AND BAD-OF THESE EPIGENETIC MEMORIES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMAN HEALTH AND DISEASE. 2022 10 5310 31 PSYCHOBIOLOGY AND MOLECULAR GENETICS OF RESILIENCE. EVERY INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES STRESSFUL LIFE EVENTS. IN SOME CASES ACUTE OR CHRONIC STRESS LEADS TO DEPRESSION AND OTHER PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS, BUT MOST PEOPLE ARE RESILIENT TO SUCH EFFECTS. RECENT RESEARCH HAS BEGUN TO IDENTIFY THE ENVIRONMENTAL, GENETIC, EPIGENETIC AND NEURAL MECHANISMS THAT UNDERLIE RESILIENCE, AND HAS SHOWN THAT RESILIENCE IS MEDIATED BY ADAPTIVE CHANGES IN SEVERAL NEURAL CIRCUITS INVOLVING NUMEROUS NEUROTRANSMITTER AND MOLECULAR PATHWAYS. THESE CHANGES SHAPE THE FUNCTIONING OF THE NEURAL CIRCUITS THAT REGULATE REWARD, FEAR, EMOTION REACTIVITY AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, WHICH TOGETHER ARE THOUGHT TO MEDIATE SUCCESSFUL COPING WITH STRESS. 2009 11 6784 22 [CHRONIC STRESS AND EPIGENETICS. RELATION BETWEEN ACADEMIC SCIENCES AND THEOLOGY]. THE AUTHOR GIVES A SHORT ACCOUNT ON THE PRINCIPLES OF SELYE'S STRESS THEORY, AND DISCUSSES SIMILARITIES AND DISSIMILARITIES OF ACUTE AND CHRONIC STRESS. BOTH THE EXTERNAL, AND THE INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT, AS WELL AS THE PSYCHO-MENTAL STATUS ARE INVOLVED IN THE NOTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF EPIGENETICS ARE REVIEWED: INTERACTION BETWEEN ENVIRONMENT AND GENES, NEUROENDOCRINE AND ENZYMATIC MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN SILENCING AND ACTIVATION OF GENES, NOTIONS OF PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY, AND EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING ARE DISCUSSED. EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS OF INTERRELATION BETWEEN PATHOLOGICAL CLINICAL STATES (DISEASES) AND THE CHARACTERISTIC PHENOTYPES, CAUSATIVE ROLE OF PSYCHO-MENTAL STATUS IN EVOKING PATHOLOGICAL SOMATIC ALTERATIONS, AND THE POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC CONSEQUENCES ARE BRIEFLY DISCUSSED. THE ETIOLOGICAL ROLE OF CHRONIC, CIVILIZATION STRESS IN PRODUCING THE WORLDWIDE INCREMENT OF CARDIOVASCULAR MORBIDITY IS CITED, ARGUMENTATION AND CRITICISM OF THE CURRENT THERAPEUTICAL PRACTICE IS DISCUSSED. THE AUTHOR CONCLUDES THAT RECENT ADVANCES IN EPIGENETIC KNOWLEDGE SEEM TO SOLVE THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN THE ACADEMIC AND THEOLOGICAL SCIENCES. 2012 12 4958 21 PATHOGENESIS OF HUMAN SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS: A CELLULAR PERSPECTIVE. SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS (SLE) IS A CHRONIC AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE AFFECTING MULTIPLE ORGANS. A COMPLEX INTERACTION OF GENETICS, ENVIRONMENT, AND HORMONES LEADS TO IMMUNE DYSREGULATION AND BREAKDOWN OF TOLERANCE TO SELF-ANTIGENS, RESULTING IN AUTOANTIBODY PRODUCTION, INFLAMMATION, AND DESTRUCTION OF END-ORGANS. EMERGING EVIDENCE ON THE ROLE OF THESE FACTORS HAS INCREASED OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THIS COMPLEX DISEASE, GUIDING THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES AND IDENTIFYING PUTATIVE BIOMARKERS. RECENT FINDINGS INCLUDE THE CHARACTERIZATION OF GENETIC/EPIGENETIC FACTORS LINKED TO SLE, AS WELL AS CELLULAR EFFECTORS. NOVEL OBSERVATIONS HAVE PROVIDED AN IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF TISSUE-SPECIFIC FACTORS AND ASSOCIATED DAMAGE, T AND B LYMPHOCYTES, AS WELL AS INNATE IMMUNE CELL SUBSETS AND THEIR CORRESPONDING ABNORMALITIES. THE INTRICATE WEB OF INVOLVED FACTORS AND PATHWAYS DICTATES THE ADOPTION OF TAILORED THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES TO CONQUER THIS DISEASE. 2017 13 2515 31 EPIGENETICS AND SJOGREN'S SYNDROME. THERE IS GROWING EVIDENCE THAT EPIGENETICS, THE STUDY OF HERITABLE CHANGES IN GENE EXPRESSION THAT DO NOT INVOLVE MUTATIONS IN THE DNA ITSELF, MAY PLAY AN ESSENTIAL ROLE IN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES (AID). IN SJOGREN'S SYNDROME (SS), A CHRONIC AID CHARACTERIZED BY AN EPITHELIS OF THE EXOCRINE GLANDS, EPIGENETIC STUDIES HAVE FOCUSED ON THREE MECHANISMS: DNA METHYLATION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES INCLUDING HUMAN ENDOGENOUS RETROVIRUS (HERV) EXPRESSION; MICRORNA EXPRESSION; AND PROTEIN POST-TRANSLATIONAL MODIFICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH AUTOANTIBODY PRODUCTION. ALTHOUGH IN ITS INFANCY, COMPREHENSION OF THE EPIGENETIC (DYS)REGULATION IN SS MAY HELP US TO UNDERSTAND: WHY SS AFFECTS PREDOMINANTLY MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN; WHY GENETICALLY PREDISPOSED INDIVIDUALS DEVELOP SS BUT NOT OTHERS; WHY FLARE-UPS OCCUR; WHY TREATMENT RESPONSES DIFFER BETWEEN PATIENTS; AND WHY SOME PATIENTS DEVELOP LYMPHOMA. FROM THESE STUDIES WILL ARISE A BETTER COMPREHENSION OF THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF SS AS WELL AS DEVELOPMENT OF NEW DIAGNOSTIC AND PROGNOSTIC BIOMARKERS, AND NOVEL THERAPEUTICS FOR PREVENTION AND PERHAPS EARLY INTERVENTION. 2012 14 6276 34 THE PATHOGENIC ROLE OF DYSREGULATED EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS IN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES. AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES CAN BE CHRONIC WITH RELAPSE OF INFLAMMATORY SYMPTOMS, BUT IT CAN BE ALSO ACUTE AND LIFE-THREATENING IF IMMUNE CELLS DESTROY LIFE-SUPPORTING ORGANS, SUCH AS LUPUS NEPHRITIS. THE ETIOPATHOGENESIS OF AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES HAS BEEN REVEALED AS THAT GENETICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS-MEDIATED DYSREGULATED IMMUNE RESPONSES CONTRIBUTE TO THE INITIATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOIMMUNE DISORDERS. HOWEVER, THE CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF PATHOGENESIS IS LIMITED AND THE UNDERLYING MECHANISM HAS NOT BEEN WELL DEFINED, WHICH LOWS THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL BIOMARKERS AND NEW THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES FOR AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES. TO IMPROVE THIS, BROADENING AND DEEPENING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF PATHOGENESIS IS AN UNMET NEED. AS GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY CANNOT EXPLAIN THE LOW ACCORDANCE RATE OF INCIDENCE IN HOMOZYGOUS TWINS, EPIGENETIC REGULATIONS MIGHT BE AN ADDITIONAL EXPLANATION. THEREFORE, THIS REVIEW WILL SUMMARIZE CURRENT PROGRESS OF STUDIES ON EPIGENETIC DYSREGULATIONS CONTRIBUTING TO AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES, INCLUDING SLE, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (RA), PSORIASIS, TYPE 1 DIABETES (T1D), AND SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS (SSC), HOPEFULLY PROVIDING OPINIONS ON ORIENTATION OF FUTURE RESEARCH, AS WELL AS DISCUSSING THE CLINICAL UTILIZATION OF POTENTIAL BIOMARKERS AND THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES FOR THESE DISEASES. 2019 15 5719 23 SIRTUINS IN NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES: AN UPDATE ON POTENTIAL MECHANISMS. SILENT INFORMATION REGULATOR 2 PROTEINS (SIRTUINS OR SIRTS) ARE A GROUP OF DEACETYLASES (OR DEACYLASES) WHOSE ACTIVITIES ARE DEPENDENT ON AND REGULATED BY NICOTINAMIDE ADENINE DINUCLEOTIDE (NAD(+)). COMPELLING EVIDENCE SUPPORTS THAT SIRTUINS PLAY MAJOR ROLES IN MANY ASPECTS OF PHYSIOLOGY, ESPECIALLY IN PATHWAYS RELATED TO AGING - THE PREDOMINANT AND UNIFYING RISK FACTOR FOR NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES. IN THIS REVIEW, WE HIGHLIGHT THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF SIRTUINS IN NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES, FOCUSING ON PROTEIN HOMEOSTASIS, NEURAL PLASTICITY, MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTION, AND SUSTAINED CHRONIC INFLAMMATION. WE WILL ALSO EXAMINE THE POTENTIAL AND CHALLENGES OF TARGETING SIRTUIN PATHWAYS TO BLOCK THESE PATHOGENIC PATHWAYS. 2013 16 3173 27 GUT MICROBIOTA-MICRORNA INTERACTIONS IN ANKYLOSING SPONDYLITIS. ANKYLOSING SPONDYLITIS (AS) IS A CHRONIC AUTOIMMUNE INFLAMMATORY DISABILITY THAT IS PART OF THE RHEUMATIC DISEASE GROUP OF SPONDYLOARTHROPATHIES. AS COMMONLY INFLUENCES THE JOINTS OF THE AXIAL SKELETON. THE CONTRIBUTIONS TO AS PATHOGENESIS OF GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY (PARTICULARLY HLA-B27 AND ERAP-1) AND EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS, LIKE NON-CODING RNAS, AS WELL AS ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATED OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS. BUT THE FUNDAMENTAL ETIOLOGY OF AS REMAINS ELUSIVE TO DATE. THE EVIDENCE SUMMARIZED HERE INDICATES THAT IN THE IMMUNOPATHOGENESIS OF AS, MICRORNAS AND THE GUT MICROBIOME PERFORM CRITICAL FUNCTIONS. WE DISCUSS SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES IN THE IMMUNOLOGICAL MECHANISMS UNDERLYING AS AND ADDRESS POTENTIAL CROSS-TALK BETWEEN THE GUT MICROBIOME AND HOST MICRORNAS. THIS CRITICAL INTERACTION IMPLICATES A CO-EVOLUTIONARY SYMBIOTIC LINK BETWEEN HOST IMMUNITY AND THE GUT MICROBIOME. 2021 17 3011 29 GENETICS AND EPIGENETICS IN THE FIBROGENIC EVOLUTION OF CHRONIC LIVER DISEASES. RECENT YEARS HAVE SEEN UNPRECEDENTED PROGRESS IN THE IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF GENETIC INFORMATION RELATED TO CHRONIC LIVER DISEASES (CLDS). HOWEVER, DESPITE THE CONCEPTUAL BENEFIT IN EARLY RECOGNITION OF AT-RISK POPULATIONS AMENABLE TO PRE-EMPTIVE TREATMENT AND/OR SURVEILLANCE STRATEGIES, RECENT GENOMIC RESEARCH IN THE FIELD HAS PLACED FOCUS ON UNRAVELLING THE GENETIC ARCHITECTURE OF DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY, WHILE DATA ON GENETIC MARKERS ANTICIPATING AN ACCELERATED FIBROGENESIS IN AN INDIVIDUAL ARE STILL LIMITED. LIKEWISE, SEQUENCE VARIATION ASSIGNING RAPID FIBROGENIC EVOLUTION COMMON TO CLDS IRRESPECTIVE OF ETIOLOGY ARE POORLY DEFINED ASIDE FROM PNPLA3 (ADIPONUTRIN) AS A PROMINENT EXCEPTION. THE EMERGING FIELD OF EPIGENETICS IN HEPATOLOGY HAS MOSTLY BEEN STUDIED UNDER THE PERSPECTIVE OF GENE REGULATION, LESS SO AS A HERITABLE ALTERATION IN GENE ACTIVITY. IN THIS ARTICLE WE WILL CRITICALLY DISCUSS RECENT FINDINGS IN GENOMIC HEPATOLOGY WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE (EPI)GENETIC CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIBROGENIC EVOLUTION OF CLDS. 2011 18 5525 44 RNA BINDING PROTEINS IN SENESCENCE: A POTENTIAL COMMON LINKER FOR AGE-RELATED DISEASES? AGING REPRESENTS THE MAJOR RISK FACTOR FOR THE ONSET AND/OR PROGRESSION OF VARIOUS DISORDERS INCLUDING NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES, METABOLIC DISORDERS, AND BONE-RELATED DEFECTS. AS THE AVERAGE AGE OF THE POPULATION IS PREDICTED TO EXPONENTIALLY INCREASE IN THE COMING YEARS, UNDERSTANDING THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGING-RELATED DISEASES AND THE DISCOVERY OF NEW THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES REMAIN PIVOTAL. WELL-REPORTED HALLMARKS OF AGING ARE CELLULAR SENESCENCE, GENOME INSTABILITY, AUTOPHAGY IMPAIRMENT, MITOCHONDRIA DYSFUNCTION, DYSBIOSIS, TELOMERE ATTRITION, METABOLIC DYSREGULATION, EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS, LOW-GRADE CHRONIC INFLAMMATION, STEM CELL EXHAUSTION, ALTERED CELL-TO-CELL COMMUNICATION AND IMPAIRED PROTEOSTASIS. WITH FEW EXCEPTIONS, HOWEVER, MANY OF THE MOLECULAR PLAYERS IMPLICATED WITHIN THESE PROCESSES AS WELL AS THEIR ROLE IN DISEASE DEVELOPMENT REMAIN LARGELY UNKNOWN. RNA BINDING PROTEINS (RBPS) ARE KNOWN TO REGULATE GENE EXPRESSION BY DICTATING AT POST-TRANSCRIPTIONAL LEVEL THE FATE OF NASCENT TRANSCRIPTS. THEIR ACTIVITY RANGES FROM DIRECTING PRIMARY MRNA MATURATION AND TRAFFICKING TO MODULATION OF TRANSCRIPT STABILITY AND/OR TRANSLATION. ACCUMULATING EVIDENCE HAS SHOWN THAT RBPS ARE EMERGING AS KEY REGULATORS OF AGING AND AGING-RELATED DISEASES, WITH THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME NEW DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC TOOLS TO PREVENT OR DELAY AGING PROCESSES. IN THIS REVIEW, WE SUMMARIZE THE ROLE OF RBPS IN PROMOTING CELLULAR SENESCENCE AND WE HIGHLIGHT THEIR DYSREGULATION IN THE PATHOGENESIS AND PROGRESSION OF THE MAIN AGING-RELATED DISEASES, WITH THE AIM OF ENCOURAGING FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS THAT WILL HELP TO BETTER DISCLOSE THIS NOVEL AND CAPTIVATING MOLECULAR SCENARIO. 2023 19 4999 36 PERINATAL PROGRAMMING OF CIRCADIAN CLOCK-STRESS CROSSTALK. AN INTACT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CIRCADIAN CLOCKS AND THE STRESS SYSTEM IS IMPORTANT FOR MAINTAINING PHYSIOLOGICAL HOMEOSTASIS UNDER RESTING CONDITIONS AND IN RESPONSE TO EXTERNAL STIMULI. THERE IS ACCUMULATING EVIDENCE FOR A RECIPROCAL INTERACTION BETWEEN BOTH-FROM THE SYSTEMIC TO THE MOLECULAR LEVEL. DISRUPTION OF THIS INTERACTION BY EXTERNAL FACTORS SUCH AS SHIFTWORK, JETLAG, OR CHRONIC STRESS INCREASES THE RISK OF DEVELOPING METABOLIC, IMMUNE, OR MOOD DISORDERS. FROM EXPERIMENTS IN RODENTS, WE KNOW THAT BOTH SYSTEMS MATURATE DURING THE PERINATAL PERIOD. DURING THAT TIME, EXOGENOUS FACTORS SUCH AS STRESS OR ALTERATIONS IN THE EXTERNAL PHOTOPERIOD MAY CRITICALLY AFFECT-OR PROGRAM-PHYSIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS LATER IN LIFE. THIS DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAMMING PROCESS HAS BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO MATERNAL STRESS SIGNALS REACHING THE EMBRYO, WHICH LASTINGLY CHANGE GENE EXPRESSION THROUGH THE INDUCTION OF EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS. DESPITE THE WELL-KNOWN FUNCTION OF THE ADULT CIRCADIAN SYSTEM IN TEMPORAL COORDINATION OF PHYSIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR, THE ROLE OF MATERNAL AND EMBRYONIC CIRCADIAN CLOCKS DURING PREGNANCY AND POSTNATAL DEVELOPMENT IS STILL POORLY DEFINED. A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CIRCADIAN-STRESS CROSSTALK AT DIFFERENT PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT MAY HELP TO IMPROVE STRESS RESISTANCE AND DEVISE PREVENTIVE AND THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES AGAINST CHRONIC STRESS-ASSOCIATED DISORDERS. 2018 20 6258 34 THE MOLECULAR MECHANISM OF POLYPHENOLS IN THE REGULATION OF AGEING HALLMARKS. AGEING IS A COMPLEX PROCESS CHARACTERIZED MAINLY BY A DECLINE IN THE FUNCTION OF CELLS, TISSUES, AND ORGANS, RESULTING IN AN INCREASED RISK OF MORTALITY. THIS PROCESS INVOLVES SEVERAL CHANGES, DESCRIBED AS HALLMARKS OF AGEING, WHICH INCLUDE GENOMIC INSTABILITY, TELOMERE ATTRITION, EPIGENETIC CHANGES, LOSS OF PROTEOSTASIS, DYSREGULATED NUTRIENT SENSING, MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION, CELLULAR SENESCENCE, STEM CELL DEPLETION, AND ALTERED INTRACELLULAR COMMUNICATION. THE DETERMINING ROLE THAT ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS SUCH AS DIET AND LIFESTYLE PLAY ON HEALTH, LIFE EXPECTANCY, AND SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISEASES, INCLUDING CANCER AND NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES, IS WELLESTABLISHED. IN VIEW OF THE GROWING INTEREST IN THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF PHYTOCHEMICALS IN THE PREVENTION OF CHRONIC DISEASES, SEVERAL STUDIES HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED, AND THEY STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT THE INTAKE OF DIETARY POLYPHENOLS MAY BRING NUMEROUS BENEFITS DUE TO THEIR ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY PROPERTIES, AND THEIR INTAKE HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH IMPAIRED AGEING IN HUMANS. POLYPHENOL INTAKE HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE EFFECTIVE IN AMELIORATING SEVERAL AGE-RELATED PHENOTYPES, INCLUDING OXIDATIVE STRESS, INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES, IMPAIRED PROTEOSTASIS, AND CELLULAR SENESCENCE, AMONG OTHER FEATURES, WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO AN INCREASED RISK OF AGEING-ASSOCIATED DISEASES. THIS REVIEW AIMS TO ADDRESS, IN A GENERAL WAY, THE MAIN FINDINGS DESCRIBED IN THE LITERATURE ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF POLYPHENOLS IN EACH OF THE HALLMARKS OF AGEING, AS WELL AS THE MAIN REGULATORY MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OBSERVED ANTIAGEING EFFECTS. 2023