Current Stem Cell Research & Therapy - Volume 13, Issue 2, 2018

Background: Development is an epigenetic regulation dependent event. As one pretranscriptional regulator, bivalent histone modifications were observed to be involved in development recently. It is believed that histone methylation potentially takes charge of cell fate determination and differentiation. The synchronous existence of functionally opposite histone marks at transcript start sequence (TSS) is defined as “Bivale Read More

Background: Dentinogenesis is a long and complex process not only in tooth development, but also throughout the lifespan. Reporter mice provided us a preferred model to study the dentin formation with characteristics of high sensitivity, visualization, and reliability, which makes the long-term and intricate period of dentinogenesis much clear. With the advent of different gene reporters, genetic engineering methods, and tissue Read More

Background: Osteoporosis is a common degenerative bone disease which is characterized with decreased bone strength and increased risk of fracture. The abnormal bone metabolism homeostasis, especially in osteoclastic function, takes a fundamental role in osteoporosis pathogenesis. In the past decade, epigenetic regulation of bone homeostasis are widely investigated and considered as a vital factor in the regulation of t Read More

Background: Odontogenesis is fundamentally controlled by the genome. However, epigenetic factors have indispensable effects during odontogenesis. Previous studies have shown that exogenous factors, such as the environment, that cause hypomethylation and hypermethylation in DNA may lead to dental differences in monozygotic twin pairs. In addition, abnormalities in epigenetic regulation could induce disrupti Read More

Background: Tooth root development begins after the completion of tooth crown development. Both the tooth root and crown undergo a series of interactions between the epithelium and adjacent mesenchymal cells. Although many studies have evaluated tooth crown formation, little is known about the regulatory mechanisms of tooth root development. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that regulate protein expr Read More

Background: Aging is characterized by time-dependent functional decline, which results in the reduced ability to cope with physiological challenges. The aging process can be affected by genetic factors, environment factors, epigenetic factors, and several stochastic factors. Epigenetic marker alteration during aging has been widely monitored and studied recently, since these epigenetic alterations are theoretically reversible. O Read More

Background: The study of epigenetic regulation has made substantial progress in recent years. The AlkB family in E. coli was identified as a type of DNA repair enzyme that removes alkyl adducts from nucleobases. Recently, nine mammalian homologs, ALKBH1-9, have been successfully identified and defined as diverse demethylases. ALKBH1, ALKBH5, ALKBH8 and ALKBH9 act as RNA demethylases, while ALKBH2-3 and Read More

Background: Periodontitis is a multifactorial infectious disease that affects a large population worldwide. Oral microorganisms and susceptible host have been proposed to be the prerequisite for the development of periodontitis. Recently, the involvement of epigenetic modifications in the development of periodontitis has been suggested. Objectives: This review aims to detail recent discoveries involving the epigenetic alter Read More

Background: Tooth development relies on interactions between epithelial and mesenchymal tissues, which are controlled by sophisticated networks of conserved signaling. The signaling networks regulating odontogenesis have been well characterized, but the epigenetic mechanisms underlying remain to be elucidated. Objective: In this review, we describe current researches regarding the control of various genes expression by Read More