Dantec CL, Brooks WH, Renaudineau Y. Epigenomic revolution in autoimmune diseases. World J Immunol 2015; 5(2): 62-67 [DOI: 10.5411/wji.v5.i2.62]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Yves Renaudineau, Professor, Laboratory of Immunology and Immunotherapy, Brest University Medical School Hospital, BP824, F29609 Brest, France. yves.renaudineau@univ-brest.fr
Research Domain of This Article
Immunology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Immunol. Jul 27, 2015; 5(2): 62-67 Published online Jul 27, 2015. doi: 10.5411/wji.v5.i2.62
Epigenomic revolution in autoimmune diseases
Christelle Le Dantec, Wesley H Brooks, Yves Renaudineau
Christelle Le Dantec, Yves Renaudineau, INSERM ESPRI, ERI29/EA2216, SFR ScInBioS, LabEx IGO “Immunotherapy Graft Oncology”, Innovative Medicines Initiative PRECISESADS, Réseau épigénétique et réseau canaux ioniques du Cancéropole Grand Ouest, European University of Brittany, F29609 Brest, France
Wesley H Brooks, Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, United States
Yves Renaudineau, Laboratory of Immunology and Immunotherapy, Brest University Medical School Hospital, F29609 Brest, France
Author contributions: All authors have written and contributed to this editorial.
Supported by The “Région Bretagne”, the “Association Française Gougerot-Sjögren et des Syndromes Secs”; by the “Institut Français pour la Recherche Odontologique”; and by the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking under grant agreement n°115565, resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies’ in-kind contribution.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article, which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Yves Renaudineau, Professor, Laboratory of Immunology and Immunotherapy, Brest University Medical School Hospital, BP824, F29609 Brest, France. yves.renaudineau@univ-brest.fr
Telephone: +33-2-98223384 Fax: +33-2-98223847
Received: February 23, 2015 Peer-review started: February 25, 2015 First decision: March 20, 2015 Revised: April 22, 2015 Accepted: May 5, 2015 Article in press: May 6, 2015 Published online: July 27, 2015 Processing time: 161 Days and 18.1 Hours
Abstract
Autoimmunity is believed to develop when genetically predisposed individuals undergo epigenetic modifications in response to environmental factors. Recent advances in the understanding of epigenetic mechanisms suggest, in autoimmune diseases, a multi-step process involving environmental factors (e.g., drugs, stress) and endogenous factors (e.g., cytokines, gender), both leading to the deregulation of the epigenetic machinery (DNA methylation, histone modifications, miRNA), that in turn specifically affects the immune system and/or the target organ(s). Such effect is reinforced in those patients with risk variants mapping to epigenetically-controlled regulators of immune cells. As a consequence, autoreactive lymphocytes and autoantibodies are produced leading to the development of the autoimmune disease. Potential new therapeutic strategies and biomarkers are also addressed.
Core tip: The present editorial focuses on recent progress made in elucidating the relationship between environmental factors, epigenetics, genetics and the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases (AID). Because of their primary function, epigenetic mechanisms offer potential advantages in terms of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of complicated diseases such as AID.
