Ken Mitton publishes review of Epigenetic Regulatory Mechanisms in Vertebrate Eye Development and Disease

“Epigenetics” is currently a hot topic in biology. It refers to inherited characteristics caused by mechanisms other that changes in DNA sequence. Time Magazine published a cover story on epigenetics this year. NOVA has a video about epigenetics.

Oakland University researchers are busy studying epigenetics. In a recent special issue of the journal Heredity titled “From genotype to phenotype: what do epigenomics and epigenetics tell us?”, Associate Professor and CBR member Ken Mitton, of the Eye Research Institute, published a review article on the Epigenetic Regulatory Mechanisms in Vertebrate Eye Development and Disease (Volume 105, Pages 135-151). Below is the abstract to the paper.

Eukaryotic DNA is organized as a nucleoprotein polymer termed chromatin with nucleosomes serving as its repetitive architectural units. Cellular differentiation is a dynamic process driven by activation and repression of specific sets of genes, partitioning the genome into transcriptionally active and inactive chromatin domains. Chromatin architecture at individual genes/loci may remain stable through cell divisions, from a single mother cell to its progeny during mitosis, and represents an example of epigenetic phenomena. Epigenetics refers to heritable changes caused by mechanisms distinct from the primary DNA sequence. Recent studies have shown a number of links between chromatin structure, gene expression, extracellular signaling, and cellular differentiation during eye development. This review summarizes recent advances in this field, and the relationship between sequence-specific DNA-binding transcription factors and their roles in recruitment of chromatin remodeling enzymes. In addition, lens and retinal differentiation is accompanied by specific changes in the nucleolar organization, expression of non-coding RNAs, and DNA methylation. Epigenetic regulatory mechanisms in ocular tissues represent exciting areas of research that have opened new avenues for understanding normal eye development, inherited eye diseases and eye diseases related to aging and the environment.