Song S, Johnson FB. Epigenetic Mechanisms Impacting Aging: A Focus on Histone Levels and Telomeres.
Genes (Basel) 2018;
9:genes9040201. [PMID:
29642537 PMCID:
PMC5924543 DOI:
10.3390/genes9040201]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2018] [Revised: 03/27/2018] [Accepted: 03/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Aging and age-related diseases pose some of the most significant and difficult challenges to modern society as well as to the scientific and medical communities. Biological aging is a complex, and, under normal circumstances, seemingly irreversible collection of processes that involves numerous underlying mechanisms. Among these, chromatin-based processes have emerged as major regulators of cellular and organismal aging. These include DNA methylation, histone modifications, nucleosome positioning, and telomere regulation, including how these are influenced by environmental factors such as diet. Here we focus on two interconnected categories of chromatin-based mechanisms impacting aging: those involving changes in the levels of histones or in the functions of telomeres.
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