Progresses on study of epigenetics in neurodegenerative disorders

Abstract

Epigenetics refer to the collective heritable changes in phenotype due to processes that arise independently of primary DNA sequence. It is comprised of DNA methylation, histone proteins modifications, non-coding and so on. Aberrant epigenetic modifications are involved in the development of neurodegenerative disorders. Recently, many epigenetics-based medications have been developed and provided us new strategies for treatment of those diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. In this review, we would like to summarize the recent studies of epigenetic modification in neurodegeneration, mainly focusing on DNA methylation and histone acetylation and exploring the possibility of using epigenetics-based therapeutics to treat neurodegenerative disorders.