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Epigenetics in rheumatic diseases

With enormous speed novel data are emerging about regulating the expression of the genetically encoded information [1]. This highly complex regulatory network called epigenetics includes acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, sumoylation and non-coding RNAs (ncRNA), such as miRNA and lncRNAs. Our laboratory is addressing over the past decade inflammatory rheumatic diseases [2], like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), AS, SSc and pulmonary hypertension and thereby searching for the regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines [3, 4], novel diagnostic signatures and new therapeutic targets. In this regard, DNA demethylation of RA synovial cells can be modulated by targeting specific enzymes [5]. Also, miRNA signatures for new response markers are in development [6].

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References

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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

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Gay, S. Epigenetics in rheumatic diseases. Pediatr Rheumatol 12 (Suppl 1), I12 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/1546-0096-12-S1-I12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1546-0096-12-S1-I12

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