The roles of epigenetic mechanism in cerebral ischemic preconditioning

表观遗传机制如DNA甲基化和组蛋白修饰控制基因表达的遗传变化。另一方面，缺血预适应涉及许多基因表达的变化，但其机制仍不清楚。本研究旨在探讨表观遗传机制在缺血预适应中的作用。我们的研究结果表明，在预处理的大脑中，组蛋白的甲基化被修饰，与凋亡和炎症相关的基因表达下调。表观遗传机制与基因表达变化的关系有待进一步研究。

Epigenetic mechanism such as DNA methylation and modifications of histone proteins controls heritable change in gene expression. On the other hand, ischemic preconditioning involves numerous gene expression changes; however, its mechanism is still obscure. In this study, we evaluated the roles of epigenetic mechanism in ischemic preconditioning. Our results show that methylation of histone proteins was modified, and gene expressions related to apoptosis and inflammation were down-regulated in the preconditioned brains. Further studies are necessary to clarify the relationship between epigenetic mechanism and gene expression changes.