Abstract
How do mammalian cells that share the same genome exist in notably distinct phenotypes, exhibiting differences in morphology, gene expression patterns, and epigenetic chromatin statuses? Furthermore, how do cells of different phenotypes differentiate reproducibly from a single fertilized egg? These are fundamental problems in developmental biology. Epigenetic histone modifications play an important role in the maintenance of different cell phenotypes. The exact molecular mechanism for inheritance of the modification patterns over cell generations remains elusive. The complexity comes partly from the number of molecular species and the broad time scales involved. In recent years mathematical modeling has made significant contributions on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of DNA methylation and histone covalent modification inheritance. We will pedagogically introduce the typical procedure and some technical details of performing a mathematical modeling study, and discuss future developments.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Epigenetic Technological Applications |
Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
Pages | 245-264 |
Number of pages | 20 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780128013274 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780128010808 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 17 2015 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Histone epigenetic memory
- Histone modification enzyme
- Mathematical modeling
- Pattern reconstruction
- Posttranslational modification
- Reader and writer
- Stochastic dynamics
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology