Human Epigenomics

"The term epigenetics describes regulatory and information storing mechanisms of specific genes that do not involve any change of their DNA sequence. Epigenetics is closely related to the extensively folded state, in which the genome is packaged, known as chromatin. New genomic tools nowadays allow the genome-wide assessment of, for example, chromatin states and DNA modifications, and led to the discovery of unexpected new epigenetic principles, such as epigenomic memory. This was the start of the field of epigenomics, the relation of which to human health and disease is discussed in this textbook. This book aims to summarize, in a condensed form, the role of epigenomics in defining chromatin states that are representative of active genes (euchromatin) and repressed genes (heterochromatin). Moreover, this book discusses the principles of gene regulation, chromatin stability, genomic imprinting and the reversibility of DNA methylation and histone modifications. This information should enable a better understanding of cell type identities and will provide new directions for studies of, for example, cellular reprograming, the response of chromatin to environmental signals and epigenetic therapies that can improve or restore human health. In order to facilitate the latter, we favor a high figure-to-text ratio following the rule "a picture tells more than thousand words". The content of the book is based on the lecture course "Molecular Medicine and Genetics" that is given by one of us (C. Carlberg) in different forms since 2002 at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. Thematically, this book is located between our textbooks "Mechanisms of Gene Regulation" (ISBN 978-94-017-7741-4) and "Nutrigenomics" (ISBN 978-3-319-30415-1), studying of which may also be interesting to our readers. The book is sub-divided into three sections and 13 chapters. Following the Introduction (section A), section B will explain the molecular basis of epigenomics, while section C will provide examples for the impact of epigenomics in human health and disease. The lecture course is primarily designed for Master level students of biomedicine, but is also frequented by PhD students as well as by students of other bioscience disciplines. Besides its value as a textbook, Human Epigenomics will be a usefull reference for individuals working in biomedicine." -- prové de l'editor "This textbook aims to describe "the fascinating area of eukaryotic gene regulation for graduate students in all areas of the biomedical sciences. Gene expression is essential in shaping the various phenotypes of cells and tissues and as such, regulation of expression is a fundamental aspect of nearly all processes in physiology, both in healthy and in diseased states. This pivotal role for the regulation of gene expression makes this textbook essential reading from students of all the biomedical sciences in order to be better prepared for their specialized disciplines.A complete understanding of transcription factors and the processes that alter their activity is a major goal of modern life science research. The availability of the whole human genome sequence (and that of other eukaryotic genomes) and the consequent development of next-generation sequencing technologies have significantly changed nearly all areas of the biological sciences. For example, the genome-wide location of histone modifications and transcription factor binding sites, such as provided by the ENCODE consortium, has greatly improved our understanding of gene regulation. Therefore, the focus of this book is the description of the post-genome understanding of gene regulation.The purpose of this book is to provide, in a condensed form, an overview on the present understanding of the mechanisms of gene regulation. The authors are not aiming to compete with comprehensive treatises, but rather focus on the essentials. Therefore, the authors have favored a high figure-to-text ratio following the rule which states that "a picture tells more than thousand words."The content of the book is based on the lecture course, which is given by Prof. Carlberg since 2001 at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. The book is subdivided into 4 sections and 13 chapters. Following the Introduction there are three sections, which take a view on gene regulation from the perspective of transcription factors, chromatin and non-coding RNA, respectively. Besides its value as a textbook, "Mechanisms of Gene Regulation "will be a useful reference for individuals working in biomedical laboratories. This textbook aims to describe the fascinating area of eukaryotic gene regulation for graduate students in all areas of the biomedical sciences. Gene expression is essential in shaping the various phenotypes of cells and tissues and as such, regulation of gene expression is a fundamental aspect of nearly all processes in physiology, both in healthy and in diseased states. This pivotal role for the regulation of gene expression makes this textbook essential reading for students of all the biomedical sciences, in order to be better prepared for their specialized disciplines. A complete understanding of transcription factors and the processes that alter their activity is a major goal of modern life science research. The availability of the whole human genome sequence (and that of other eukaryotic genomes) and the consequent development of next-generation sequencing technologies have significantly changed nearly all areas of the biological sciences. For example, the genome-wide location of histone modifications and transcription factor binding sites, such as provided by the ENCODE consortium, has greatly improved our understanding of gene regulation. Therefore, the focus of this book is the description of the post-genome understanding of gene regulation. The purpose of this book is to provide, in a condensed form, an overview on the present understanding of the mechanisms of gene regulation. The authors are not aiming to compete with comprehensive treatises, but rather focus on the essentials. Therefore, the authors have favored a high figure-to-text ratio following the rule stating that “a picture tells more than thousand words”. The content of the book is based on the lecture course, which is given by Prof. Carlberg since 2001 at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. The book is subdivided into 4 sections and 13 chapters. Following the Introduction there are three sections, which take a view on gene regulation from the perspective of transcription factors, chromatin and non-coding RNA, respectively. Besides its value as a textbook, Mechanisms of Gene Regulation will be a useful reference for individuals working in biomedical laboratories. This textbook aims to describe the fascinating area of eukaryotic gene regulation for graduate students in all areas of the biomedical sciences. Gene expression is essential in shaping the various phenotypes of cells and tissues and as such, regulation of gene expression is a fundamental aspect of nearly all processes in physiology, both in healthy and in diseased states. This pivotal role for the regulation of gene expression makes this textbook essential reading for students of all the biomedical sciences, in order to be better prepared for their specialized disciplines. A complete understanding of transcription factors and the processes that alter their activity is a major goal of modern life science research. The availability of the whole human genome sequence (and that of other eukaryotic genomes) and the consequent development of next-generation sequencing technologies have significantly changed nearly all areas of the biological sciences. For example, the genome-wide location of histone modifications and transcription factor binding sites, such as provided by the ENCODE consortium, has greatly improved our understanding of gene regulation. Therefore, the focus of this book is the description of the post-genome understanding of gene regulation. The purpose of this book is to provide, in a condensed form, an overview on the present understanding of the mechanisms of gene regulation. The authors are not aiming to compete with comprehensive treatises, but rather focus on the essentials. Therefore, the authors have favored a high figure-to-text ratio following the rule stating that 2a picture tells more than thousand words3. The content of the book is based on the lecture course, which is given by Prof. Carlberg since 2001 at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. The book is subdivided into 4 sections and 13 chapters. Following the Introduction there are three sections, which take a view on gene regulation from the perspective of transcription factors, chromatin and non-coding RNA, respectively. Besides its value as a textbook, Mechanisms of Gene Regulation will be a useful reference for individuals working in biomedical laboratories This textbook aims to describe the fascinating area of eukaryotic gene regulation for graduate students in all areas of the biomedical sciences. Gene expression is essential in shaping the various phenotypes of cells and tissues and as such, regulation of expression is a fundamental aspect of nearly all processes in physiology, both in healthy and in diseased states. This pivotal role for the regulation of gene expression makes this textbook essential reading from students of all the biomedical sciences in order to be better prepared for their specialized disciplines. A complete understanding of transcription factors and the processes that alter their activity is a major goal of modern life science research. The availability of the whole human genome sequence (and that of other eukaryotic genomes) and the consequent development of next-generation sequencing technologies have significantly changed nearly all areas of the biological sciences. For example, the genome-wide location of histone modifications and transcription factor biding sites, such as provided by the ENCODE consortium, has greatly improved our understanding of gene regulation. Therefore, the focus of this book is the description of the post-genome understanding of gene regulation. The purpose of this book is to provide, in a condensed form, an overview on the present understanding of the mechanisms of gene regulation. The authors are not aiming to compete with comprehensive treatises, but rather focus on the essentials. Therefore, the authors have favored a high figure-to-text ratio following the rule which states that 'a picture tells more than thousand words'. The content of the book is based on the lecture course, which is given by Prof. Carlberg since 2001 at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. The book is subdivided into 4 sections and 13 chapters. Following the Introduction there are three sections, which take a view on gene regulation from the perspective of transcription factors, chromatin and non-coding RNA, respectively. Besides its value as a textbook, Mechanisms of Gene Regulation will be a useful reference for individuals working in biomedical laboratories The fascinating area of Nutrigenomics describes this daily communication between diet, food and nutrients, their metabolites and our genome. This book describes how nutrition shapes human evolution and demonstrates its consequences for our susceptibility to diseases, such as diabetes and atherosclerosis. Inappropriate diet can yield stress for our cells, tissues and organs and then it is often associated with low-grade chronic inflammation. Overnutrition paired with physical inactivity leads to overweight and obesity and results in increased burden for a body that originally was adapted for a life in the savannas of East Africa. Therefore, this textbook does not discuss a theoretical topic in science, but it talks about real life, and our life-long “chat” with diet. We are all food consumers, thus each of us is concerned by the topic of this book and should be aware of its mechanisms. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview on the principles of nutrigenomics and their relation to health or disease. We are not aiming to compete with more comprehensive textbooks on molecular nutrition, evolutionary biology, genomics, gene regulation or metabolic diseases, but rather will focus on the essentials and will combine, in a compact form, elements from different disciplines. In order to facilitate the latter, we favor a high figure-to-text ratio following the rule “a picture tells more than thousand words”. The content of this book is based on the lecture course “Nutrigenomics”, which is held since 2003 once per year by Prof. Carlberg at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. The book is subdivided into three sections and twelve chapters. Following the "Introduction" there are sections on the "Molecular genetic basis" and the "Links to disease", which take a view on nutrigenomics from the perspective of molecular mechanisms or from the causes of metabolic diseases, respectively. Besides its value as a textbook, Nutrigenomics will be a usefull reference for individuals working in biomedicine. The fascinating area of Nutrigenomics describes this daily communication between diet, food and nutrients, their metabolites and our genome. This book describes how nutrition shapes human evolution and demonstrates its consequences for our susceptibility to diseases, such as diabetes and atherosclerosis. Inappropriate diet can yield stress for our cells, tissues and organs and then it is often associated with low-grade chronic inflammation. Overnutrition paired with physical inactivity leads to overweight and obesity and results in increased burden for a body that originally was adapted for a life in the savannas of East Africa. Therefore, this textbook does not discuss a theoretical topic in science, but it talks about real life, and our life-long zchaty with diet. We are all food consumers, thus each of us is concerned by the topic of this book and should be aware of its mechanisms. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview on the principles of nutrigenomics and their relation to health or disease. We are not aiming to compete with more comprehensive textbooks on molecular nutrition, evolutionary biology, genomics, gene regulation or metabolic diseases, but rather will focus on the essentials and will combine, in a compact form, elements from different disciplines. In order to facilitate the latter, we favor a high figure-to-text ratio following the rule za picture tells more than thousand wordsy. The content of this book is based on the lecture course zNutrigenomicsy, which is held since 2003 once per year by Prof. Carlberg at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. The book is subdivided into three sections and twelve chapters. Following the "Introduction" there are sections on the "Molecular genetic basis" and the "Links to disease", which take a view on nutrigenomics from the perspective of molecular mechanisms or from the causes of metabolic diseases, respectively. Besides its value as a textbook, Nutrigenomics will be a usefull reference for individuals working in biomedicine