Epigenetic mechanisms in migraine: a promising avenue?

BMC Medicine

Minireview

Else Eising¹  Nicole A Datson¹  Arn MJM van den Maagdenberg²  Michel D Ferrari³ 

[1]Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Einthovenweg 20, 2333, Leiden, ZC, The Netherlands

[2]Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Einthovenweg 20, 2333, Leiden, ZC, The Netherlands

[3]Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Albinusdreef 2, 2333, Leiden, ZA, The Netherlands

[4]Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Albinusdreef 2, 2333, Leiden, ZA, The Netherlands

关键词: DNA methylation;    epigenetics;    GWAS;    histone modifications;    inflammation;    migraine;    stress;    valproate;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1741-7015-11-26

 received in 2012-10-09, accepted in 2013-02-04,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Migraine is a disabling common brain disorder typically characterized by attacks of severe headache and associated with autonomic and neurological symptoms. Its etiology is far from resolved. This review will focus on evidence that epigenetic mechanisms play an important role in disease etiology. Epigenetics comprise both DNA methylation and post-translational modifications of the tails of histone proteins, affecting chromatin structure and gene expression. Besides playing a role in establishing cellular and developmental stage-specific regulation of gene expression, epigenetic processes are also important for programming lasting cellular responses to environmental signals. Epigenetic mechanisms may explain how non-genetic endogenous and exogenous factors such as female sex hormones, stress hormones and inflammation trigger may modulate attack frequency. Developing drugs that specifically target epigenetic mechanisms may open up exciting new avenues for the prophylactic treatment of migraine.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Eising et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013. 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/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.