白内障表观遗传学研究的现状及进展

Current situation and future development of epigenetic in cataract

白内障是全球最常见的致盲眼病,其发病机制仍不清楚。表观遗传学研究的出现阐述了白内障可能的发病机制,推动了白内障基础研究的进展,已成为生物医学研究的热点。目前表观遗传学调节主要包括DNA甲基化、组蛋白修饰和非编码RNA。近年来表观遗传学研究发现,白内障是由表观遗传学与基因改变共同引起,一些晶状体蛋白及氧化损伤基因的甲基化及乙酰化修饰会导致白内障的形成。另外,也有研究证实了非编码RNA参与了白内障的形成和发展。然而白内障表观遗传学研究进展并不迅速。因此,有必要分析表观遗传学在白内障研究中的作用。本文就白内障表观遗传学的研究进展及未来研究方向作一简述。

Cataract is the most common cause of blindness throughout the world and its etiology remains unknown. Epigenetic is currently become a hot topic of biomedical research. Epigenetic research may elaborate the potential pathogenesis of cataract ,which promote the progress of basic studies in cataract. Currently the major epigenetic factors include DNA methylation, histone modification and non-coding RNA. Recent studies showed that the pathogenesis of cataract was influenced by the abnormalities of epigenetic and genetics mechanism. Crystallin proteins and oxidative damage genes suffer DNA methylation and acetylation, which result in decease of the lens transparency. In addition, the studies have shown that the non-coding RNA involves in the formation and development of cataract. However, the current epigenetic study of cataract is slow. Therefore,it is necessary to analyze the role of epigenetic in cataract. This article reviews the current situation and future development of epigenetic in cataract.