^{5th International Congress on} Epigenetics & Chromatin August 22-23, 2019 Vienna, Austria

Epigenetics has emerged as a critical field for studying how non-gene factors can influence the traits and functions of an organism. At the core of this new wave of research is the use of computational tools that play crucial roles not only in directing the selection of key experiments, but also in formulating new testable hypotheses through detailed analysis of complex genomic information that is not achievable using traditional approaches alone without bioinformatics methods/tools.

    Neurodevelopmental disorders/diseases are a group of disorders in which the development of the central nervous system is disturbed. This can include brain dysfunction, which can manifest as neuropsychiatric   problems or impaired motor function, learning, language or non-verbal communication.

   This field of research provides evidence that environmentally induced epigenetic changes during embryonic development can be transmitted for multiple generations and may contribute to the etiology of brain disease heritability. In this review, we discuss some of the most updated findings on transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. We particularly discuss the upcoming findings on the epigenetic mechanisms involved in the heritability of alcohol-induced neurobehavioral disorders such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

   Combining cytogenetic & epigenetic approaches in chronic lymphocytic leukemia improves prognosis prediction for patients.

    Cytogenetics is defined as the study of chromosomal structure, location and function in cells. Modern cytogenetic approaches are enable to label the chromosomal location of any gene using different colored dots, examine cells from any type of tissue (even tumor cells), identify cells that have lost or gained a specific chromosome & determine whether specific regions of chromosomes have been lost or gained without ever looking at the chromosomes under a microscope.

    Epigenetic modifications of the Cancer cell genome, which does not bring a change in the nucleotide sequence, is called Cancer Epigenetics.

     Cancer was the first human disease to be linked to epigenetics.  DNA hypomethylation can activate oncogenes and initiate chromosome instability, whereas DNA hypermethylationinitiates silencing of tumor suppressor genes. An accumulation of epigenetic & genetic errors can transform a normal cell into an invasive or metastatic tumor cell. DNA methylation patterns may cause abnormal expression of cancer-associated genes. Global histone modification patterns are also found to correlate with cancers such as breast, prostate, and pancreatic cancer.

      Epigenetic modification are as important as genetic mutations in a cell's transformation to cancer, and their manipulation holds great promise for cancer prevention, detection, and therapy.

     During the cell transformation to a cancerous cell, Epigenetic modifications are also crucial like genetic mutations. Their modification brings a great promising approach for prevention, detection, and therapy of Cancer.

    Chromatin is subject to proofreading and repair mechanisms during replication and in response to DNA damage, ensuring the faithful inheritance of genetic and epigenetic information and maintaining genome stability.

    Chromatin structure depends on several factors. The overall structure depends on the phase of the cell cycle. Human chromosomes can be divided into two type’s allosome & autosomes.

    Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression (active versus inactive genes) i.e. an adjustment in phenotype without an adjustment in genotype. An epigenetic change is a natural & characteristic occurrence yet can likewise be affected by a few factors including age, the environment/lifestyle, and illness state. Alternately, epigenetic change can have all the more harmful impacts that can bring illnesses, disease. Major areas of Epigenetics are:

    Epigenetic inheritance plays a vital role in many biological processes, such as gene expression in early embryo development, imprinting and the silencing of transposons. It has been established that epigenetic effects can be inherited from one generation to the next. Here, we review examples of epigenetic mechanisms governing animal phenotype and behaviour, and we discuss the importance of these findings in respect to animal studies, improve breeding, & the genetics of livestock. Through:

   By the end of the last century, it was known that DNA by itself does not determine all characteristics of an organism, including humans. The environment, stress one perceives, and nutrition, to name a few, play a vital part in determining the response of an organism, as much as the DNA itself. Thus, it is known now that both nature (genetic makeup) and nurture (environmental factors) play equally important roles in the responses observed, both at the cellular and organism levels. Thus, humans are affected by both genetic and epigenetic factors.

   Some environmentally induced changes in the epigenome are recorded in genomic DNA methylation patterns for up to three generations. 

    Certain stages in development and cell types can be thought of as particularly sensitive to epigenetic change due to the resulting severity of the outcome for the individual or the potential for affecting multiple generations.

     Observations demonstrate that the environmental toxicants examined induced transgenerational ovarian adult-onset disease, and of spermatogenic cell defects and testis disease. 

 Instruments & products used in epigenetics are:

    This field is concerned with the pharmacology of epigenetics to treat disorders of the epigenome whether induced developmentally or manifested/acquired later in life. In this particular conference, we will focus on brain disorders and their treatment by drugs that modify the epigenome.

    A range of epigenetic idea affect our genetic programme. The inter-generational transmission of epigenetic marks is supossed to operate via four principal means that dramatically differ in their information content: DNA methylation, histone modifications, microRNAs and nucleosome positioning.

    It is the study of the interaction between epigenetic process, which regulates gene expression without changing the deoxyribonucleic acid sequence, and the development, physiology and functions of the nervous system.

    Epigenetics has been initially studied in patients with CVD for its prominent role in inflammation and vascular involvement Furthermore, epigenetic studies in cardiovascular medicine revealed a significant number of modifications affecting the development and progression of CVD.  Epigenomics are involved in cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, hypertension and age.

    Clinical epigenetics is the application of molecular biology techniques detecting alterations in DNA methylation or histone modification to diagnose or study disorders characterized by heritable defects in the expression of a gene or genome.

   Genetics generally considered a field of biology deals with the study of genes, genetic variation & heredity in living organisms.

    Epigenetic inheritance is an unconventional finding. It means that a parent experiences, in the form of epigenetic tags, can be passed down to future generations. It goes against the idea that inheritance happens only through the DNA code that passes from parent to offspring.

    A genetic disorder is a genetic  problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome, especially a condition that is present from birth.

    Genetic alteration of the epigenome therefore contributes to cancer just as epigenetic process can cause point mutations and disable DNA repair functions. This crosstalk between the genome and the epigenome offers new possibilities for therapy.

   The study of epigenomics involves genome-wide mapping of DNA methylation, histone modifications, nucleosome positioning and three-dimensional architecture and the integration of this information with RNA expression to understand the complexity of cell biology and development.  Visualisation of these complex data sets is key for interpretation and deciphering the underlying biology associated with genetic and epigenetic variation.

   The Genomics and Epigenetics Division incorporates 4 core strengths to address Genome Biology and Disease:

   There are several evidence showing that loss of epigenetic control over complex immune processes contributes to autoimmune disease. Abnormal DNA methylation has been observed in patients with lupus whose T cells exhibit decreased DNA methyltransferase activity & hypomethylated DNA. Disregulation of this pathway apparently leads to overexpression of methylation-sensitive genes such as the leukocyte function-associated factor (LFA1), which causes lupus-like autoimmunity.

    Studies highlight that bacteria can affect the chromatin structure and transcriptional program of host cells by influencing diverse epigenetic factors. Bacterial & Viral infections are involved in the development of human cancers, such as liver, cervical, head and neck, nasopharyngeal and gastric cancers.

    DNA methylation affects many biological processes in microbes and may play a role in pathogenicity and virulence. Characterizing methyltransferase &  DNA methylation specificities is now possible during long-read sequencing.

   This field provides a comprehensive analysis of the importance of epigenetics to health management.

   In several diseases, including all cancers, the epigenetic control of the genome is heavily distorted. Measuring these alterations provides a detailed picture of the disease-specific changes, which is often informative for distinguishing disease subtypes or identifying suitable treatments. Therefore, epigenetics has much to offer for improving disease treatment choice & diagnosis.

   Coverage of emerging topics including:

    The epigenome describes to the complete description of all potentially heritable modifications of the genome without any changes in primary DNA sequences. Epigenetic biomarkers can be widely defined as measurable modifications of the genome with preserved DNA sequence.

    Epigenetic manupulation and regulators represent potential molecular elements which control relevant physiological and pathological features, thereby contributing to the natural history of human disease. These epigenetic modulators can be used as disease biomarkers, since they show several advantages and provide information about gene function, thus explaining differences among patient endophenotypes.

    Noninvasive Epigenetic Markers can be used as biomarkers for the molecular diagnosis of following cancer:

   Plants are masters of epigenetic regulation. All of the major epigenetic mechanisms known to occur in eukaryotes are used by plants, with the responsible pathways elaborated to a degree that is unsurpassed in other taxa. The study of epigenetics in plants has a long and rich history, from initial descriptions of non-Mendelian gene behaviors to seminal discoveries of chromatin-modifying proteins and RNAs that mediate gene silencing in most eukaryotes, including humans.

   Unlike animals, plants stably inherit their DNA methylomes from one generation to the next. The resulting gene silencing likely hides an abundance of phenotypic variation.

    The epigenome is responsive to a wide range of environmental factors, including toxicant exposure, diet, stress, and socioeconomic circumstances. Traditional toxicological paradigms have relied on factors such as age, genetic polymorphisms, and disease status to identify variability in responsiveness to environmental toxicant exposure; however, these factors are neither sufficient to faithfully identify differentially responsive individuals, nor are they modifiable factors that can be leveraged to mitigate adverse health effects of toxicant exposures. An individual's epigenome, on the other hand, can be shaped by interactions with chemical and nonchemical aspects of the environment, giving it potential as a tool for the promotion of public health. The field of toxicoepigenetics is fastly evolving to provide novel insights into the mechanisms underlying exposure‐related susceptibility and disease.