The exploding field of epigenetics is challenging the dogma of traditional Mendelian inheritance. Epigenetics plays an important role in shaping who we are and contributes to our prospects of health and disease. While early epigenetic research focused on plant and animal models and in vitro experiments, population-based epidemiologic studies increasingly incorporate epigenetic components. The relevance of epigenetic marks, such as DNA methylation, genomic imprinting, and histone modification for disease causation has yet to be fully explored.This book covers the basic concepts of epigenetic epidemiology, discusses challenges in study design, analysis, and interpretation, epigenetic laboratory techniques, the influence of age and environmental factors on shaping the epigenome, the role of epigenetics in the developmental origins hypothesis, and provides the state of the art on the epigenetic epidemiology of various health conditions including childhood syndromes, cancer, infectious diseases, inflammation and rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, psychiatric disorders, diabetes, obesity and metabolic disorders, and atherosclerosis. With contributions from: Peter Jones, Jean-Pierre Issa, Gavin Kelsey, Robert Waterland, and many other experts in epigenetics!

Epigenetics is one of the fastest growing fields of sciences, illuminating studies of human diseases by looking beyond genetic make-up and acknowledging that outside factors play a role in gene expression. The goal of this volume is to highlight those diseases or conditions for which we have advanced knowledge of epigenetic factors such as cancer, autoimmune disorders and aging as well as those that are yielding exciting breakthroughs in epigenetics such as diabetes, neurobiological disorders and cardiovascular disease. Where applicable, attempts are made to not only detail the role of epigenetics in the etiology, progression, diagnosis and prognosis of these diseases, but also novel epigenetic approaches to the treatment of these diseases. Chapters are also presented on human imprinting disorders, respiratory diseases, infectious diseases and gynecological and reproductive diseases. Since epigenetics plays a major role in the aging process, advances in the epigenetics of aging are highly relevant to many age-related human diseases. Therefore, this volume closes with chapters on aging epigenetics and breakthroughs that have been made to delay the aging process through epigenetic approaches. With its translational focus, this book will serve as valuable reference for both basic scientists and clinicians alike. Comprehensive coverage of fundamental and emergent science and clinical usage Side-by-side coverage of the basis of epigenetic diseases and their treatments Evaluation of recent epigenetic clinical breakthroughs

This volume focuses on the relevance of epigenetic mechanisms in autoimmune disease. It provides new directions for future research in autoimmune disease.

This issue covers the latest developments in the understanding of rheumatoid arthritis at the early stage. Treatments such as with newer biologic agents and conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs are reviewed. Also included are articles on imaging modalities as a means of identifying those in the early stages and monitoring response to treatment.

This book will address the growing roles of epigenetics in disease pathogenesis, and review the contribution of epigenetic modifications to disease onset and progression. The roles that epigenetics plays in facilitating effects of the environment on allergy and immunologic diseases will be reviewed. The book is divided into three parts – the first is an introduction to epigenetics and the methods that have been developed to study epigenetics, the second addresses epigenetics in allergic diseases and the third part will cover epigenetics in autoimmune diseases. With the rapid expansion of knowledge of how genes are regulated and how this regulation affects disease phenotypes, this book will be attractive to experienced researchers as well as those just launching an epigenetics research program. It will also be of interest to allergist, immunologists, rheumatologists and dermatologist who are engaged in clinical practice as a resource for understanding the basis for personalized and precision medicine. For example, the role that epigenetics plays in the pathogenesis in various allergic and autoimmune disorders and how this determines disease phenotypes will be covered extensively in this book. This book will thus help fill the gap in available resources on epigenetics in allergy and autoimmune diseases.

Epigenetics of the Immune System focuses on different aspects of epigenetics and immunology, providing readers with the fundamental mechanisms relating to epigenetics and the immune system. This book provides in-depth information on immune cells as a toolbox in deciphering systematically regulated mechanisms using "omics" and computational biology approaches. In addition, the book presents the translational importance of epigenetics and the immune system in our understanding of pathophysiology in diseases and its therapeutic applications.

The growing knowledge about disturbances of epigenetic gene regulation in hematopoietic stem cell disorders is now being translated into treatment approaches that target the epigenetic defects pharmacologically. This book first presents the latest evidence regarding the epigenetic regulation of hematopoietic stem cell differentiation and hemoglobin production. The significance of DNA methylation abnormalities in hematopoietic disorders and of epigenetic disturbances in lung cancer and other solid tumors is then discussed. A major part of the book, however, relates specifically to the translation of basic research and drug development to clinical applications, and in this context both present and future clinical strategies are considered. Individual chapters are devoted to the use of DNA hypomethylating agents and chromatin-modifying agents, and the treatment of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors by means of epigenetic agents is discussed in detail.