Since publication of the first edition in 1995, there have been significant advances and understanding of chromatin structure and its relation to gene expression. These include a high-resolution structure of the nucleosome core, discovery of the enzymes and complexes that mediate histone acetylation and deacetylation, discovery of novel ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes, new insights into nuclear organization and epigenetic silencing mechanisms. In light of these advances, Chromatin Structure and Gene Expression (2ed.) includes updated chapters and additional material that introduce new concepts in the process of gene regulation in chromatin.

Epigenetic Gene Expression and Regulation reviews current knowledge on the heritable molecular mechanisms that regulate gene expression, contribute to disease susceptibility, and point to potential treatment in future therapies. The book shows how these heritable mechanisms allow individual cells to establish stable and unique patterns of gene expression that can be passed through cell divisions without DNA mutations, thereby establishing how different heritable patterns of gene regulation control cell differentiation and organogenesis, resulting in a distinct human organism with a variety of differing cellular functions and tissues. The work begins with basic biology, encompasses methods, cellular and tissue organization, topical issues in epigenetic evolution and environmental epigenesis, and lastly clinical disease discovery and treatment. Each highly illustrated chapter is organized to briefly summarize current research, provide appropriate pedagogical guidance, pertinent methods, relevant model organisms, and clinical examples. - Reviews current knowledge on the heritable molecular mechanisms that regulate gene expression, contribute to disease susceptibility, and point to potential treatment in future therapies - Helps readers understand how epigenetic marks are targeted, and to what extent transgenerational epigenetic changes are instilled and possibly passed onto offspring - Chapters are replete with clinical examples to empower the basic biology with translational significance - Offers more than 100 illustrations to distill key concepts and decipher complex science

The genomes of plants, animals and human consist of two components: euchromatin (representing the genes) and heterochromatin (consisting of non-coding DNAs). Unlike euchromatin, the biological role of heterochromatin is not known. To date, two types of chromosomal heterochromatin have been discovered: C- and Q-heterochromatin. C-heterochromatin is encountered in chromosomes of all higher eukaryotes, while Q-heterochromatin is present in only three higher primates: man, the chimpanzee and the gorilla. Wide variability of Q-heterochromatin has been shown to be mainly inherent in human populations. This study of Q-heterochromatin variability in natives of Eurasia and Africa highlights that interpopulation differences are related to physical environmental factors rather than to racial or ethnic features, and that the human ability to adapt to extreme conditions depends on the amount of Q-heterochromatin. The book also shows that Q-heterochromatin plays a role in the pathogenesis of certain forms of purely human pathologies such as obesity, alcoholism, addiction and atherosclerosis.

'The material included in Heterochromatin is impressively comprehensive and provides timely, authoritative information that would otherwise be difficult to obtain.' BioScience

Handbook of Epigenetics: The New Molecular and Medical Genetics, Second Edition, provides a comprehensive analysis of epigenetics, from basic biology, to clinical application. Epigenetics is considered by many to be the new genetics in that many biological phenomena are controlled, not through gene mutations, but rather through reversible and heritable epigenetic processes. These epigenetic processes range from DNA methylation to prions. The biological processes impacted by epigenetics are vast and encompass effects in lower organisms and humans that include tissue and organ regeneration, X-chromosome inactivation, stem cell differentiation, genomic imprinting, and aging. The first edition of this important work received excellent reviews; the second edition continues its comprehensive coverage adding more current research and new topics based on customer and reader reviews, including new discoveries, approved therapeutics, and clinical trials. From molecular mechanisms and epigenetic technology, to discoveries in human disease and clinical epigenetics, the nature and applications of the science is presented for those with interests ranging from the fundamental basis of epigenetics, to therapeutic interventions for epigenetic-based disorders. - Timely and comprehensive collection of fully up-to-date reviews on epigenetics that are organized into one volume and written by leading figures in the field - Covers the latest advances in many different areas of epigenetics, ranging from basic aspects, to technologies, to clinical medicine - Written at a verbal and technical level that can be understood by scientists and college students - Updated to include new epigenetic discoveries, newly approved therapeutics, and clinical trials

Over the past half-century, the central dogma, in which DNA makes RNA makes protein, has dominated thinking in biology, with continuing refinements in understanding of DNA inheritance, gene expression, and macromolecular interactions. However, we have also witnessed the elucidation of epigenetic phenomena that violate conventional notions of inheritance. Protein-only inheritance involves the transmission of phenotypes by self-perpetuating changes in protein conformation. Proteins that constitute chromatin can also transmit heritable information, for example, via posttranslational modifications of histones. Both the transmission of phenotypes via the formation of protein conformations and the inheritance of chromatin states involve self-perpetuating assemblies of proteins, and there is evidence for some common structural features and conceptual frameworks between them. To foster interactions between researchers in these two fields, the National Academy of Sciences convened an Arthur M.Sackler Colloquium entitled "Self-Perpetuating Structural States in Biology, Disease, and Genetics" in Washington, DC, on March 22-24, 2002. Participants described new phenomenology and provided insights into fundamental mechanisms of protein and chromatin inheritance. Perhaps most surprising to attendees was emerging evidence that these unconventional modes of inheritance may be common.