Epigenomics: the science of no-longer-junk DNA. Why study it in chronic kidney disease?

YA Ko, K Susztak - Seminars in nephrology, 2013 - Elsevier
Epigenetics refers to functionally relevant modifications of the genome that do not involve a
change in the nucleotide sequence. Examples of such modifications are DNA methylation
and histone modifications. Both modifications serve to regulate gene expression without
altering the underlying DNA sequence. The epigenome encodes critical information to
regulate gene expression. The cellular epigenome is established during development and
differentiation and maintained during cell division. These instructions are different in each …