Epigenetics being seen as a way to go forward on many mystery diseases.
29 October 2008

Adding methyl (-CH3) groups and taking methyl groups away from DNA is how the body causes cells to specialize their function. From generalized embryonic what are called pluripotent cells capable of anything to special tissue specific only functioning cells involves clumping methyl groups around gene sections on the DNA.

This process is called epigenetics because it doesn't change the genes, only their expression. The methyl groups shut down unwanted genes for any given tissue. Epigenetics is very interesting for those in the health field because it is the link between cell environment, diet, pollution, hormone action and gene behavior.

Well guess what. Drs Michael Poulter and Hymie Anisman and their associates have found ten percent higher methylation in suicide victims than in normal brain tissue. Furthermore the methylation shuts down an essential neurotransmitter receptor that governs behavior.

What this means for depression is in these cases at least, suicide is probably an epigenetic process, and perhaps it can be treated with drugs that affect gene specific methylation. This neurotransmitter can also be increased by drug therapies targeted specifically to increase receptor function.

This is very exciting news in the treatment of depression for it offers lasting hope of effective treatment. It might be possible to try implanting phages with activated receptors. We know that drugs affect behavior and now the possibility that they work by methylation is added to the clinical bag of goodies.

It also opens the door to the study of pollution's impact on behavior. How for example does mercury cause insanity? Well, it turns out we have a fabulous hint. Benzopyrene affects methylation strongly and it is present in cigarettes. This is a strong hint suggesting pollution can affect behaviour by epigenetic alteration of normal mythlation of DNA.

This discovery is proof of the brains malleability throughout life and also provides an link between environment and behavior and probably many other mystery diseases.

How for example, is the immune system primed to target specific antigens? Is it also epigenetic and if so then aberrant targeting where the immune system attacks normal healthy tissue may be reversible. Wonderful discovery! Good work guys. For more information on epigenetics see this site:
http://www.epigeneticstation.com/

Jormawankenobe
© 2008 J. Jyrkkanen