Computational Micromodel for Epigenetic Mechanisms

Authors

Karthika Raghavan, Centre for Scientific Computing and Complex Systems Modeling, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
Heather J. Ruskin, Centre for Scientific Computing and Complex Systems Modeling, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland,
Dimitri Perrin, Centre for Scientific Computing and Complex Systems Modeling, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
Francois Goasmat, Centre for Scientific Computing and Complex Systems Modeling, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
John Burns, Technological University Dublin, Tallaght, Dublin, IrelandFollow

Document Type

Article

Rights

Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Disciplines

1.2 COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

Abstract

Characterization of the epigenetic profile of humans since the initial breakthrough on the human genome project has strongly established the key role of histone modifications and DNA methylation. These dynamic elements interact to determine the normal level of expression or methylation status of the constituent genes in the genome. Recently, considerable evidence has been put forward to demonstrate that environmental stress implicitly alters epigenetic patterns causing imbalance that can lead to cancer initiation. This chain of consequences has motivated attempts to computationally model the influence of histone modification and DNA methylation in gene expression and investigate their intrinsic interdependency. In this paper, we explore the relation between DNA methylation and transcription and characterize in detail the histone modifications for specific DNA methylation levels using a stochastic approach.

DOI

https://doi.or/10.1371/journal.pone.0014031

Recommended Citation

Raghavan K., Ruskin HJ., & Perrin D. (2010). Computational Micromodel for Epigenetic Mechanisms. PLoS ONE, vol. 5, no. 11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014031