Signatures and utility of epigenetic memory at enhancers

Abstract

Epigenetic memory is a vital cellular process. It regulates the inheritance of certain efficient traits of normal cells and the traits attained lately by the cells affected by diseases like Cancer from parents to daughter cells. Understanding the epigenome profile and how the molecular basis of epigenetic memory governed by histone modifications and other epigenetic markers are erased and re-established during cellular processes such as embryogenesis and cell differentiation in the stem cells, somatic cells as well as disease cells will have a significant impact in a deeper understanding of cellular development and diseases such as Cancer. Here we try to comprehend the influence of distinct epigenetic marks, such as histone modifications and chromatin accessibility, in defining the chromatin state for having active or poised enhancers, which further influences cell type and physiological condition. In our study, we hypothesize that these epigenetic marks present in active enhancers in the past may not remain bound; however, there might be several residuals left, which influences the physiological condition of the Cell in the present. A profound understanding of how these epigenetic marks in enhancers affect the chromatin state would play a crucial role in advancing the prognostics and diagnostics of disease states and help the advancement of targeted therapeutics for diseases.