Affiliations 

  • 1 a Medical Genetics Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences , Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM , Serdang , Malaysia
  • 2 c School of Biosciences, Faculty of Science , University of Nottingham Malaysia , Semenyih , Malaysia
Biotechnol Genet Eng Rev, 2019 Apr;35(1):1-25.
PMID: 30514178 DOI: 10.1080/02648725.2018.1551594

Abstract

DNA methylation and histone modifications are vital in maintaining genomic stability and modulating cellular functions in mammalian cells. These two epigenetic modifications are the most common gene regulatory systems known to spatially control gene expression. Transgene silencing by these two mechanisms is a major challenge to achieving effective gene therapy for many genetic conditions. The implications of transgene silencing caused by epigenetic modifications have been extensively studied and reported in numerous gene delivery studies. This review highlights instances of transgene silencing by DNA methylation and histone modification with specific focus on the role of these two epigenetic effects on the repression of transgene expression in mammalian cells from integrative and non-integrative based gene delivery systems in the context of gene therapy. It also discusses the prospects of achieving an effective and sustained transgene expression for future gene therapy applications.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.