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Review
. 2015 Mar;93(3):271-6.
doi: 10.1038/icb.2015.18.

Epigenomics of autoimmune diseases

Bhawna Gupta  1 , R David Hawkins  2
Affiliations
Review

Epigenomics of autoimmune diseases

Bhawna Gupta et al. Immunol Cell Biol. 2015 Mar.

Abstract

Autoimmune diseases are complex disorders of largely unknown etiology. Genetic studies have identified a limited number of causal genes from a marginal number of individuals, and demonstrated a high degree of discordance in monozygotic twins. Studies have begun to reveal epigenetic contributions to these diseases, primarily through the study of DNA methylation, but chromatin and non-coding RNA changes are also emerging. Moving forward an integrative analysis of genomic, transcriptomic and epigenomic data, with the latter two coming from specific cell types, will provide an understanding that has been missed from genetics alone. We provide an overview of the current state of the field and vision for deriving the epigenomics of autoimmunity.

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