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Review
. 2017 Oct 12:8:144.
doi: 10.3389/fgene.2017.00144. eCollection 2017.

Epigenetics in the Eye: An Overview of the Most Relevant Ocular Diseases

Hanan A Alkozi  1 , Rafael Franco  2   3 , Jesús J Pintor  1
Affiliations
Review

Epigenetics in the Eye: An Overview of the Most Relevant Ocular Diseases

Hanan A Alkozi et al. Front Genet. .

Abstract

Sight for mammals is one of the most appreciated senses. In humans there are several factors that contribute to the increment in all kind of eye diseases. This mini-review will focus on some diseases whose prevalence is steadily increasing year after year for non-genetic reasons, namely cataracts, dry eye, and glaucoma. Aging, diet, inflammation, drugs, oxidative stress, seasonal and circadian style-of-live changes are impacting on disease prevalence by epigenetics factors, defined as stable heritable traits that are not explained by changes in DNA sequence. The mini-review will concisely show the data showing epigenetics marks in these diseases and on how knowledge on the epigenetic alterations may guide therapeutic approaches to have a healthy eye.

Keywords: cataracts; dry eye; eye diseases; glaucoma; keratoconus.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Representative scheme of eye diseases showing the estimated percentage of heritability as well as the percentage of non-inheritable factors some of which lead to specific epigenetic patterns in cataracts, glaucoma, and ocular surface diseases.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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