[DNA methylation in experimental ischemic brain injury]

Abstract

The enrichment of angioneurology with fundamental advances leads to the understanding of new important facets in the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia. The knowledge of epigenetic mechanisms in the development of stroke, in particular, DNA methylation, which makes a significant contribution to the development and formation of cerebral damage, is becoming more and more relevant. This review reflects an analysis of animal studies proving the relationship of DNA methylation with cerebral ischemia. As a result of the search work, 282 articles from the PubMed database were selected for keywords that corresponded to this topic. Of these publications, 8 studies were devoted to genome-wide DNA methylation, and 6 published the results of DNA methylation of candidate genes in experimental cerebral ischemia. The results have demonstrated that brain DNA methylation in animals is associated with the development of ischemic stroke and may play a role in several pathogenetic mechanisms. In two studies, a decrease in the level of DNA methylation in 2 genes in ischemic brain tissues of laboratory animals was found, at the same time, in four studies, 8 genes, in which methylation increased after ischemic stroke, were reported. These data suggest that the assessment of the level of DNA methylation in stroke is a promising biomarker for the search and improvement of pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods for limiting brain damage in ischemic and reperfusion injury at the stages of preclinical and clinical studies.

Keywords: DNA methylation; biomarkers; brain; epigenetics; ischemic stroke.