treating diseases with epigentic therapy Flashcards
why do we use epigenetic therapy
if disease are caused by epigenetic changes it is logical to use epigenetic treatment to counteract the changes
what do these treatment include
drugs to inhibit enzyme that lead to histone acetylation or dna methylation
how do drugs that inhibit dna methylation work
reactivates genes that have been silenced
what must be carful with and why
the epigenetic therapy must target cancer cells, or it can cause over activation of normal cells leading to cancer
how else has epigenetic been used
in the development of diagnostic test that helps detect early stages of disease such as cancer
what do these test do
they identify the levels of dna methylation and histone acetylation at early stage of a disease allowing those to seek treatment
