Main description:

Epigenetic Biomarkers and Diagnostics comprises 31 chapters contributed by leading active researchers in basic and clinical epigenetics. The book begins with the basis of epigenetic mechanisms and descriptions of epigenetic biomarkers that can be used in clinical diagnostics and prognostics. It goes on to discuss classical methods and next generation sequencing-based technologies to discover and analyze epigenetic biomarkers. The book concludes with an account of DNA methylation, post-translational modifications and noncoding RNAs as the most promising biomarkers for cancer (i.e. breast, lung, colon, etc.), metabolic disorders (i.e. diabetes and obesity), autoimmune diseases, infertility, allergy, infectious diseases, and neurological disorders.

The book describes the challenging aspects of research in epigenetics, and current findings regarding new epigenetic elements and modifiers, providing guidance for researchers interested in the most advanced technologies and tested biomarkers to be used in the clinical diagnosis or prognosis of disease.

Contents:

Preface Jose Luis Garcia-Gimenez

1. Epigenetic Biomarkers: New findings, perspectives, and future directions in diagnostics Jose Luis Garcia-Gimenez, Toshikazu Ushijima, and Trygve O. Tollefsbol

2. The importance of Biobanks in epigenetic studies Lorena Peiro-Chova, Olga Bahamonde Ponce, Carolina Abril-Tormo, Jacobo Martinez-Santamaria, Jose Antonio Lopez-Guerrero and Peter H.J. Riegman

3. Epigenetic Mechanisms as Key Regulators in Disease. Clinical Implications Abdelhalim Boukaba, Jose Luis Garcia-Gimenez

4. The evolution of new technologies and methods in clinical epigenetics research Tandy L. Dolin Petrov and Nicole C. Riddle

5. Biomarkers and methodologies for monitoring epigenetic drug effects in cancer Marianne B. Treppendahl, Lasse Sommer Kristensen and Kirsten Gronbaek

6. Genome-wide techniques for the study of clinical epigenetic biomarkers Eneda Toska and F Javier Carmona Sanz

7. Sequenom MassARRAY technology for the analysis of DNA methylation. Clinical applications Enrique J. Buso and Marisa Iborra

8. The role of Methylation-specific PCR and associated techniques in clinical diagnostics Fang Zhao and Bharati Bapat

9. Pyrosequencing and its application in epigenetic clinical diagnostics Ana-Maria Florea

10. Mass spectrometry for the identification of post-translational modifications in histones and its application in clinical epigenetics Roberta Noberini, Alessandro Cuomo and Tiziana Bonaldi

11. High-throughput analysis of non-coding RNAs: implications in clinical epigenetics Valerio Costa, Maria R Matarazzo, Miriam Gagliardi, Roberta Esposito, Alfredo Ciccodicola

12. Circulating non-coding RNAs as clinical biomarkers Francesco Russo, Flavia Scoyni, Alessandro Fatica, Marco Pellegrini, Alfredo Ferro, Alfredo Pulvirenti and Rosalba Giugno

13. DNA methylation biomarkers in lung cancer Juan Sandoval and Paula Lopez Serra

14. DNA methylation alterations as biomarkers for Prostate Cancer Joao Ramalho-Carvalho, Rui Henrique, Carmen Jeronimo

15. DNA methylation in breast cancer Raimundo Cervera, Alberto Ramos, Ana Lluch and Joan Climent

16. DNA methylation in obesity and associated diseases Ana B Crujeiras and Angel Diaz-Lagares

17. DNA Methylation Biomarkers in Asthma and Allergy Avery DeVries and Donata Vercelli

18. DNA Methylation in Pregnancy Complications Deepali Sundrani, Vinita Khot and Sadhana Joshi

19. Epigenetics in Infectious Diseases Genevieve Syn, Jenefer M. Blackwell and Sarra E. Jamieson

20. DNA Methylation in Neurodegenerative Diseases Sahar Al-Mahdawi, Sara Anjomani Virmouni and Mark A. Pook

21. The histone code and disease: post-translational modifications as potential prognostic factors for clinical diagnosis Nicolas G. Simonet, George Rasti and Alejandro Vaquero

22. Histone Post-Translational Modifications and Chromatin Remodelers in Prostate Cancer Filipa Quintela Vieira, Diogo Almeida-Rios, Ines Graca, Rui Henrique and Carmen Jeronimo

23. Histone post-translational modifications in breast cancer and their use in clinical diagnosis and prognosis Luca Magnani, Annita Louloupi and Wilbert Zwart

24. Histone variants and post-translational modifications in spermatogenesis and infertility Juan Ausio, Yinan Zhang and Toyotaka Ishibashi

25. Circulating histones and nucleosomes as biomarkers in sepsis and septic shock Jose Luis Garcia Gimenez, Carlos Roma Mateo, Marta Seco Cervera, Jose Santiago Ibanez Cabellos and Federico V. Pallardo

26. Chromatin landscape and epigenetic signatures in neurological disorders: emerging perspectives for biological and clinical research Pamela Milani and Ernest Fraenkel

27. MicroRNAs deregulation in lung cancer and their use as clinical tools Paula Lopez-Serra and Juan Sandoval

28. Circulating Nucleic Acids as Prostate Cancer Biomarkers Claire E. Fletcher, Ailsa Sita-Lumsden, Akifumi Shibakawa and Charlotte L. Bevan

29. microRNAs in breast cancer and their value as biomarkers Olafur Andri Stefansson

30. microRNAs in bone and soft tissue sarcomas and their value as biomarkers Tomohiro Fujiwara, Yu Fujita, Yutaka Nezu, Akira Kawai, Toshifumi Ozaki, Takahiro Ochiya

31. miRNAs in the pathophysiology of diabetes and their value as biomarkers Eoin Brennan, Aaron McClelland, Shinji Hagiwara, Catherine Godson and Phillip Kantharidis