Abstract:
Background: Over the last decade, we have been able to understand the role of various genetic processes involved in the oral diseases. However, In past few years, much of stresses has been paid to understand the regulation of these genetic processes controlled by the epigenetic mechanisms. Epigenetic processes regulate the gene activity without altering underlying DNA sequences, through mechanisms including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and noncoding RNAs. These epigenetic processes are significantly associated with various oral health problems including periodontitis, oral cancer. Highlights: Different strategies like Genome-wide DNA methylation studies, microRNA based profiling studies, next-generation RNA sequencing analyses have been proven to be helpful in establishing the relationship among these epigenetic processes and gene expression. A few studies also suggest an emerging association of various epigenetic biomarkers in oral cancer and periodontal diseases. Conclusion: Epigenetic mechanisms are highly sensitive and reversible, thereby offers significant potential for their use to develop novel diagnostic tools, pharmacotherapies and personalized based treatment care. However, there is lack of integrated approaches combining epigenomics with proteomics and genomics comparing the usefulness of epigenetic biomarkers in oral health research.
