Epigenetic balance of aberrant Rasal1 promoter methylation and hydroxymethylation regulates cardiac fibrosis

Conclusion
Our study provides proof-in-principle evidence that transcriptional suppression of RASAL1 through aberrant promoter methylation contributes to EndMT and ultimately to progression of cardiac fibrosis. Such aberrant methylation can be reversed through Tet3-mediated hydroxymethylation, which can be specifically induced by BMP7. This may reflect a new treatment strategy to stop cardiac fibrosis.

Source: Cardiovascular Research - February 23, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Xu, X., Tan, X., Tampe, B., Nyamsuren, G., Liu, X., Maier, L. S., Sossalla, S., Kalluri, R., Zeisberg, M., Hasenfuss, G., Zeisberg, E. M. Tags: Cardiac biology and remodelling Source Type: research