Epigenetics and Psychiatric Disorders

ABSTRACT

In the post-genomic era, the mechanisms controlling activation of genes are thought to be more important. Gene-environment interactions are crucial in both development and treatment of psychiatric disorders as they are complex genetic disorders. Epigenetics is defined as a change of gene expression that occurs without a change of DNA sequence and can be heritable by certain mechanisms. Epigenetic changes play essential roles in control of gene activation. DNA methylation, chromatin remodeling and RNAi act as key mechanisms for epigenetic modifications of genes. Here, we review the basic mechanisms of epigenetics and discuss their potential involvement of human diseases, including psychiatric disorders.