Metabolic Inputs into the Epigenome

Publication date: 7 March 2017
Source:Cell Metabolism, Volume 25, Issue 3
Author(s): Upasna Sharma, Oliver J. Rando
A number of molecular pathways play key roles in transmitting information in addition to the genomic sequence—epigenetic information—from one generation to the next. However, so-called epigenetic marks also impact an enormous variety of physiological processes, even under circumstances that do not result in heritable consequences. Perhaps inevitably, the epigenetic regulatory machinery is highly responsive to metabolic cues, as, for example, central metabolites are the substrates for the enzymes that catalyze the deposition of covalent modifications on histones, DNA, and RNA. Interestingly, in addition to the effects that metabolites exert over biological regulation in somatic cells, over the past decade multiple studies have shown that ancestral nutrition can alter the metabolic phenotype of offspring, raising the question of how metabolism regulates the epigenome of germ cells. Here, we review the widespread links between metabolism and epigenetic modifications, both in somatic cells and in the germline.

Teaser

In this Perspective, Sharma and Rando discuss the wide variety of key roles that metabolites play in regulation of the epigenome, focusing first on mitotic epigenetic inheritance before exploring the less-understood role of epigenetic information in the germline.


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