Issue 18, 2022

Current progress in bionanomaterials to modulate the epigenome

Abstract

Recent advances in genomics during the 1990s have made it possible to study and identify genetic and epigenetic responses of cells and tissues to various drugs and environmental factors. This has accelerated the number of targets available to treat a range of diseases from cancer to wound healing disorders. Equally interesting is the understanding of how bio- and nanomaterials alter gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms, and whether they have the potential to elicit a positive therapeutic response without requiring additional biomolecule delivery. In fact, from a cell's perspective, a biomaterial is nothing more than an environmental factor, and so it has the power to epigenetically modulate gene expression of cells in contact with it. Understanding these epigenetic interactions between biomaterials and cells will open new avenues in the development of technologies that can not only provide biological signals (i.e. drugs, growth factors) necessary for therapy and regeneration, but also intimately interact with cells to promote the expression of genes of interest. This review article aims to summarise the current state-of-the-art and progress on the development of bio- and nanomaterials to modulate the epigenome.

Graphical abstract: Current progress in bionanomaterials to modulate the epigenome

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
01 Jul 2022
Accepted
15 Jul 2022
First published
21 Jul 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Biomater. Sci., 2022,10, 5081-5091

Current progress in bionanomaterials to modulate the epigenome

A. D. Y. Rhodes, J. A. Duran-Mota and N. Oliva, Biomater. Sci., 2022, 10, 5081 DOI: 10.1039/D2BM01027E

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