Nutrition in Epigenetics

Mihai D. Niculescu is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health in Chapel Hill, and at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute in Kannapolis, North Carolina, USA. Paul Haggarty is Head of the Lifelong Health Programme, and the Nutrition and Epigenetics Group, at the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health in the University of Aberdeen in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Contributors vii

1. Introduction 1
Mihai D. Niculescu and Paul Haggarty

Part I: Fundamental Principles in Epigenetics

Section A: Epigenetic Mechanisms

2. DNA Methylation 13
Natalia V. Cucu

3. Chromatin Modifications 47
Sandra B. Hake

4. Roles of RNAi and Other Micro-RNAs in the Regulation of Epigenetic Processes 73
Muller Fabbri

5. Epigenetic Inheritance: Both Mitotic and Meiotic 87
Nina J. Kaminen-Ahola, Arttu I. Ahola, and Emma Whitelaw

Section B: Development Epigenetics

6. Developmental Epigenetics: Roles in Embryonic Development 107
Liliana Burlibas¸a and Lucian Gavrila

Section C: Epigenetic Mechanisms in Disease

7. Epigenetics, Nutrition, and Cancer 129
Amy R. Johnson

8. Metabolic Syndrome, Obesity, and Diabetes 145
Karen D. Corbin

9. Autoimmunity 165
Donna Ray and Raymond Yung

10. Cardiovascular Diseases 173
Aurelian Bidulescu and Methode Bacanamwo

Part II: Nutritional Status and Specific Nutrients

Section A: Maternal Nutrition and Fetal Development

11. Maternal Nutrition and Developmental Outcomes 193
Shannon L. Haley, Laurie J. Moyer-Mileur, Robert H. Lane, and Lisa A. Joss-Moore

Section B: Role of Specific Nutrients

12. Folate, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin B6 211
Patrick J. Stover

13. Dietary Choline, Betaine, Methionine, and Epigenetic Mechanisms Influencing Brain Development 225
Steven H. Zeisel

14. Epigenetic Regulation by Retinoids 241
Amandio Vieira

15. We Are What We Eat: How Nutritional Compounds Such As Isoflavones Shape Our Epigenome 249
Carlos M. Guerrero-Bosagna and Susan J. Clark

16. Isothiocyanates and Polyphenols 263
Nigel J. Belshaw and Ian T. Johnson

Section C: Macronutrient Intakes

17. The Effect of Maternal Macronutrient Intake on Phenotype Induction and Epigenetic Gene Regulation 275
Karen A. Lillycrop, Mark A. Hanson, and Graham C. Burdge

Section D: Environmental Exposures

18. Epigenetic Manifestation of Environmental Exposures 289
Dana C. Dolinoy, Olivia S. Anderson, and Laura S. Rozek

Section E: Epidemiology of Nutritional Epigenetics

19. Epigenetics, Nutrition, and Reproduction: Short- and Long-Term Consequences 311
Paul Haggarty

20. Nutrition, Epigenetics, and Cancer: An Epidemiological Perspective 329
Audrey Jung and Ellen Kampman

Index 345