Affiliations: Graduate Program in Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA | Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA | Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Note: [] Correspondence to: Bethany B. Moore, Ph.D, 4053 BSRB, 109 Zina Pitcher Pl, Ann Arbor, MI 48103-2200, USA. Tel.: +1 734 647 8378; Fax: +1 734 615 2331; E-mail: bmoore@umich.edu
Abstract: Epigenetic regulation of gene expression is important for normal biological processes like immune cell development, immune responses, and differentiation from hematopoietic stem cells. Furthermore, it is well understood that epigenetic mechanisms can include methylation, histone modification, and more recently, microRNAs. Interestingly, aberrant epigenetic modification can also promote pathology in many diseases like cancer. The effects of methylation on gene expression and its resulting phenotype have been extensively studied. In this review, we discuss the inhibition of innate immunity that occurs in humans and animal models post-stem cell transplant. In addition, we highlight the changes methylation and microRNA profiles have on regulating pulmonary innate immune responses in the context of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in experimental animal models.
