Epigenetic mechanisms regulate cellular gene expression potential without changing the genetic code. Like the genetic sequence, epigenetic marks are faithfully transmitted during mitosis and are... Show moreEpigenetic mechanisms regulate cellular gene expression potential without changing the genetic code. Like the genetic sequence, epigenetic marks are faithfully transmitted during mitosis and are generally stable in differentiated cells, but in contrast with the static genome, the epigenome retains the capacity for dynamic changes in each individual cell. Epigenetic variation is therefore a topic of interest for research on ageing and its related common diseases. In this thesis we focus on DNA methylation, which is the most studied layer of epigenetic information,and is correlated to the other epigenetic layers. We used a combination of successive studies to investigate aspects of variation in DNA methylation, various sources generating such variation and its relation with risk for myocardial infarction (MI) at candidate loci for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases Show less
