摘要
Chinese medicine（CM） has contributed to human health care for several thousand years and is still popular in Asian countries. But the mechanisms underlying CM remain obscure, and need to be clarified by modern biological subjects and methods. Recently, CM researches on epigenetics have gained obvious improvement following rapidly developed molecular technologies. In this review, we revealed mutual characteristics of epigenetics and CM, such as holism, yin-yang dynamic nature, reversibility and balance, and visceral manifestation. Moreover, epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation, histone post-transcriptional modifications, micro RNA interference, etc. may help explore the molecular basis of CM syndrome classification, and mechanisms of Chinese herbal medicine（CHM）, CHM compounds and Chinese herbal formulae activities. Meanwhile, CM and epigenetics might promote each other and jointly develop following the continuous progress of epigenetics in CM researches.
Chinese medicine（CM） has contributed to human health care for several thousand years and is still popular in Asian countries. But the mechanisms underlying CM remain obscure, and need to be clarified by modern biological subjects and methods. Recently, CM researches on epigenetics have gained obvious improvement following rapidly developed molecular technologies. In this review, we revealed mutual characteristics of epigenetics and CM, such as holism, yin-yang dynamic nature, reversibility and balance, and visceral manifestation. Moreover, epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation, histone post-transcriptional modifications, micro RNA interference, etc. may help explore the molecular basis of CM syndrome classification, and mechanisms of Chinese herbal medicine（CHM）, CHM compounds and Chinese herbal formulae activities. Meanwhile, CM and epigenetics might promote each other and jointly develop following the continuous progress of epigenetics in CM researches.
基金
Supported by the Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.81330084)
"085"First-Class Discipline Construction Innovation Science and Technology Support Project of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine(No.085ZY1206)
E-Institutes of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission(No.E 03008)
