Open Access Influence of Toxicologically Relevant Metals on Human Epigenetic Regulation

Environmental toxicants such as toxic metals can alter epigenetic regulatory features such as DNA methyl-ation, histone modification, and non-coding RNA expression. Heavy metals influence gene expression by epigenetic mechanisms and by directly binding to various metal response elements in the target gene pro-moters. Given the role of epigenetic alterations in regulating genes, there is potential for the integration of toxic metal-induced epigenetic alterations as informative factors in the risk assessment process. Here, we focus on recent advances in understanding epigenetic changes, gene expression, and biological effects induced by toxic metals