The physics of epigenetics

Ruggero Cortini, Maria Barbi, Bertrand R. Caré, Christophe Lavelle, Annick Lesne, Julien Mozziconacci, and Jean-Marc Victor
Rev. Mod. Phys. 88, 025002 – Published 26 April 2016

Abstract

In higher organisms, all cells share the same genome, but every cell expresses only a limited and specific set of genes that defines the cell type. During cell division, not only the genome, but also the cell type is inherited by the daughter cells. This intriguing phenomenon is achieved by a variety of processes that have been collectively termed epigenetics: the stable and inheritable changes in gene expression patterns. This article reviews the extremely rich and exquisitely multiscale physical mechanisms that govern the biological processes behind the initiation, spreading, and inheritance of epigenetic states. These include not only the changes in the molecular properties associated with the chemical modifications of DNA and histone proteins, such as methylation and acetylation, but also less conventional changes, typically in the physics that governs the three-dimensional organization of the genome in cell nuclei. Strikingly, to achieve stability and heritability of epigenetic states, cells take advantage of many different physical principles, such as the universal behavior of polymers and copolymers, the general features of dynamical systems, and the electrostatic and mechanical properties related to chemical modifications of DNA and histones. By putting the complex biological literature in this new light, the emerging picture is that a limited set of general physical rules play a key role in initiating, shaping, and transmitting this crucial “epigenetic landscape.” This new perspective not only allows one to rationalize the normal cellular functions, but also helps to understand the emergence of pathological states, in which the epigenetic landscape becomes dysfunctional.

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  • Received 24 March 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.88.025002

© 2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Physics of Living Systems

Authors & Affiliations

Ruggero Cortini, Maria Barbi, and Bertrand R. Caré

  • Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 06, UMR 7600 LPTMC F-75005 Paris, France, CNRS, UMR 7600, LPTMC, F-75005 Paris, France, and Nuclear Architecture and Dynamics, CNRS GDR 3536, UPMC Université Paris 6, 75005 Paris, France

Christophe Lavelle

  • Nuclear Architecture and Dynamics, CNRS GDR 3536, UPMC Université Paris 6, 75005 Paris, France, and Genomes Structure and Instability, Sorbonne Universités, National Museum of Natural History, Inserm U 1154, CNRS UMR 7196, 75005 Paris, France

Annick Lesne

  • Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 06, UMR 7600 LPTMC F-75005 Paris, France, CNRS, UMR 7600, LPTMC, F-75005 Paris, France, and Nuclear Architecture and Dynamics, CNRS GDR 3536, UPMC Université Paris 6, 75005 Paris, France, and Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, CNRS UMR 5535, Montpellier, France

Julien Mozziconacci

  • Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 06, UMR 7600 LPTMC F-75005 Paris, France, CNRS, UMR 7600, LPTMC, F-75005 Paris, France, and Nuclear Architecture and Dynamics, CNRS GDR 3536, UPMC Université Paris 6, 75005 Paris, France

Jean-Marc Victor*

  • Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris 06, UMR 7600 LPTMC F-75005 Paris, France, CNRS, UMR 7600, LPTMC, F-75005 Paris, France, and Nuclear Architecture and Dynamics, CNRS GDR 3536, UPMC Université Paris 6, 75005 Paris, France, and Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, CNRS UMR 5535, Montpellier, France

  • *Corresponding author. Current address: LPTMC case courrier 121 Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris cedex 05, France. victor@lptmc.jussieu.fr

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Issue

Vol. 88, Iss. 2 — April - June 2016

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