How Do Environmental Toxins Affect Histone Modifications?
Environmental toxins can cause significant changes in histone modifications, leading to altered gene expression patterns. For example, exposure to heavy metals like arsenic and cadmium has been shown to disrupt normal histone methylation and acetylation patterns. This disruption can lead to the activation or silencing of genes that are crucial for cellular homeostasis and can contribute to the development of diseases such as cancer.
