ABSTRACT
Vitamin D has been shown to be an environmental factor which may play an important role in bone development from the fetal period onwards, perhaps through regulation of DNA methylation. Such work emphasises the importance of DNA methylation in epigenetic processes in bone metabolism, particularly with regard to loci implicated in cellular differentiation, cell cycle regulation and bone cell function, from early in development to older age. Therefore, there is evidence that DNA methylation at loci important for cell cycle regulation, differentiation and function of bone cells can have an impact on bone development and bone health throughout life. However, given the potential tissue specificity of epigenetic signals, the variation of such marks over time and the difficulty in differentiating cause from effect, the exact characterization of epigenetic mechanisms in disease etiology and pathology is a very complex process. Experimental work using cell culture and animal models is also required to document the detailed molecular processes, regulation and functional consequences.
