Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Variations upon Exposure to Engineered Nanomaterials and Their Implications in Nanosafety Assessment.

Sublethal exposure of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) induces the alteration of various cellular processes due to DNA methylation changes. DNA methylation variations represent a more sensitive fingerprint analysis of the direct and indirect effects that may be overlooked by traditional toxicity assays, and an understanding of the structure-activity relationship of DNA methylation upon ENMs would open a new path for their safer design.