Mycotoxins contaminate all types of food and feed, threatening human and animal health through food chain accumulation, producing various toxic effects. Increasing attention is being focused on the molecular mechanism of mycotoxin-induced toxicity in all kinds of in vivo and in vitro models. Epigenetic alterations, including DNA methylation, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), and protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), were identified as being involved in various types of mycotoxin-induced toxicity. In this review, the emphasis was on summarizing the epigenetic alterations induced by mycotoxin, including aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), ochratoxin A (OTA), zearalenone (ZEA), fumonisin B1 (FB1), and deoxynivalenol (DON). This review summarized and analyzed the roles of DNA methylation, ncRNAs, and protein PTMs after mycotoxin exposure based on recently published papers. Moreover, the main research methods and their deficiencies were determined, while some remedial suggestions are proposed. In summary, this review helps to understand better the epigenetic alterations induced by the non-genotoxic effects of mycotoxin.
Keywords: DNA methylation; Epigenetic alterations; Mycotoxin; Non-coding RNAs; Protein post-translational modification.
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