DermaMeth: Human DNA Methylation Database for Genes Associated with Dermatological Disorders

Skin forms the most vital protection of human body, but often is subjected to aberrations in its appearance. Such changes in skin often manifest as a consequence of epigenetic changes, which though is an innocuous natural occurrence, can often lead to undesirable outcomes. The epigenetics, which result from common mechanisms like DNA methylation, Histone modification & Transcriptional gene silencing, influences the Phenotype instead of the Genotype. Several recent studies have indicated the role of inconsistent DNA methylation in inducing human diseases such as cancers, skin disorders, heart diseases and others. Realizing the significance of identifying the methylated genes and the condition they cause, we have developed a manually curated online database, DermaMeth. The said database provides the users, information on correctly the association of methylated genes with skin related diseases (SRD), besides delineating the interaction of Genes associated with Genodermatoses. The relevant data for the same has been sourced from multiple resources-electronic publications, specialized database and other repositories. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first online repository of methylated gene associated with dermal diseases. We believe that such database shall be useful to biomedical community in identifying novel genes and mechanisms associated with Genodermatoses.