In every cell, some specific genes are activated and some genes are suppressed, forming multiple gene expression patterns. In the process of epigenetic regulation, DNA sequence does not change, but gene expression can be genetically altered. Epigenetic changes include DNA methylation, histone modification and noncoding RNA action, genomic imprinting, maternal influence, gene silencing, nucleolar dominance, dormant transposon activation, etc. Fundamentally, epigenetic phenomena are the result of changes in genetic material in living cells caused by environmental factors. Epigenetic changes are caused by interactions between environmental factors and intracellular genetic material. The effect is achieved by regulating gene expression and controlling biological phenotypes. It is precisely because of the importance of epigenetic modifications in maintaining the internal environment and function of various organ systems that epigenetic abnormalities cause disease. This has become the focus of drug and treatment design.

Unlike diseases caused by changes in DNA sequences, many epigenetic changes are reversible. By means of epigenetic modulators, we can change the epigenetic inheritance of abnormal cells to achieve the purpose of treating diseases. Natural products have documented large structural diversity with unique and complex scaffolds with promising activity and selectivity profile for epigenetic targets. Traditional Chinese medicine can be used as an epigenetic regulator to achieve anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, tumor metastasis and recurrence prevention, improve tumor quality of life, and prolong survival time. Microorganisms can also regulate the physiological functions of the host during infection, and epigenetic regulation is an important regulation mode. Epigenetic regulation plays an important role in the host immune responses induced by microorganisms. Clarifying the mechanism of microbial epigenetic regulation on the host is conducive to the development of clinical targeted therapies, strengthening the clinical application of epigenetic modulators, and providing new strategies for the prevention and treatment of related diseases. Strong antioxidants such as polyphenols in fruits, green tea, curcumin, and soy isoflavones can obtain anticancer activity by regulating the patient's epigenome, thereby inhibiting proto-oncogenes or activating tumor suppressors.

This Special Issue welcomes original research and reviews which focus on this topic.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Traditional Chinese medicines as epigenetic modulating agents
• Microorganisms and their metabolites as epigenetic modulating agents
• Regulation of epigenetic regulation by animal or plant-derived components
• Implications of compounds of natural origin in disease-associated epigenetic mechanisms
• Epigenetics and network pharmacology associated with treatment with natural remedies
• Repurposing of natural products with epigenetic functions through an integrated –omics analysis