Chromatin: 2011 Editor’s FavoritesJanuary 11, 2012Chromatin definitely left it’s mark in 2011, making big advances with applications in cancer, stem cell, environmental, and autism research, just to name a few. Check out our favorite chromatin articles from 2011 to help you get ready for what’s coming in 2012. Histone Harm from Nickel Exposure It’s been known for a while that […]
Valproic Acid Derivatives and Cisplatin: Better TogetherJanuary 10, 2012Like PB&J or Brangelina, some things are just better together. Now a new study suggests that combining derivatives of the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor valproic acid with the chemotherapy drug cisplatin may kill human lung cancer cells better than either drug alone. HDAC inhibitors such as valproic acid show great promise as treatments for a […]
MiRNA Workout Helps Lower HypertensionJanuary 10, 2012Getting the heart pumping with a little exercise is good for the body—it lowers blood pressure and helps fight off heart disease. That makes getting fit a popular New Year’s resolution, but still no one really understands the molecular mechanism that’s behind the scenes. Now, reports show that exercise’s benefits may be due to its […]
Getting Down to Histone Antibody SpecificsDecember 15, 2011Histone antibody specificity has been the topic of publications as well as discussions at meetings and conferences (probably water coolers and coffeemakers, too) within scientific community recently. Clearly, antibody specificity is important to researchers, but what are vendors doing to address it? To get an idea of what goes into making better histone antibodies we […]
5fC & 5caC Follow Up Strong in 5hmC SequelDecember 14, 2011Life was simpler back when there were only four bases. Nowadays researchers studying DNA methylation have to keep track of four methylCytosine derivatives alone, and the research is just starting to heat up. The last couple of years the TET family of proteins has proven effective at catalyzing 5-methylcytosine (5mC) into 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), apparently as […]
