How to Tame the MethylomeOctober 18, 2010So many ways to analyze genomic DNA methylation, so little time (and money). With so many choices available these days it’s not easy to figure out the best method to use for methylome studies. A new survey of two Nature Biotechnology papers by Stephan Beck from the UK’s University College London puts together the vital […]
miRNA Sponges Making a Big SplashOctober 15, 2010A few years back synthetic miRNA decoys, nicknamed “miRNA sponges”, were developed as an innovative new way to inhibit miRNA activity by bumping up the number of miRNA targets to “soak up” a specific miRNA. Now recent reports are popping up showing evidence that naturally occurring miRNA sponges have been around all along, we just […]
miRNAs Host New Variety ShowOctober 5, 2010If variety is the spice of life, then miRNAs are a bowl of 3-alarm Texas chili. A new study in the journal RNA used NextGen sequencing techniques to reveal that miRNAs show quite a bit of sequence variety, even within individual miRNA species. The research, conducted by Lik Wee Lee and colleagues at the Institute […]
Who Says Dnmt1 is Only a Maintenance Methyltransferase?October 5, 2010While investigating the in vitro activity of DNA methyltransferases on annealed oligonucleotide substrates, Australian researchers recently found that murine DNA methyltransferase I will quite happily methylate non-CpG sites in DNA bubbles. Jason Ross and Peter Molloy from the CSIRO, in collaboration with Japanese researchers from the Institute for Protein Research in Osaka, observed a high […]
Do Transcription Factors Occupy All their Binding Motifs in the Genome? Not quite.October 4, 2010A British team of researchers recently decided to take closer look at the role of DNA methylation in conserved consensus motifs. Dr. Roger Foo from the Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge was nice enough to share a bit about their approach that recently published in BMC Genomics (Sept 2010) last week. Transcription factors recognise […]
