What is Suppressing The Suppressors?: Modified CTCFs linked to silenced tumor suppressorsMay 20, 2009Looking for exotic enzymes to silence tumor suppressor genes? You might be searching in vain. Maybe try looking for heterochromatin instead. Salk Institute postdoc Michael Witcher was baffled by what made p16INK4a not tick in breast cancer cells. He fed the genetic sequence into some prediction software, but it wasn’t much help. So he did […]
miRNA Discovery: Algorithms, Sequencing and Life Outside miRBaseMay 12, 2009Back in the early days, they were these interesting “genes” with names like “lin” and “let” that appeared highly involved in developmental timing, so much so that they were called small temporal RNAs (stRNAs). A lot more has changed in the field of miRNA discovery than naming mechanisms since those early days when the first […]
miRNAs Driving the Evolution of the Regulatory CockpitMay 8, 2009Recent discoveries in the field of epigenetics continue to transform the “light switch” examples of gene regulation with which the 30+ crowd was schooled into something a little more complicated…like an airplane cockpit. We’re not talking your average Cessna either, more like an Airbus A380. Evidence from a number of miRNA studies have added them […]
miRNAs Get Well Deserved PromotionApril 30, 2009Since we launched EpiGenie, we’ve always considered ourselves big promoters of miRNA. Sure, we cover the big headers in chromatin and DNA methylation too, but it’s hard not to identify with these small, overlooked contributors… (OK enough with our high school sports sob stories). Once again we’ve been humbled by Mother Nature as a novel […]
The Ups and Downs of miR-145 and OCT4 in hESCsApril 30, 2009Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are delicate little creatures. Left to their own devices – especially in culture — they want to differentiate or die. By now you’ve probably heard of the intricate network of factors that allow these cells to retain their stemness – some, like the transcription factors OCT4 and SOX2, prevent differentiation […]
