Epigenetic Hole-in-One: Methylation of a Single CpG Disrupts GATA-1 Binding and Regulates Gene ExpressionJune 11, 2020The GATA-1 transcription factor is like the Tiger Woods of the erythroid cell lineage, topping the leaderboard and driving the expression of important developmental genes. Other molecular competitors, like the NuRD complex, are already on the course, but a new study shows how methylation of a single CpG is able to score a hole-in-one to […]
Dynamic Modeling of DNA Methylation “Turnover” Reveals Tasty Epigenetic MorselsJune 11, 2020While the word “turnover” may send the culinary-minded to the kitchen and the business-savvy straight to the accounts books, epigeneticists studying the turnover of DNA methylation have been left between a rock and a hard place! Researchers are in this unappetizing predicament as while we can accurately paint a genome-wide picture of DNA methylation levels, […]
Distant Genomic Regions Meet at DNA Methylation Grand CanyonsJune 9, 2020CpG islands have been the best-known tourist destination in the epigenome for a long time, but if you’re looking for a change there’s a destination that all the rage: DNA methylation grand canyons. It is well known that DNA methylation at CpG islands is associated with transcriptional repression. However, the precise molecular mechanism linking DNA […]
Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance in Worms is A “Tail” of Two NucleotidesJune 2, 2020While the sprawls of London and Paris take center stage in the novel “A Tale of Two Cities,” we now seek to narrate an alternative epigenetic “tail” that tells all about two nucleotides! In this hefty tome, uridine and guanosine play the starring roles in a story passed down through generations and generations of worms; […]
A Rewired Metabolism Links the Aging Epigenome to Vision LossMay 16, 2020They say hindsight is 20/20, but for those of us looking over at a lifetime of memories, things might seem a little blurrier through our aging eyes. That’s because, unlike the fine wines, delectable whiskies, and smelly cheeses that we love to catabolize, the human epigenome tends not to age very well and a wide […]
