Down is the New Up: Single Base-Pair Methylome Maps of CancerJune 29, 2017Navigating the highly variable features behind the epigenomic basis of cancer is no easy task: What’s up is down, what’s down is up! Thankfully, to aid our quest, the lab of Manel Esteller at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) in Spain has brought forth a map as massive as the DNA methylation changes behind […]
eBook: Key Chromatin Players | H3K4June 24, 2017Histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) is one of the most widely studied histone modifications. Acetylation (H3K4me) and various degrees of methylation (H3K4me) of this residue are involved in countless processes. In general, H3K4 modifications are associated with active transcription. Recent research has further characterized these roles as well as identified new functions. This ebook covers […]
Epromoters: Two Great Regulatory Functions for the Price of One!June 19, 2017Not many people can resist the allure of the ubiquitous neon signs promising fantastic two-for-the-price-of-one offers that promise to double the value of their hard-earned cash. Interestingly, these bargain offers also seem to be a feature in the human genome as a subset of promoters provide extra value by also acting as enhancers for other […]
HDACking Histone Acetylation With dCas9-HDAC3June 12, 2017Hacking the epigenome is no easy task. Each deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) system boasts its own nuances that must be teased apart before we can crack the histone code with its suite of effector domains. When it comes to histone acetylation, we’ve seen the histone acetyltransferase construct dCas9-p300, which writes H3K27ac to activate gene expression. However, […]
Tea Beats Coffee as a DNA Methylation Caffeine Fix in WomenJune 10, 2017There’s no denying that caffeine fuels epigenetic discovery, but now a recent epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) offers up a different epigenetic perspective about your daily caffeine fix. This creative rush comes at you from a European collaboration led by Uppsala University (Sweden). The team brewed up the first epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) of coffee and […]