Allele-Specific Modifications: A Tale of Two EpigenomesSeptember 24, 2008It was the best of times, it was the worst of times-one parental allele was transcribing like gangbusters and the other was permanently stalled. Each of us carries a set of genetically distinct chromosomes from mom and dad, and increasing evidence indicates that the two parental genomes also have widespread epigenetic differences. Â But how can […]
Structural Effects of Histone MethylationSeptember 24, 2008The methylation of histones at specific sites has been linked to both transcriptionally active and repressive chromatin. However, the structural basis for these effects has been difficult to study because homogeneous populations of methylated histones were not available for x-ray crystallography. This situation changed recently with the development of a method to introduce modifications such […]
miRNAs: The New Addition to the Biomarker BuffetSeptember 16, 2008Human blood serum is cellular buffet of different biological molecules sampled continuously from every tissue of the body. So it’s not surprising that many researchers have attempted to identify biomarkers in serum that reflect a particular physiological or disease state. Most of these potential biomarkers are proteins (important-yes, exciting-not really), but Zvi Bentwich, Ayelet Chajut, […]
The Many Faces of the miRNA-Argonaute ComplexSeptember 16, 2008Some might recall playing with Mr. Potato Head as a child (or maybe earlier this morning). By sticking different noses, mouths, eyes, shoes, or other accessories on the basic potato head module, you could generate a variety of silly-looking spuds. Similarly, the interaction of different accessory proteins with the miRNA-argonaute complex might determine the fate […]
DNA Methylation, miRNAs, and MetastasisSeptember 9, 2008OK this one is a week old, but we love a paper that addresses epigenetic regulation of epigenetic regulators, so we couldn’t resist a recent PNAS report that identified a miRNA DNA methylation signature for human cancer metastasis. Like proteins, miRNAs act as oncogenes, tumor suppressors, and metastatic mediators, and their expression can be influenced […]