Epigenetics Book Reviews and Chapter SummariesJune 6, 2012Over the last year EpiGenie has reviewed a couple of the latest epigenetics textbooks for the site. As good citizens of the earth, we of course looked for ways to recycle the books (and the knowledge inside of them) once our writers were done with them. So, we sent our copies out to readers and […]
Variable Methylation Regions and Missing Heritability with Dr. Andrew FeinbergMay 10, 2012Dr. Andrew Feinberg discusses how epigenetics might be related to missing heritability of disease via variable methylation regions. This interview was shot on campus at Johns Hopkins University. Variable Methylation Regions and Missing Heritability So a conundrum in modern human genetics is how epigenetics might be related to missing heritability of disease, what’s commonly […]
HPV Integration Brings Cancerous Changes to the DNA MethylomeMay 9, 2012Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) can protect against many forms of the virus, which can cause cervical cancer. But not everyone gets vaccinated, and there’s still a risk of becoming infected with an HPV type that the vaccination doesn’t cover. Early epigenetic events associated with HPV infection are still mysterious, so researchers in the United […]
Pregnancy-linked miRNA Cluster in Exosomes May Spark AdenomasMay 9, 2012We’ve all had things come back and haunt us—like our high school yearbook picture (the horror!). Now, researchers in Germany say they hypothesize that the same thing could happen with a chromosome 19 miRNA cluster. These miRNAs appear to dampen a mother’s immune response to a developing fetus, but the researchers think that this “immunomodulatory” […]
Colon Cancer Signs on the Dotted Line with Epigenomic Enhancer SignatureApril 16, 2012Handwriting experts say that someone’s signature reveals a lot about their personality. Whether these analyses are “scientific” is debatable, but researchers in Ohio and New Hampshire have evidence that they’ve identified a signature of enhancer histone modifications that points to colon cancer. Mono- and dimethylated H3K4 marks many classes of enhancers, so the team did […]
BrdU Kicks Out DNA Methylation and Kicks Off Stem Cell DifferentiationMarch 7, 2012For many things in life, convenience comes at a cost. Like living in a great city with everything at your doorstep, but the rents are sky-high. A new report says that the use of BrdU, a popular tool for detecting replicating cells (such as neural stem cells in the brain), also comes with a cost, […]
Valproic Acid Derivatives and Cisplatin: Better TogetherJanuary 10, 2012Like PB&J or Brangelina, some things are just better together. Now a new study suggests that combining derivatives of the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor valproic acid with the chemotherapy drug cisplatin may kill human lung cancer cells better than either drug alone. HDAC inhibitors such as valproic acid show great promise as treatments for a […]
EpiGenie Review: Non-coding RNAs and miRNAs in CancerDecember 9, 2011Based on the latest research, the cancer::non-coding RNA conncection is undeniable. It’s just all the specifics around things like miRNA regulation that are still left to be understood. While dedicated epigenetics investigators are hard at work solving those mechanistic riddles, we’ve decided to take a look back at what’s been learned so far. Here are […]
Hypermethylated Pockets within Hypomethylated Genomic Regions Defines Cancer CellsDecember 5, 2011What makes a cell become a cancerous? We’d all love to know that, right? Well, new research has gotten a little bit closer to figuring out key epigenetic differences between cancer and normal genomes. It turns out that the DNA methylation patterns of these cells differ drastically, no surprise there, but it’s the genomic context […]
EpiGenie Review: Chromatin’s Role in CancerNovember 7, 2011There’s lots of attention, not to mention several therapeutics, focused on chromatin’s part in cancer. Take a look at some of the research featured in EpiGenie that makes chromatin such a hot topic with cancer researchers. The Role of Chromatin in Cancer Epigenetic Changes in a Hard-to-Treat Childhood Cancer A very difficult-to-treat childhood leukemia may […]