Disrupted LADs Drive Epigenetic Alterations in Human Early-onset AgingJune 22, 2020The “driver” represents a crucial part of a successful Formula One team, a decent score at golf, and even a well-planned bank heist (!), and working out those factors that drive the onset of various diseases and disorders may provide critical mechanistic insight and even aid the development of novel therapeutic approaches. In the early-onset […]
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 […]
There’s More Than One Way to Scare A Mouse: Z-DNA and ADAR1 Add to Fear ExtinctionMay 5, 2020There’s already some histone modifications, and a dash of non-coding RNA, but new research adds another ingredient to the epigenetic recipe of fear memories and it’s called Z-DNA! Z-DNA occurs when the DNA molecule forms a left-handed double helix rather than the right-handed structure that we’re used to. This inside-out conformation is enriched at actively […]
Adolescent Cannabis Use Primes an Epigenetic Gateway to Cocaine AddictionMay 2, 2020When it comes to preparing for a future situation, our epigenome usually has our back; however, sometimes epigenetic alterations can prime some undesirable responses as a result of environmental exposure. With legalization occurring in many states and nations, research into how cannabis alters our epigenome has entered the spotlight. We have recently seen that cannabis […]
Dop(Ey)mine: The Seventh Dwarf Of Histone Modifications Makes A Big Impact In The BrainApril 19, 2020Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the newest histone modification of all? We know that methylation, acetylation, phosphorylation, ubiquination, and even citrullination have been toiling away in the chromatin mines, but a new study from the brainy team who discovered serotonylation suggests that dopamine is also hard at work on histone tails, where it highlights […]
Micro-C and Single-Cell Hi-C Provide Macro Chromosome Conformation InsightsApril 11, 2020Genome-wide chromosome conformation capture analyses, such as Hi-C, have provided us with snapshots of the large-scale spatial architecture of mammalian genomes, describing chromatin compartments, topologically associating domains (TADs), and CTCF– and cohesin-mediated chromatin loops in many cell types. However, the resolution of Hi-C-based protocols, limited by the size and uniformity of chromatin fragmentation, represents a […]
Phase Separation – The Next Generation for Epigenetic Modifications?March 27, 2020It may sound like a term straight out of a science fiction program such as Star Trek, but liquid-liquid “phase separation” is actually one of the hot new topics in epigenetics. Phase separation of proteins with certain characteristics leads to the formation of biomolecular liquid “droplets” that concentrate the levels of some proteins/factors while excluding […]
Not Aging Gracefully? Two Epigenetic Regulators May be to BlameMarch 16, 2020In the last 50 years, there has been a ~20% increase in global life expectancy but interestingly, there has not been a corresponding increase in the number of healthy years lived. Lubin Jiang and Shi-Qing Cai at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Shanghai, China) sought to understand that disparity by examining the genetic factors involved […]
ChromID Helps Us Understand How Epigenetic Pots Find Their Protein LidsMarch 16, 2020The old saying “every pot will find its lid” suggests that a match exists for everyone looking for love, you just have to get out there and find your perfect partner! Online-dating may help scientists to find their significant other from the bench side; however, current laboratory approaches for the identification of protein-binding partners for […]
EpiGenie Guide: Chromatin ShearingMarch 6, 2020ChIP-Seq has transformed the field of epigenetics, providing unprecedented resolution and coverage for surveying protein- DNA interactions. Powerful, high-throughput sequencing is credited with most of the benefits, but there’s a lot more that goes into ChIP-Seq than sequencing. Chromatin shearing is one of the first critical steps in the ChIP-Seq workflow. Depending on your approach, […]
