On Your Marks: Antibodies That Should be in Every Epigenetics Researcher’s FridgeJuly 15, 2009Chromatin is a complicated scene. Staying on top of who’s who in residue and degree-specific histone modifications and chromatin modifying proteins is more than a full time job. So, if you’re looking to jump start your investigations and pull down some quick hitting data, you’ll want to consider picking up on some quality antibodies targeting […]
Differentiation Got Your Chromatin in a Bind?July 8, 2009Euchromatin could be what gives stem cells their stemness. A screen for factors that both reduce embryonic stem (ES) cells’ ability to expand and diminish their expression of stem cell marker Oct4 yielded just one that hadn’t been seen before: the chromatin-remodeling enzyme Chd1. Chd1 recognizes di-or tri-methylated histone 3 at lysine 4 (H3K4me2/3) – […]
Wounds Make Polycomb Group Proteins (PcGs) SkedaddleJuly 7, 2009Ouch! Skinned knees and paper cuts are a fact of life—we’ve certainly had our share. But we’d never wondered what was going on in those wounds, unlike Paul Martin and Tanya Shaw at the University of Bristol. They have realized that wound healing is similar to embryogenesis, a process in which epigenetic mods are commonplace. […]
Lincd In: Large Intervening Non-Coding RNAs Expand their NetworksJune 25, 2009Last February, a team of standouts from the publication factory in Boston (aka Broad Institute), published work highlighting over 1,500 previously un-annotated genomic sequences that housed large intervening non-coding RNAs known as lincRNAs. These transcripts showed similar expression patterns as mRNA and they exhibited more conservation than neutral sequences, indicating they were probably functional, but […]
Imprints Can Be a Real TurnoffJune 24, 2009For at least 100 genes, only one of its alleles can be expressed right from the get-go while the other allele is shut down. This imprinted pattern remains throughout development. While cis-acting epigenetic elements have been implicated in the process, the research community doesn’t have enough evidence to conclusively pin the blame on any one. […]
DZNep Hints At New Wave Of Epigenetic Cancer TherapiesJune 15, 2009Although it may sound like the name of a DJ in a Vegas nightclub, DZNep is actually a histone methylation inhibitor, and has recently created some buzz when it was found to inhibit H3K27 and H4K20 methylation and reactivate silenced genes in cancer cells. Sensing the therapeutic possibilities, Peter Jones and his team at USC […]
Methylation and HDAC Inhibitors Rouse Cancer-Fighting miRNAs into ActionJune 11, 2009Recent advances in epigenetic therapy are promising, but their mechanisms of action and impact elsewhere in the epigenome remain a bit of a mystery. Armed with microarrays and ChIP assays, a talented team of Japanese researchers took a closer look at these approaches and found DNA methylation inhibitors and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors kill gastric […]
DNA Methylation: Thinking Outside the Promoter to Determine LineageJune 9, 2009Promoters get all the glory when it comes to gene regulation. Sure, they’re important, but save a little love for enhancers—they may help cells decide what to be when they grow up! Historically, most methylation studies have focused on promoters, but instead of giving all the attention to these spotlight hogs, researchers at University Hospital […]
Measuring Nucleosome Dynamics with CATCH-ITMay 25, 2009When he’s not running his lab up at the Hutch or co-editing epigenetics’ only open source journal, Epigenetics and Chromatin, Dr. Steve Henikoff tinkers a bit (ok…that might be a bit of an understatement). Credited with inventing a range of useful research methods that have streamlined processes from sequencing to computational prediction tools, the Chicago […]
What is Suppressing The Suppressors?: Modified CTCFs linked to silenced tumor suppressorsMay 20, 2009Looking for exotic enzymes to silence tumor suppressor genes? You might be searching in vain. Maybe try looking for heterochromatin instead. Salk Institute postdoc Michael Witcher was baffled by what made p16INK4a not tick in breast cancer cells. He fed the genetic sequence into some prediction software, but it wasn’t much help. So he did […]
