Epigenetic Editing Misses the Mark: dCas9-DNMT3A Causes Off-Target Genome-Wide DNA HypermethylationFebruary 12, 2018While we’ve been captivated by the powerful applications of precision epigenetic editing via deactivated Cas9 (dCas9), we’ve also been mesmerized by the fact that epigenetic editing doesn’t always work as expected. Building on our need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, new findings from the lab of Alexander Meissner at […]
Epigenetic and Mitochondrial Clocks Synchronously Accelerate with Bipolar DisorderJanuary 18, 2018A wise man once said that time is relative, and while physics was on his mind, it seems that biology should have been as well. For instance, patients with bipolar disorder suffer from accelerated aging. However, examinations of telomere length have given mixed results, and this inspired the lab of Joao Quevedo in the University […]
Single-Cell DNA Methylomes Reveal the Reprograming Secrets of Early Human EmbryosJanuary 16, 2018You’ve heard before that timing is everything, and this is doubly true in developmental biology. New research out of Fuchou Tang’s lab (Peking University, Beijing) singles in on the timing of methylation changes during embryonic development, and exposes the delicate epigenetic dance of global demethylation and targeted remethylation. Tang’s lab is no stranger to embryonic […]
TET Proteins: Defending Differentiation by denying de novo Methylation!December 13, 2017I don´t overeat! I’m not lazy! I’m not eating the agar plates when I´m working in the lab late, honest! Psychologists consider denial as one of our most primitive defense mechanisms and recent studies of epigenetic defense mechanisms in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) by the labs of Olivier Elemento (Weill Cornell Medical College) and Danwei […]
Hit-and-Run Epigenetic Editing Helps Breast Cells Evade Cycle ArrestDecember 11, 2017While a hit-and-run typically leads to an arrest, in the world of epigenetic editing it turns out to be the key to evading cell cycle arrest (senescence) and promoting the transformation of a law-abiding cell into a cancerous criminal! The hypermethylation of promoters at the wrong time and wrong place is a trademark of cancer, […]
One-Carbon, One Long Life: Methyl Donors Linked to LongevityNovember 22, 2017While manipulating DNA methylation has taken up most of our lifespans, the manipulation of methyl donors critical to this process may just be the key to making up for the lost time. During one-carbon metabolism, the essential amino acid methionine is metabolized into S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), a methyl donor responsible for DNA and histone methylation. Donation of […]
An endosiRNA Trap Shoots Down the Transposable Element Rebellion of Embryonic DevelopmentNovember 12, 2017During early embryonic development, our genome lets down its DNA methylation defenses and becomes vulnerable to rebellious transposable elements (TEs). However, those rebel scum are quickly met with a barrage of endogenous short interfering RNAs (endosiRNAs), all before they realize even realize that “It’s A Trap!” The mechanism of this cunning tactic employed by our […]
Your Brain on Stress: The Role of Dynamic DNA 6mA ModificationOctober 30, 2017Stress has a way of getting under our skin, where it can sink in so deep that it modifies our brain’s DNA. While it can alter DNA cytosine modifications, such as 5-methylcytosine (5mC), a new role for the N6-methyladenine (6mA) modification in stress response has now emerged. DNA 6mA has recently made the grade as […]
UBE3A Networks with Other Imprinted Genes to Shape Neurodevelopment and AutismOctober 24, 2017Networking shapes our brains in many ways; whether it be in a professional, social, or genomically imprinted fashion. Linking us into the latter, new findings from the lab of Janine LaSalle at the University of California, Davis, uncover a hub in an imprinted gene network critical to neurodevelopment. The imprinted 15q11-q13 locus is involved in […]
Neuron-specific Methylome Analysis Reveals BRCA1 as a New Pathogenic Contributor to Alzheimer’s DiseaseOctober 23, 2017Whether it is for the billing of a new film, the release of an album, or in the understanding of the pathogenesis of a disease, figuring out who the contributors are and what role they play represents an important first step. In the case of the sporadic neurodegenerative disorder Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), we know that […]