Bisulfite Sequencing in Plants: Tips for “Going Green”January 21, 2010Figuring out human DNA methylation patterns with bisulfite sequencing can be tough, but the complexities of plant DNA methylation can turn your lab into a Little Shop of Horrors. That’s because plants methylate cytosine residues not only in the CG sequence context, but also in CHG and CHH (where H is any nucleotide but guanine). […]
Cancer Suppression is a miR-200 Family ValueJanuary 21, 2010Cancer regulation and the miR-200 cluster has been a family affair for a while now. A new article from a group at The University of Arizona highlights a couple of family members, miR-200c and miR-141, (they must be the attention-starved middle children) and how epigenetic regulation of their expression differs in normal and cancer cells. […]
Getting Amped on Bisulfite ConversionJanuary 21, 2010Some of the biggest issues associated with bisulfite conversion aren’t really related to the bisulfite conversion process itself, but rather the downstream assays interpret the base conversion. After all, if a C is converted to a U in a test tube and nothing can assay it effectively, was in really converted? OK, enough bisulfite philosophy. […]
DNMT1 the Key to Radiant Skin?January 20, 2010The key to younger looking skin isn’t in expensive nip/tuck work or clay masks, but as a recent Nature paper shows, it’s actually DNMT1 that plays a major role. Thanks to DNMT1, whenever you shed dry skin, it is continually replaced with a new layer. That’s right—the same DNA methyltransferase that plays a role in […]
Epstein-Barr Virus is Crafty with DNA Methylation in LatencyJanuary 20, 2010The 80s TV show MacGyver featured a main character who was always able to get himself out of dangerous situations with just his wits and clever use of whatever materials happened to be lying around. In much the same way, EBV has figured out how to harness a host B cell’s DNAm machinery to modulate […]
More DNAm Data, Less Sample: Reduced Representation is No BSJanuary 13, 2010When someone tells you that they can save you time, money and sample, the magic trifecta for most scientists, your first thought is probably: “Bull&@%!”…your second thought might be: “Where do I sign up?” A new Nature Methods article from researchers at Broad, MIT, Harvard, and the Max Planck Institute promises to do just that […]
Two ES Cell Types Find Some Common GroundJanuary 6, 2010Coming from different backgrounds doesn’t make it impossible to find common ground. Just look at nuclear transfer-derived ES (ntES) and in vitro fertilized embryo-derived ES (IVFES) cells. Sure, they’re from different sides of the ES cell tracks, but as researchers from Michigan State University found out, once they’ve differentiated it hardly seems to matter. NtES […]
Zygotes Reboot On Paternal Methylation PatternsJanuary 6, 2010Kids often rebel against their parents as they grow up, and as it turns out, so do zygotes. Feeling “too cool” for their paternal sperm’s methylation patterns, zygotes assert their individuality by “rebooting” the inherited 5mCs and starting from scratch. But up until now, it was their little secret how they pulled it off. Researchers […]
RIP-Chip Tears Into miRNP Complex AnalysisJanuary 6, 2010Solving the mysteries of miRNA:mRNA interactions has been a tough case to crack. Correlation studies, and miRNA target prediction algorithms point us in the right direction, but their indirect nature is a little like going to trial with only circumstantial evidence. Researchers from University of Kentucky published a new paper demonstrating how RIP-Chip techniques can […]
Developing Technologies for Improved In Vivo Epigenetic Imaging/AnalysisDecember 15, 2009The NIH is opening up its wallet again for epigenetic technology development. $3.5M will be allocated in 2010 for developing in vivo epigenetic imaging and analysis technologies. According to the grant description, the NIH has recognized that “… the technologies available to determine the epigenetic state of tissues in vivo are extremely limited. The specific […]