Clamping Down on Affinity ReagentsAugust 4, 2009U of Chicago protein engineer Shohei Koide knows there’s biology beyond the genome. Adding a methyl group onto a histone here, or an acetyl group onto one there, can change the way genes are expressed. There’s gotta be a reliable way of finding those postranslational mods in the first place, though, right? That’s why he […]
DNA Repeats; More Than Just Broken RecordsJuly 30, 2009Roughly half of the human genome is made up of repetitive DNA sequences, and yet their repetitive nature has made their study as difficult to decipher as James Brown lyrics on a scratched record. Recent evidence shows chromatin regulation of DNA repeats playing a role in gene regulation, genome integrity and chromosome maintenance, so scientists […]
Patience is Key to RNA Pol II Relationship with NucleosomeJuly 30, 2009here’s been lots of buzz about nucleosomes and RNAs lately. In fact, just last week EpiGenie reported that transcription initiation RNAs (tiRNAs) might be formed as RNA Pol II hits a nucleosome and backtracks. Nucleosomal post-transcriptional mods can cause RNA Polymerase II to pause or abort, while others can kick transcription into high gear. But […]
One Small SNP for miRNA, One Major Impact on Gene RegulationJuly 29, 2009Not that we’re trying to downplay the magnitude of getting peeps on the moon, but when you consider the amount of gene regulation that can be packed into a confined miRNA-target interaction one small step for man seems kinda 40yr old hat. It’s no wonder that single base changes in miRNAs and/or their targets can […]
Chromatin’s Flex in Restricted Calorie DietsJuly 23, 2009Starve a mouse and its aging processes slow to a crawl. Same thing goes for yeast and beast alike – the effects of calorie reduction (CR) on longevity are conserved throughout the eukaryote evolution. The benefits of caloric reduction in mammals have grabbed the headlines of mainstream media routinely in recent years. The July 10th […]
tiRNAs Emerge from FANTOM4July 22, 2009As deep sequencing platforms displace Nintendo’s Wii as the most popular toy in the research community, labs are discovering new varieties of RNAs at a dizzying pace. The latest edition, transcription initiation RNAs (tiRNAs), were recently identified by scientists at the University of Queensland in Australia, and published in Nature Genetics last April, by mining […]
How You Are Conceived Makes a Difference in Your EpigeneticsJuly 22, 2009Ahem! What we mean is that being conceived in a dish versus the natural way can affect the methylation of your DNA. Previous studies suggested that the less romantic method of putting sperm and egg together in vitro (assisted reproduction technology; ART) resulted in a higher risk of birth defects and rare disorders that involve […]
CLIPped Mouse Testes Reveal Novel Class of Small RNAsJuly 16, 2009Fish with germ cell-specific bait, and you get a new class of RNA. U Penn researchers CLIPped (Cross-Linked and ImmunoPrecipitated) mouse testis extract with the anti-DNA/RNA-binding protein MSY2, and caught a whole bunch of novel ~30 nt RNAs. While about 7% of these were known piRNAs, most came from a distinct class of testicular RNAs […]
NIH Digs into the Diet Movement with New Epigenetics Research GrantsJuly 16, 2009Nowadays it seems like everybody’s on some kind of a diet. Until recently, even public funding for epigenetic research had been leaner than a movie star on the South Beach diet. But with last year’s funding of the Roadmap Initiative and yesterday’s release of grant applications for the study of diet and epigenetics, things are […]
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 […]