Nanopore Sequencing the 5th BaseMarch 2, 2009For the pipette-jockeys out there who have been toiling away with tedious bisulfite sequencing runs, MS-PCR, or Me-DIP protocols: Hang in there! It looks like help might soon be on the way. A group of Oxford researchers just published a method that uses nanopore technology to sequence single molecules of DNA, including 5-methylcytosine, all without […]
Integrated Epigenetic Profiling in Primary Human CellsFebruary 25, 2009The Costello Lab at UCSF is another of the four Reference Epigenome Mapping Centers (REMCs, not to be confused with REM although I’m sure Michael Stipe would be very proud of the work going on at the REMCs). According to Dr. Joseph Costello, his lab will be rolling up their sleeves with scientists at UC […]
miRNA Regulation Checks and Balances in Organ AdhesionFebruary 23, 2009We’re all asking ourselves these days, “But who regulates the regulators?” For miRNA, the answer may just be a consortium of genes both living and dead. A group of Toronto researchers exogenously expressed versican 3’UTR (a potential target for miR-199a*) hooked up to a reporter construct. While expression of the luciferase or GFP reporter was […]
HITS-CLIP Cracks The FOX2 Splicing CodeFebruary 23, 2009As crafty as its animal namesake, the cell-type-specific RNA splicing regulator FOX2 slips in and out of the transcriptome, causing the inclusion of one exon here or the exclusion of another there, with no apparent rhyme or reason. However, researchers at the Salk Institute and the University of California, San Diego recently outsmarted FOX2 by […]
HistoneHits: A Must Have Compilation of Histone Mods for the Chromatin Researcher Who Has EverythingFebruary 19, 2009We often wonder what is in the top chromatin researchers iPod playlists. What gets them through those late night, seemingly countless ChIP assays. Although we hope Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby,” or Young MC’s “Bust a Move,” are represented, we know each of us has our own Greatest Hits. Recently, a team at Johns Hopkins […]
Oncogenic Viruses MethylomesFebruary 17, 2009To methylate, or not to methylate? That is the question. Whether ’tis nobler in the genome to suffer the onslaughts and diversions of oncogenic DNA viruses or, by inactivating, disguise them (from immune surveillance). When researchers used bisulfite sequencing to examine the methylomes of three double-stranded DNA viruses (Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV) 16 and 18, […]
Oh, Behave! How Chromatin Remodeling Regulates Behavioral ResponseFebruary 17, 2009Did your behavior at the lab holiday party elicit whispered comments, furtive glances, and snide snickers from co-workers the next day? Although we don’t know exactly what possessed you to dance on the boss’s coffee table wearing your DNA necktie as a headband, researchers have shown that some physiological and pathological behaviors result from epigenetic […]
miRNAs Adding Restraint to Alu DuplicationFebruary 17, 2009February 17th, 2009. Even in evolution there can be too much of a good thing. What if a transposon broke free and replicated whenever it wanted to, and integrated wherever it wanted to, unchecked? How long would the host be around? Such may have happened to Alu repeats in primates about 40 million years ago. […]
miRNA-29b at the Bedside?February 16, 2009Start stocking the miRNA-29b in your medicine cabinet. A group of researchers from The Ohio State University recently cranked out some great data demonstrating how miRNAs work to regulate DNA methylation in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), outlining a potential therapeutic use of mir-29b. The study reveals how miR-29b works by targeting DNA Methyltransferases (DNMTs), the […]
The miRNA Importin BizFebruary 10, 2009For all we know about miRNA – how it’s made, what it does, how it folds, … – comparatively little is known about how the Argonaute (Ago) proteins allow miRNA to do what it does. Yet thanks to a group out of Germany, we now understand a bit more of the machinery that lets miRNA […]