epigenetics

Epigenetics and ncRNA Headlines

Get all the latest highlights from the literature and special features covering trending epigenetics, ncRNA, and gene regulation research.

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6mA Makes the Grade as a Eukaryotic Epigenetic Mark

May 12, 2015

There’s no denying that we love DNA methylation, so we are delighted to learn of another form of DNA methylation that has come on the scene as an epigenetic mark. N6-Methyladenosine (6mA or m6A) refers to the methylation of adenosine at its nitrogen-6 position, as opposed to 5mC and related oxidative marks (5hmC, 5fC, 5caC) that occur on […]

Upcycling the Epigenome in the Brain Help Neurons Stay in Touch

May 5, 2015

Upcycling is the latest of many green crazes where people keep hold of old furniture and instead of throwing it away, they repurpose it to give new life. It seems that the brain might be doing the same for methylation. It’s been a long held belief that DNA methylation is fixed in differentiated cells, yet there is […]

Catching RNA Polymerases in Action: New NETs for Higher Resolution

May 1, 2015

For a long time RNA polymerases did not get the credit they actually deserve. They have been viewed as muscle-cars at a drag race: Waiting for a start signal to race along the gene only stopping for the finish line. This view, however, has markedly changed with the development of high-throughput sequencing techniques such as […]

Get in the Loop of Antisense Mediated Transcriptional Regulation

April 30, 2015

Long non-coding RNA research isn’t just a load of HOTAIR; since their initial discovery long non-coding RNAs have revealed their importance in regulating the genome. One such insight is the observation that lncRNA express antisense transcripts, which are abundantly found either partially or completely overlapping with transcripts from the opposite strand. These have been shown […]

Finding Epimutations in the Genome Haystack

April 30, 2015

Trying to identify DNA methylation mutations with current technologies usually requires a lot of cells, making it a lot like hunting for a needle in a haystack. Getting down to looking at single cells is becoming possible, but requires you to look at the whole genome, making the hunt for epimutations difficult. Recent work from Silvia […]

Boosting Transcription with a Little Help from Histone Crotonylation

April 24, 2015

Every auto enthusiast knows that if you want to maximize the performance of your car, you’ve got to have the right parts in the right combination. While sometimes you may have to completely rebuild your engine, other times all you need is to upgrade to the latest system components. In a recent article published in […]

Pioneering Transcription Factors Wiggle Towards Pluripotency

April 24, 2015

Canoes, camels, cars and catamarans have carried human pioneers far and wide; taking us to undiscovered lands to encounter unseen beauty, encouraged by the hope of fame, glory, and a lust for adventure. How pioneer transcription factors brave the inhospitable exterior of a compacted DNA-histone complex to induce transcription of tightly guarded genes is, however, […]

Human Preimplantation Embryos Go Retroviral

April 24, 2015

Our genomes are littered with tales of our evolutionary past, including infections from retroviruses that have left their mark in the vast expanses of the human genome. While most of the endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) have lost their protein coding potential, a class of human specific ERVs (HERVs) still possess intact open reading frames. Inspired by […]

At Risk of Autistic Offspring? Sperm DNA Methylation May Hold the Answer

April 23, 2015

Finding the origin of complex disease is no easy task but now it seems a seminal breakthrough has occurred. Andrew Feinberg and team at the John Hopkins University Center for Epigenetics have found a DNA methylation pattern in the sperm of fathers with an increased risk of fathering autistic children that is also present in brains […]

The Differentiation Race: Not all Cells Move at the Same Speed

April 21, 2015

Christoph Bock discusses his recent paper ‘Single-Cell DNA Methylome Sequencing and Bioinformatic Inference of Epigenomic Cell-State Dynamics‘ published in Cell Reports. Epigenetic Regulation of Cell States In this first section Christoph tells us why he is interested in studying the epigenetic regulation of cell states and how his new method helps to look at the epigenetics of […]