LincRNA HOTTIP Gives Inside Info on Active Chromatin MarketsMarch 24, 2011In unsteady stock markets these days, who couldn’t use a hot tip to rev up their investments? Apparently, some HOXA genes also need a HOTTIP just as much as any Wall St. insider to help jump-start production. A recent Nature paper from talented teams at Stanford University and UCSF reveals that a long intergenic non-coding […]
Epigenetics in Evolution with Dr Eva JablonkaMarch 13, 2011Dr. Eva Jablonka discusses the role of epigenetics in evolutionary biology. This short take was shot during a break at Keystone Symposia’s meeting on Environmental Epigenomics and Disease Susceptibility held in March 2011 in Asheville, North Carolina. Epigenetics in Evolution Well, what I’m doing really is theoretical work, and I’m mainly interested in the evolutionary […]
5-Azacytidine: The Charlie Sheen of DNA Methylation Inhibitors?March 13, 2011As we’ve all recently witnessed, some actors have polished public images but are a mess in real life. After reading two recent papers by groups in Los Angeles and Turkey, it sounds like the same could be said of 5-azacytidine (Vidaza®). Mounds of clinical data now show that 5-azacytidine is a good treatment for blood […]
Enoxacin: The Undercover Cancer Fighter Rouses Dormant miRNAsMarch 11, 2011By day, it’s known as a mild-mannered antibiotic. But secretly, enoxacin may also have the power to take down cancer, which had remained hidden until now. A study just published in PNAS found that enoxacin, which is normally used to treat urinary tract infections, also prevents the growth and metastasis of colorectal tumors in mice. […]
miRNA Dysregulation Can Be a Real Heart-StopperMarch 11, 2011It’s been pretty well established that miRNAs really get their hands dirty with various affairs of the heart like development and function (not romance and relationships). So it stands to reason that when things start to go haywire with the heart, like a myocardial infarction (MI), that miRNA expression gets out of whack, too. Scientists […]
EpiGenie Interview: Dr. Randy Jirtle on Environment EpigenomicsMarch 10, 2011We caught up with Dr. Randy Jirtle to hear more about his transition from nuclear engineer to imprinting guru and chief publicist for Agouti mice. Dr. Jirtle is a co-organizer for the epigenetics star-studded Keystone Environmental Epigenomics and Disease Susceptibility Meeting that kicks off March 27th, 2011 in Asheville, North Carolina. In the interview he […]
Adiós Amnio: Noninvasive Down Syndrome Screening with Fetal DNA MethylationMarch 6, 2011Oscar winner Natalie Portman and other pregnant women may glow with hormones. But to-be-mamas lose some of that radiance at the thought of having a long needle dig into their bellies to check their unborn baby for Down syndrome. Now thanks to some intrepid researchers, pregnant women might be able to ditch the stressful prenatal […]
DNA Methylation Links Low Maternal Folate with Neural Tube DefectsMarch 1, 2011Increasing evidence supports that mom’s parental duties start way before birth. Make sure you do this…don’t do that, but don’t stress over it. It’s great to see researchers starting to get a hold of the “why” behind all the rules. Not getting enough folate from mom puts fetuses at risk for neural tube defects such […]
Stressed Out Moms MethylateMarch 1, 2011Raising babies is a stressful thing, made even more so when Mom herself is raised: a meter high on a Plexiglas platform, while she’s pregnant, that is. The effect on her kids – er, pups – is manifest in brain and body weight, in behavioral development, and even epigenetically. Researchers from the University of Lethbridge […]
miRNPs Offer Support to miRNA SeedsFebruary 28, 2011Everyone appreciates a little extra support now and then, and a new study shows that miRNAs, or more specifically their seed regions, do too. The report in NAR uncovered that micro-ribonucleoprotein complexes (miRNPs) get miRNAs ready to take care of their mRNA targeting business by shoring up the structure of miRNA seed regions, which is […]