Watch It: Sensitive 5-hmC Detection in ActionFebruary 1, 2011Hockey, Nascar, 5-hmC analysis…. Somethings are just better experienced in person. So if you’re in the market for pinning down 5-hmC in your studies, you’ll want to check out this short JOVE vid that show’s NEB’s EpiMark™ 5-hmC and 5-mC Analysis Kit tracking down 5-hydroxymethylcytosine levels in mouse Babl/C brain. Watch Video Click to view […]
Take a Bite Out of Cancer with the Epigenetics DietFebruary 1, 2011What’s your idea of a perfect meal? Whether you’re into the In-N-Out burger, fries, and milkshake trifecta, or you’re more of a “cleanse” type, the epigenetics enthusiast in you will be interested in a recent review by Trygve Tollefsbol and colleagues that reveals that certain foods contain ingredients that may prevent and treat cancer. Although […]
First Exon Methylation Gets Last Word On SilencingJanuary 31, 2011Arguments are often won by whoever gets in the last word, and while CpG Islands have made the most noise in the debate over how DNA methylation controls transcription, other gene regions like exons are now chiming in too. The classic model where methylated CpG Islands in promoters shut down transcription of a gene has […]
Ta-da! Blood Cells Transform into iPSCsJanuary 20, 2011Turning a cell into an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) is tricky. It turns out that blood cells have an edge—they already epigenetically resemble iPSCs. When U.S. and Chinese researchers poked around the DNA of human CD34+ cells from umbilical cord blood and adult blood, they found that the promoters’ methylation patterns looked a heck […]
KDM6B: H3K27me3 Demethylase Gone BadJanuary 19, 2011KDM6B is just your average histone demethylase that usually goes about its business stripping methyl marks from H3K27me3 without any drama. That is, until it gets a little out of control and starts demethylating genes associated with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (HL). Scientists at the University of Birmingham, UK were looking into the role of H3K27 demethylation […]
Stem Cells Can’t Hold Their LiquorJanuary 17, 2011Growing up, you always hear that drinking alcohol kills brain cells. According to a new report (not to mention a slow recovery from the EpiGenie New Year’s Eve Bash) there’s definitely some truth to that old adage. Researchers at Indiana University looked at alcohol’s effect on neural stem cells (NSCs) during development by running NSC […]
Chromatin: 2010 2nd Half Editor’s FavoritesJanuary 6, 2011Chromatin research keeps blowing up right along with the rest of the epigenetics field over the last six months or so of 2010. Here are some of our favorite Chromatin headlines covering things like chromatin remodeling, transcription ehancers, histone turnover and nucleosome positioning. Chromatin Remodeling The dynamics of nucleosome interactions and displacement during cellular processes […]
ncRNA: 2010 2nd Half Editor’s FavoritesJanuary 6, 20112010 is over, so we’ve decided to take a look back at some of the exciting non-coding RNA work that came out over the last half of the year on topics like iPS cells, miRNA sponges, cancer and biomarkers. Enjoy! miRNAs in iPS cells An important tool for stem cell research, induced pluripotent stem cells […]
DNA Methylation: 2010 2nd Half Editor’s FavoritesJanuary 6, 2011DNA methylation was heating up in the second half of 2010 in hot pursuit of determining roles for 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, creating bisufite alternatives and uncovering DNAm’s role in disease. Have a look at some of our favorite articles from the last six months: 5-hmC and Stem Cells Anytime you put together a new biological role for […]
Mitotic Bookmarking – Another Epigenetic Role for Protein Methylation?January 5, 2011In a past contribution from CH3 BioSystems, evidence for the role of protein methylation as a key epigenetic regulator in addition to DNA methylation was described. Since protein arginine methylation can produce important direct regulatory control over gene expression, it shouldn’t be surprising that it may also play a role in mitotic bookmarking, the latest […]