The Methylation Ultimatum in ImprintingAugust 7, 2008 Last week PLoS Genetics ran a great paper from Anders Lindroth and colleagues illustrating a mutually exclusive relationship between DNA Methylation and methylation of H3K27 in the a differentially methylation domain (DMD) of an imprinting control region (ICR). Now before we drop any more epi-breviations…. The area of focus in the study was a […]
miRNA Retention and EnhancementJuly 21, 2008miRNAs, the small but mighty inhibitors of complementary mRNA sequences, might be accused of having a Napoleon complex, but they don’t start out life itty-bitty—they are transcribed as long primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs). Cleavage by the RNase III-like enzyme Drosha in the nucleus releases a ~70-nt stem-loop structure (pre-mRNA), which is further processed by Dicer in […]
Mom, Methylation, and ObesityJuly 15, 2008Let the blame game begin. In addition to our lifestyle habits, our mothers could have something to do with those stubborn pounds that dont seem to shed. An interesting obesity studying involving DNA methylation has provided new evidence suggesting that obese moms give birth to kids who have a propensity to become even more obese. […]
Non-Invasive DNA Methylation Assay for Colorectal Cancer Now Available from LabCorpJuly 14, 2008Not even a month after announcing a reagent supply agreement with OncoMethylome Sciences, LabCorp has announced the commercial availability of the Methylation-Specific PCR Assay for monitoring the methylation status of Vimentin DNA. Marketed as ColoSure(TM) by LabCorp, the MSP Assay is being positioned for assessing any stage colorectal cancer in asymptomatic average risk patients who […]
That Stinks…Pollution Demethylating DNAJanuary 15, 2008As if making the air stink and harder to breathe wasn’t enough, researchers in Italy and Boston have found that when certain particulates from traffic exhaust increase, epigenetic effects can increase. They looked at the percent of methylated cytosines in Long Interspersed Nucleotide Elements (LINE-1) repeats, in leukocytes of elderly men taking part in a longitudinal study. […]