Environmental Fountain of Youth: Enrichment Prevents Aging-Induced DNA Methylation ChangesJuly 15, 2021A restricted diet, regular exercise at the gym, not drinking too much… Acts of deprivation and suffering are supposed to guide us on our quest to the foundation of youth. Thankfully, exciting new epigenetic findings show us that it’s time to learn a lesson from the hedonists by demonstrating how environmental enrichment protects us from […]
A Fishy Tale of Intergenerational Epigenetic Inheritance of DNA Methylation in a Foul EnvironmentJuly 5, 2021Although the impact of toxic exposure on our epigenome can leave a bad taste, a recent study into hydrogen sulfide transcends the senses by hitting the smell category too. Building on their previous fishy tale of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, the lab of Michael K. Skinner (Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA) recently explored a new species […]
Single-Cell ATAC-seq Shows that Chromatin Remodeling Allows Immune Cells to Remember COVID-19June 24, 2021While few will remember the last eighteen months with any great fondness, the memory of our immune cells represents a critical facet controlling long-lasting responses induced by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and exposure to vaccines. In an unforgettable study, researchers led by Liang Chen, Mark M. Davis, and Pengyuan Yang now demonstrate […]
How to Change Your (Mini) Mind: 5hmC’s Role in Neurodevelopment and Alzheimer’s DiseaseJune 13, 2021Although it may seem like neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration don’t have much in common, exciting new results on the dynamics of 5hmC in forebrain organoids may just change your mind. 5hmC is enriched in the brain, important in neurodevelopment, and suspected to be relevant to Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) progression. However, due to a lack of human samples and appropriate disease models it has been difficult to study how 5hmC distribution changes during early brain development and AD. In […]
An Inclusive EWAS Filters Through the Trans-ethnic and Ethnic-specific DNA Methylation Profiles of Kidney FunctionJune 11, 2021Diversity and inclusion are important components of our modern society, and epigenomics is no exception. To build on our knowledge of ethnic differences and similarities, an inclusive epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) of kidney function has come forth to filter the hits. A group led by Charles Breeze (National Cancer Institute) and Nora Franceschini (University of North Carolina) conducted […]
Caffeine Fix Showdown: The Impact of Coffee and Tea on DNA Methylation and Disease RiskMay 27, 2021While a mug of dark roasted coffee can jump-start your day and a cup of fragrant tea may soothe frayed nerves after a grueling session in the lab, a highly-caffeinated new study now shows that these hot beverages also impact human health by influencing DNA methylation. Previous caffeine-fueled studies have provided contrasting views on how […]
Where’s the Cancer Driver? MethSig Cuts Through the Background Noise to Identify Oncogenic Promoter HypermethylationMay 26, 2021As any TikTokker, Zoom presenter, or amateur photographer worth their salt can tell you, sometimes a good background is all you need to make your content really pop. It turns out that the same principle applies when trying to figure out which promoter DNA hypermethylation events drive tumor growth. MethSig, a new algorithm developed by Heng Pan in Dan Landau’s group at Weill Cornell Medicine, improves […]
Timing is Everything – Even for Maintaining the Global Epigenetic State of Human Cells!May 17, 2021They say that timing is everything – from the perfect golf shot to the most cutting joke – and now, a well-timed study establishes that DNA replication timing is everything when it comes to maintaining the global epigenetic state of human cells! Studies had previously described a link between the temporal order of DNA replication […]
scCUT&Tag: The Cutting Edge of Single-Cell Histone Modification ProfilingMay 11, 2021While we’re usually fans of shortcuts that make our lives easier, this exciting combination of accessible methods to profile single-cell chromatin modifications has our attention, no matter how you slice it. Chromatin profiling using cleavage under targets and tagmentation (CUT&Tag) allows you to investigate histone post-translational modifications and transcription factor occupancy, particularly when limited by […]
Fortune Telling with EPICOVID – A Novel DNA Methylation Signature that Predicts COVID-19 SeverityMay 9, 2021DNA methylation signatures can function somewhat like a fortune teller’s crystal ball – foretelling those patients with poor prognosis and helping to choose the optimal treatment strategy. By gazing into the crystal ball of the COVID-19 methylome, a fortune-telling team led by Manel Esteller (Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain) and Aurora Pujol (Bellvitge […]