miRNAs Driving the Evolution of the Regulatory CockpitMay 8, 2009Recent discoveries in the field of epigenetics continue to transform the “light switch” examples of gene regulation with which the 30+ crowd was schooled into something a little more complicated…like an airplane cockpit. We’re not talking your average Cessna either, more like an Airbus A380. Evidence from a number of miRNA studies have added them […]
miRNAs Get Well Deserved PromotionApril 30, 2009Since we launched EpiGenie, we’ve always considered ourselves big promoters of miRNA. Sure, we cover the big headers in chromatin and DNA methylation too, but it’s hard not to identify with these small, overlooked contributors… (OK enough with our high school sports sob stories). Once again we’ve been humbled by Mother Nature as a novel […]
The Ups and Downs of miR-145 and OCT4 in hESCsApril 30, 2009Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are delicate little creatures. Left to their own devices – especially in culture — they want to differentiate or die. By now you’ve probably heard of the intricate network of factors that allow these cells to retain their stemness – some, like the transcription factors OCT4 and SOX2, prevent differentiation […]
Fine-Tuning mRNA Deliveries with Alternative PolyadenylationApril 28, 2009The US Post Office tried it a few years back when they added those four extra digits onto our zip codes, allowing advertisers to target us with SPAM with utmost precision. At EpiGenie, we too, are always looking for simpler ways to pass along targeted information (RSS feeds, telepathy etc.,) to an ever-increasing population of […]
Polycomb and Trithorax Proteins Dominating the In CrowdApril 23, 2009At EpiGenie, we do our best to keep up with the latest research trends in the epigenetics scene so we couldn’t help but notice that lately, the Polycomb (PcG) and Trithorax (TrxG) proteins are grabbing more headlines than Octa-Mom. Deservingly so, when you consider the critical role these developmental switchboards play in maintaining expression patterns […]
Mining the TranscriptomeApril 17, 2009As the herculean genome sequencing efforts closed in on a draft of the human genome sequence back in 2000, the estimated numbers of “genes” that comprised our genome dropped quicker than the market cap of the biotech heavy Nasdaq after Clinton/Blair announced the sequences of these little gems would reside in the public domain. Shortly […]
Huh? miR-96 Tied to Hearing LossApril 17, 2009Over the years, mothers around the world have routinely warned their children of the imminent hearing loss resulting from too many Iron Maiden concerts, blasting Winger too loud on car stereos, or the permanently attached iPod earbuds that come standard with adolescents nowadays, but now we have scientific data to suggest our mothers and miR-96 […]
miRNA Promoter Elements Driving Cell-Specific ExpressionApril 10, 2009Whether you’re talking about real estate or miRNA expression, the phrase “location, location, location” expresses the undeniable importance of surroundings. Like protein-coding genes, miRNA genes can be turned on or off depending on the cellular context. However, mechanisms responsible for cell-specific miRNA expression are largely unknown because miRNA promoters are not as well characterized as […]
Promoter Targeted Small RNAs Lay a Big Smack Down on Gene Expression.March 31, 2009Sometimes to get the correct result, a researcher needs to knock a gene down. Not just a little knockdown, but like a Mike Tyson knockdown! (well, at least back in the days before the whole ear-biting thing.) Some clever scientists at The Scripps Research Institute may have found a way to do just that. By […]
RNAi Rescues DNA Methylation DefectsMarch 25, 2009Nowadays it seems like “interference” carries such negative connotations. RNAs aren’t really big meddlers. In fact, it’s RNAi that’s protecting genomes against the transgenerational loss of DNA methylation. A team of researchers in France and Spain has demonstrated that in Arabidopsis, the RNA interference (RNAi) machinery can remethylate target sequences that were hypomethylated by mutation […]
