Vitamin C Helps Cells Get their 5hmC OnApril 9, 2013Pass the SunnyD. According to a paper just out in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, may have a role in epigenetic regulation, specifically 5-hmC regulation. Gaofeng Wang at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and colleagues demonstrated that this critical dietary nutrient is involved in hydroxylation […]
Global Chromatin Dynamics Key in Stem Cell DifferentiationApril 5, 2013Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are experts are keeping their options open, and now a scientist reports how—it turns out that Oct-4 keeps chromatin in the right state to maintain pluripotency. In a single-author paper, Xuejun Parsons, who is at the San Diego Regenerative Medicine Institute and Xcelthera, lays it all out. She’d developed a […]
Investigating Long Distance Chromatin Interactions with Dr. Gerd BlobelApril 4, 2013Dr. Gerd Blobel discusses chromatin organization and the recent technology developments that have deepened our understanding of regulatory domains in the nucleus. Investigating Long Distance Chromatin Interactions So there have been phenomenal developments in our field which address the mechanism of chromatin organization. And I would argue that it’s like in the early days […]
DNA Methylation Covers Up Potential Polycomb Binding SitesApril 3, 2013Just like a bossy older sister, DNA methylation tells the Polycomb complex where it can and cannot bind. That’s the gist of a recent paper showing that removing DNA methylation actually frees up the Polycomb machinery to bind to new places, changing gene expression. DNA methylation is linked to Polycomb repression, but the question of […]
MethylEdge™: Bisulfite Conversion without FragmentationMarch 27, 2013Bisulfite conversion kits for DNA methylation studies are notorious for causing high levels of sample DNA fragmentation. What a pain. You may as well be flushing a portion of your hard-won samples down the sink. And the only way around it is to start off with more sample in the first place, which seriously limits […]
