Monthly Archives: August 2012

Situational Stress Makes Short-Term Epigenetic Changes

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Chris Womack

Or so it appears, based on research by Gunther Meinlschmidt and colleagues. When they exposed 76 people to a stressful simulated social situation, they found changes in the methylation of two genes within an hour. What’s more, those two genes—oxytocin receptor (OXTR) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)—are important to human behavior. The oxytocin receptor conveys the hormone oxytocin’s effect at several sites in the body, including the brain. BDNF supports existing neurons, encourages their growth, and functions in memory and learning. The case isn’t perfectly conclusive yet, of course—with 76 subjects between 61 and 67 years old, the study could be larger. And the team measured gene methylation in blood samples—and not brain samples, of course—so it’s not clear that … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavioral Epigenetics, DNA Methylation | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

5hmC Regulates Cellular Differentiation

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Nicole Kelesoglu

What was once surprising is now established. DNA methylation is not static after imprinting. All genes are not silenced “forever” through DNA methylation.  But how does this dynamic and reversible mechanism work? As the hypothesis goes, 5hmC is a step in the de-methylation process initiated by Tet dioxygenases.  The news today is that 5hmC is more than just a quick step, it has function. In Dynamic hydroxymethylation of deoxyribonucleic acid marks differentiation-associated enhancers. (2012) Nucleic Acids Research, 1-11. A.A. Serandour & S. Avner et al. show that conversion of 5mC to 5hmC activates enhancers – even pointing to it as an early step in the enhancer activation process. Can we all say functional signalling mark? Some of you might be saying … Continue reading →

Posted in Cellular Biology, Conformation Capture, DNA Methylation, Genomewide Methylation Profiling, Histone Modifications, Hydroxymethylation, Methyl-specific Antibodies, Methylated DNA Capture, Next Gen Sequencing, Transcriptome microarray, chIP | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Epigenetics of Smoking During Pregnancy

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Chris Womack

Looking at around 474,000 CpG sites in cord blood from 1,062 newborns, a multi-institutional group of researchers took the first broad look at what happens epigenetically when pregnant moms smoke. Typical of epigenome scans, this one doesn’t make any clear links between methylation states and any diseases, though the researchers make a couple plausible connections, for example, suggesting that demethylation affects the AHRR gene’s role in fibroblast apoptosis in lungs. In any case, the data will be very useful to epigeneticists in general. Researchers from the NIH National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway, Duke University, and several other institutions published the paper online at the NIEHS website … Continue reading →

Posted in Applications, DNA Methylation, Developmental Biology, Gene Regulation, Genomewide Methylation Profiling, In Utero | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Detecting Gene Doping in Sports: MicroRNA biomarker sought

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Nicole Kelesoglu

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has committed $50 million US dollars to research since 2001 (see their grant applications & projects here).  Since 2007, some of those research funds have gone to the emerging problem of gene doping. Read about the first public evidence of gene doping, from the trial of the German track coach Thomas Springstein., in the NYT article Outlaw DNA. So what is gene doping? WADA defines it as “the transfer of nucleic acids or nucleic acid sequences’ and/or ‘the use of normal or genetically modified cells with the intention to enhance sports performance.” Gene doping is based on a vector containing a therapeutic gene coupled with a regulatory element, delivered to somatic cells either in, or … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Models, Bioinformatics, Biomarkers, Transcriptome, microRNA | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment