The Big Picture : 5-hmC Content is Differentiation Dependent in Adult Tissues

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For me, well done immunolocalization images demonstrate scientific artistry. Last week I was pleased to find this paper, Global 5-hydroxymethylcytosine content is significantly reduced in tissue stem/progenitor cell compartments and in human cancers Oncotarget Sept. 2, 2011 (Haffner et al), posted on the Dr. Denise O’Keefe lab blog (E3 member). This research showed that fully differentiated adult tissues had the highest levels of 5-hmC, while stem cells had very low levels. There was uniform loss of 5hmC in cancer tissues, matched to normal adult tissues. Reductions in 5-hmC can occur independently of 5mC in solid tumors. Global loss of 5-hmC could be an early event of carcinogenesis. The work came … Continue reading →