Category Archives: Mass Spec

Sirtuin3 Reprograms Mitochondrial Epigenetic Pathways: How Diet Affects Age

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Nicole Kelesoglu

When it comes to acetylation and epigenetics your mind probably goes right to histones. Acetylated histones are associated with relaxed, transcriptionally active DNA. However, acetylation is an important post-translational modification of lysine in many cellular proteins. It is as widespread as phosphorylation. It is reversable. Functionally, acetylation is known to be involved in the effects of calorie restriction on metabolism and aging. Now the first direct evidence of a mechanism underlying this process has been reported. The journal Molecular Cell has recently published Calorie Restriction and SIRT3 Trigger Global Reprogramming of the Mitochondrial Protein Acetylome, authored by scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Tokyo. They used model mice with age-related hearing loss for this study. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Models, Mass Spec, Regenerative Medicine | 1 Comment

O-GlcNAcylation Epigenetic Mark is Palatable Research

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Nicole Kelesoglu

It’s well known that modern high calorie, sugary diets correlate with increasing rates of diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s in particular), and cancers. Metabolic dis-regulation is associated and SUSPECT in all of these health problems. There are already over 14,000 records in the E3 Epigenetics publication database containing the word ‘Metabolism’. Researchers hope to show direct epigenetic events, leading to these disease outcomes. One such link, is the post-translational modification (PTM), O-GlcNAcylation. With the recent development of O-GlcNAc antibodies (thanks partially to grant initiatives by NCI in 2010), and improved mass spec techniques, the study of this unique type of sugar based PTM has become palatable. NIH scientists John A. Hanover, Michael W. Krause and Dona C. Love have just … Continue reading →

Posted in Cellular Biology, Enzymology, Gene Regulation, Genetics, Histone Modifications, History & Trends, Mass Spec, Metabolism, Nutrigenomics, O-GlcNAcylation | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Parasitic Use of Our Epigenome

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Nicole Kelesoglu

One of the “perks” of pregnancy is hearing from your doctor that you should not be cleaning the kitty litter tray. Wait a second! What did you just say? Can you write that one down in an authoritative doctor’s note, please? Reason being – that if you have never been infected before, a primary infection from Toxoplasma cysts in cat feces can (rarely) be transmitted through the placenta to your baby. Apparently about a 1/3 of adults have antibodies against the parasite, Toxoplasma gondi. The infection is usually fairly insignificant. However, this infection becomes life threatening for those with poor immune systems. Think about those in the womb, post-chemotherapy or AIDS patients. Let’s face it, you cannot prevent “Fluffy” from … Continue reading →

Posted in Acetylation, Applications, Flow Cytometry, Histone Modifications, Histones, Immunology, Mass Spec, Microarray, Transcriptome, chIP | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Identical Twins are Not Identically Imprinted : Epigenome in Context of the Genome

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Nicole Kelesoglu

As is the case with their fingerprints, imprinted genes are NOT identical in identical twins. In fact, methylation levels vary notably, yet randomly, in localized imprinted regulatory regions, between MZ twins. Even cooler, a new epigenetics clue came out of demonstrating this imprinting variability. This month in PloS one, the collaborators from the Garvin Institute, the University of Nijmegen Medical Centre, the Queensland Institute of Medical Research and St. Vincent’s Clinical School, University of NSW, produced the paper Impact of the Genome on the Epigenome Is Manifested in DNA Methylation Patterns of Imprinted Regions in Monozygotic and Dizygotic Twins. by Marcel W. Coolen et al. Blood samples from 128 pairs of identical, and 128 pairs of fraternal teen aged twins, … Continue reading →

Posted in Autism, Bioinformatics, DNA Methylation, Developmental Biology, Divergent Transcription, Gene Regulation, Gene Silencing, Genomewide Methylation Profiling, In Utero, Mass Spec, Methylation Specific PCR, Next Gen Sequencing, Sodium Bisulfite Sequencing, Transcriptome microarray | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Evaluating Multiple Biomarker Signatures – a Translational Science Endeavor

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Nicole Kelesoglu

Let’s chat about how important it is to consider epigenetics in the context of nature’s conversations – so to speak.  The systems biology research model assesses complex diseases by considering the interactions amongst multiple layers of dynamic biological processes.   When it comes to biomarkers for personalized medicine, the endgame will be defining values to the multiple types of profile signatures (i.e genomic, epigenomic, proteomic, etc) in the story.  Quite the project.  The trend here is to have collaboration conversations. If you are interested, please take time to read this brilliant review on blood based diagnostics, Emerging biomarkers-blood-based strategies to detect and monitor cancer. by Hanash, Baik & Kallioniemi.  Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology (March 2011).The authors suggest a causal model for … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomarkers, Diagnostics, History & Trends, Mass Spec, Oncology, Personalized Medicine, Translational Research, microRNA | Tagged , | Leave a comment