Category Archives: Microarray

Methylome Data in Lethal Prostate Cancer Supports Personalized Medicine

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Nicole Kelesoglu

Recent surprising evidence has shown that metastatic tumors usually do not vary in their genomes within an individual. Yet, these tumors behave differently at different sites around the body. Does that mean that epigenetic profiling will be too variable to target for cancer treatment? In a word, no. Martin J. Aryee et al., from Johns Hopkins, have published their work in DNA Methylation Alterations Exhibit Intraindividual Stability and Interindividual Heterogeneity in Prostate Cancer Metastases in Science Translational Medicine. They looked at methylation signatures, including total methylation and allele-specific methylation (ASM) in lethal metastatic prostate cancer, among tumors from 24 donors. Methylated DNA was enriched from the genomic DNA using a Methyl-CpG Binding Domain (MBD) -based capture. Their MBD-SNP assay provided … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomarkers, Epigenome, Methylated DNA Capture, Microarray, Oncology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Will the Long History of Breast Cancer Research Culminate with Epigenetics Based Personalized Medicine?

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Nicole Kelesoglu

In the first century A.D, Roman family Greek slaves were surgeons. Celsus wrote an encyclopedic describing their methods in latin, laying a foundation for scientific literature on medical practice and surgery. The idea of diagnosis became paramount at this time, requiring close study and record keeping of injury and disease symptoms. It was understood that some breast cancers could be extirpated with breast removal. In the 19th century, after anesthesia and antisepsis had been established, (thank heavens!) a Johns Hopkins Hospital surgeon named William Stewart Halsted introduced, perhaps, the greatest advance to breast cancer treatment. The radical mastectomy. Throughout beast cancer history, the best prognosis post treatment, seemed to be based on early stage diagnosis. (1.) Today we have exceptional … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomarkers, Breast cancer, Clinical Studies, DNA Methylation, Genomewide Methylation Profiling, History & Trends, Microarray, Personalized Medicine, Transcriptome | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Trangenerational Epigenetic Inheritance: An Environmental Toxin Exposure & Stress Combinational Phenotype

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Nicole Kelesoglu

How much of an expert are you on environmental toxins and epigenetic inheritance? Practically everyone is aware of DTT. Many of us are aware of the plasticizer BPA. But how many of us are aware of vinclozolin? If you work in the field of epigenetics, you should be. The lab of Michael Skinner, at Washington State University, has been able to use this fungicide to study transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in male rat germ lines. What is it, though? In this case, after initial exposure to the environmental toxin in utero, a transgenerational epigenetic inheritance phenotype exists at least through the third generation in a lineage, in absence of that toxin. The vinclozolin rat model was applied recently in the Skinner … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Models, Behavioral Epigenetics, Bioinformatics, Evolutionary Epigenetics, Microarray, Transcriptome | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

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