Tag Archives: personalized medicine

“Divergent Epigenetic Landscapes” of AML viewed through RRBS

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Nicole Kelesoglu

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is most common in older adults. However, it is rarely cured by standard chemotherapy alone in older patients. According to NCI, it is critical that complete remission occurs, or there is no survival benefit. There are many clinically active therapies, including epigenetic drugs. A big translational research goal is to develop effective therapeutic strategies to demonstrate how and when oncologists should use these therapies.  A clinical combinational treatment regime could be guided in part by genome-wide methylation profiling. Genes in CpG islands and their promoters have established aberrant methylation patterns in cancers.  Perhaps also genome-wide methylation will help reveal new mechanistic details leading to new drug discoveries. Reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) was introduced by scientists … Continue reading →

Posted in Biomarkers, Clinical Studies, DNA Methylation, Genomewide Methylation Profiling, Leukemia, Next Gen Sequencing, Oncology, Reduced representation bisulfite sequencing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Epigenetics of the Heart

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Chris Womack

Researchers are really closing in on the molecular factors behind heart failure, and this week brought two interesting bits of news in that area. In epigenetic research, the University of Cambridge’s Dr. Roger Foo and colleagues published what seems to be the very first epigenome-wide association study comparing normal hearts to failed hearts, finding among other things that in cells of failed hearts, there seems to be more CpG methylation in intragenic regions, while upregulated genes show lower CpG-island methylation. And just a week before, researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital Heart Center published results from the PROTECT study, which took a close look at whether it’s useful for doctors to use chaning levels of the protein NT-proBNP to guide … Continue reading →

Posted in Applications, Biomarkers, DNA Methylation, Gene Regulation, Genomewide Methylation Profiling, Pharmacogenomics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Maybe a Few Moving Parts — Genes, Disease, and Priorities

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Chris Womack

In case you missed it, there’s a dust-up in the online bioscience community about whether or not the Human Genome Project and genomic association studies in general have been worth the effort. While it’s great to debate whether gene sequences are helping humanity understand disease, they’re only a part of those convoluted processes, and it’s a little strange that’s not part of the conversation. The latest salvo struck last week in the form of a Guardian column by Bioscience Resource Project Executive Director Jonathan Latham, ominously titled “The Failure of the Genome.” Among all the genetic findings for common illnesses, such as heart disease, cancer and mental illnesses, only a handful are of genuine significance for human health. Faulty genes … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics, History & Trends, Nutrigenomics | 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

Targeting an Epigenetic Biomarker for Fragile X

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Nicole Kelesoglu

Epigenetics is bringing a needed perspective to a important public health issue. Many people with Fragile X have autism, or symptoms of autism. The condition is associated with learning, physical, social and emotional, speech and language, and sensory problems. Applied Behavioral Analysis treatment (ABA) is a set of methods which can be used to target and modify problematic symptoms and behaviors. It is effective – but also an arduous task in treating the symptoms of autism. Wouldn’t it be great if there was an epigenetic drug treatment which could be used with ABA producing an enhanced, synergistic effect? Neuroscience experts call Fragile X syndrome a disease of synaptic plasticity. Neuropychologists have already determined that early intervention produces the most effective … Continue reading →

Posted in Autism, Clinical Studies, Neuroscience, Translational Research, X-linked | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Goal of Personalized Oncology and the Role of Epigenetic Biomarkers; Seeking to Conduct the Epigenetic Orchestra

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Nicole Kelesoglu

Cancer is a strong focus of epigenetic research. A critical issue in oncology is that average cancer treatment isn’t producing the best outcomes for the majority of people. Drug companies trying to produce effective treatments for the average of the population, struggle with poor results in large scale clinical trials. Patients are clamoring for personalized medicine. To meet this goal, clinicians need cancer biomarkers. Through excellent research efforts, epigenomics is adding a richer temporal dimension into our view of oncogenesis. Epigenetic regulation mechanisms act as a group of musicians playing from the composition of the genetic code. They play as a large orchestra of integrated gene networks, keeping cells on a differentiated path. Researchers have identified three main sections in … Continue reading →

Posted in History & Trends, Oncology, Personalized Medicine, Translational Research | Tagged , , | Leave a comment