2016

Hack Your Genes Naturally with this Methylation Report

Histone acetylation is generally associated with gene activation and chromatin decondensation. Recent mass spectrometry analysis has revealed that histone H4 lysine 20, a major methylation site, can also be acetylated. To understand the function of H4 lysine 20 acetylation (H4K20ac), we have developed a specific monoclonal antibody and performed ChIP-seq analysis using HeLa-S3 cells. H4K20ac was enriched around the transcription start sites (TSSs) of minimally expressed genes and in the gene body of expressed genes, in contrast to most histone acetylation being enriched around the TSSs of expressed genes. The distribution of H4K20ac showed little correlation with known histone modifications, including histone H3 methylations. A motif search in H4K20ac-enriched sequences, together with transcription factor binding profiles based on ENCODE ChIP-seq data, revealed that most transcription activators are excluded from H4K20ac-enriched genes and a transcription repressor NRSF/REST co-localized with H4K20ac. These results suggest that H4K20ac is a unique acetylation mark associated with gene repression.

A new study provides a comparative analysis of the evolution of epigenetic mechanisms from prokaryotes (bacteria) to simple eukaryotes (multi-cellular) to more complex eukaryotes (humans).

Inherited methylation—a form of epigenetic regulation passed down from parents to offspring—is far more dynamic than previously thought and may contribute to changes in the brain and other tissues over time. This finding challenges current understandings of gene regulation via methylation, from development through adulthood.

Researchers have discovered a mark left behind in unfertilized egg cells that determine which DNA instructions will be inherited if the egg is fertilized. when these instructions are missing, enlarged placentas and miscarriages occur.

Using new analytic tools, researchers have decoded the epigenetic landscape for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a common autoimmune disease that affects more than 1.3 million Americans.

As the study shows, a high-fat diet during pregnancy and lactation leads to epigenetic changes in the offspring. These changes affect metabolic pathways regulated by the gut hormone GIP, whereby the adult offspring are more susceptible to obesity and insulin resistance, the precursor to type 2 diabetes. Similar mechanisms cannot be ruled out in humans, according to Pfeiffer.

Both heredity and environmental factors influence our risk of cardiovascular disease. A new study shows now that the memory of a heart attack can be stored in our genes through epigenetic changes.

Parents pass genes along to their offspring which equip them for their future life. In recent years, research has shown that the reality is much more complex and that parents endow much more than just genes. A new study reveals that active epigenetic modifications are also passed from one generation to the next.

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Every cell in our body contains the complete DNA library. So-called methyl groups regulate that in body tissues only the genetic information is expressed that is indeed needed in this tissue. Now, for the first time, researchers verified that a lack of methyl groups in the gene body leads to an incorrect gene activation and, as a consequence, may lead to the emergence of cancer.

A new type of biomarker has been found that can predict the risk of type 2 diabetes, by detecting epigenetic changes in specific genes through a simple blood test, report investigators.

A targeted epigenetic approach for the treatment of aggressive forms of leukemia has been revealed by researchers. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) refers to a group of disorders that are also known as blood cancer. AML is an aggressive disease of malignant immature blood cells which, if left untreated, almost always causes the death of the affected patient.

The lack of oxygen in tumor cells changes the cells' gene expression, thereby contributing to the growth of cancer, suggest researchers. The findings are far-reaching, as the study also proved that maintaining a proper oxygen supply in tumors inhibits these so-called 'epigenetic aberrations.'

Obesity is associated with reduced muscle mass and impaired metabolism. Epigenetic changes that affect the formation of new muscle cells may be a contributing factor, according to new research.

Researchers have revealed for the first time that males infected with the Toxoplasma parasite can impact their offspring's brain health and behavior. Studying mice infected with the common parasite Toxoplasma, the team discovered that sperm of infected fathers carried an altered 'epigenetic' signature which impacted the brains of resulting offspring. Molecules in the sperm called 'small RNA' appeared to influence the offspring's brain development and behavior.

The extra pounds you gain during the holidays will not only show up on your hips but will also affect your DNA, concludes a large-scale international study. The study shows that a high BMI leads to epigenetic changes at nearly 200 loci of the genome – with effects on gene expression.

When parents eat low-protein or high-fat diets it can lead to metabolic disorders in their adult offspring. Now, an international team has identified a key player and the molecular events underlying this phenomenon in mice.

Studies of human populations and animal models suggest that a father's experiences such as diet or environmental stress can influence the health and development of his descendants. How these effects are transmitted across generations, however, remains mysterious. A new study in the roundworm C. elegans documents the transmission via sperm of epigenetic marks that are both necessary and sufficient to guide proper development of germ cells in the offspring.

Cross-talk between plant and animal cells may be accomplished via microRNA-carrying exosomes, gene-regulating elements contained in plants which reinforce that food is information and suggests an inextricable co-evolutionary relationship between these two disparate kingdoms

Maternal infection during pregnancy increases the risk for psychiatric disorders in the child, but the path between the two is something of a mystery. Scientists have now used a mouse model to show that activation of the mother's immune system may cause long-term alterations in the programming of the offspring's genome, known as epigenetic modifications, which lead to behavioral abnormalities in adulthood.

Maternal infection during pregnancy increases the risk for psychiatric disorders in the child, but the path between the two is something of a mystery. Scientists have now used a mouse model to show that activation of the mother's immune system may cause long-term alterations in the programming of the offspring's genome, known as epigenetic modifications, which lead to behavioral abnormalities in adulthood.

A novel technique has been created to map specific chemical (or “epigenetic”) modifications made to the protein packaging of DNA using a small population of cells. Such epigenetic marks play a central role in the regulation of the genome’s expression.

A study in mice shows for the first time that epigenetics -- the molecular mechanisms that determine which genes are turned on or off -- plays a key role in determining an individual's innate drive to exercise.

Researchers combined two different analysis techniques into one method, to simultaneously analyze how chromosomes, along with their epigenetic features, are compacted inside of single human brain cells. The method, called single-nucleus methyl-3C sequencing, not only enabled them to identify gene regulatory elements in distinct cell types, but also paves the way toward a new understanding of how some cells become dysregulated to cause disease.

Every cell in the body has two genomes, one from the mother and one from the father. Until now, researchers have lacked the tools to examine -- in a single cell -the exact readout from each genome to make RNA. Using a new technology that allows researchers to do just that, an interdisciplinary team examined a rare disease in which these two genomes are expressed differently throughout the body, even sometimes in the same organ.

New research suggests that early severe social deprivation may impact DNA modifications that affect the expression of stress-related genes.