http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A large, multi-institutional research team involved in the NIH Epigenome Roadmap Project has published a sweeping analysis in the current issue of the journal Cell of how genes are turned on and off to direct early human development. Led by Bing Ren of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Joseph Ecker of The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and James Thomson of the Morgridge Institute for Research, the scientists also describe novel genetic phenomena likely to play a pivotal role not only in the genesis of the embryo, but that of cancer as well. Their publicly available data, the result of more than four years of experimentation and analysis, will contribute significantly to virtually every subfield of the biomedical sciences. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-embryonic-epigenome.html Genetics Thu, 09 May 2013 16:18:29 EST news287335096 Researchers have identified and validated two DNA methylation markers that could help physicians to more accurately determine a patient's response to epigenetic drugs for treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), according to Xiaojing Yang, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, who presented the data at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, D.C., April 6-10. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-accurate-markers-response-epigenetic-drugs.html Cancer Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:50:01 EST news284628755 Researchers at UC Davis and the University of British Columbia have shed new light on methylation, a critical process that helps control how genes are expressed. Working with placentas, the team discovered that 37 percent of the placental genome has regions of lower methylation, called partially methylated domains (PMDs), in which gene expression is turned off. This differs from most human tissues, in which 70 percent of the genome is highly methylated. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-insights-genes.html Genetics Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:57:13 EST news283611427 All proteins are made from chains of amino acids and their functions can be modified by adding small molecules to specific amino acids. One such modification is the addition of a methyl group, which is made of one carbon and three hydrogen atoms, that is attached to the amino acids lysine or arginine. This methylation occurs in many proteins, but its function is unclear. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-discovery-specific-protein-modification-important.html Cancer Fri, 01 Feb 2013 10:16:49 EST news278936094 New research reveals a potential way for how parents' experiences could be passed to their offspring's genes. The research was published today, 25 January, in the journal Science. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-epigenetic-reprogramming-inherited.html Genetics Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:00:07 EST news278258273 Scientists at the Babraham Institute have gained a new understanding of when and how the DNA in developing egg and sperm cells is 'reset', in preparation for making a new embryo. It is well known that small chemical groups can be added to DNA to alter gene activity, these modifications to the DNA are acquired during development in the womb and throughout adult life and can arise from changes in environment. Most of these modifications are removed in immature egg and sperm cells to 'reset' the DNA and to erase any 'environmental memory', but some remain. Decoding this reprogramming has major implications for our understanding of development and how these modifications can be inherited from one generation to another. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-insight-dna-reprogramming-egg-sperm.html Genetics Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:00:12 EST news274016479 Women live longer than men. Individuals can appear or feel years younger – or older – than their chronological age. Diseases can affect our aging process. When it comes to biology, our clocks clearly tick differently. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-methylome-modifications-biological-age.html Medical research Wed, 21 Nov 2012 12:00:02 EST news272714395 Researchers at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore have identified numerous new subtypes of gastric cancer that are triggered by environmental factors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-epigenetic-analysis-stomach-cancer-disease.html Cancer Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:00:01 EST news269696851 Postdoctoral Research Fellow Devin Koestler is a biostatistician in the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. He develops and applies statistical methods to large volumes of data, seeking new approaches for understanding disease, cancer in particular. Koestler and his colleagues are investigating the potential use of white blood cell variation as a diagnostic, predictive, and research tool in the study of non-blood cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-blood-cells-telltale-clues-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 12 Oct 2012 17:08:06 EST news269280478 A study developed by researchers at the IDIBELL, led by Manel Esteller, has identified epigenetic changes that occur in adult stem cells to generate different tissues of the human body. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-adult-stem-cells-epigenome.html Medical research Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:27:25 EST news268399589 A study coordinated by Manel Esteller, published in Nature Reviews Genetics, highlights the success of this area of research to predict the behavior and weaknesses of tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-epigenetics-emerges-powerfully-clinical-tool.html Genetics Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:48:32 EST news266662104 (Medical Xpress) -- Collaboration between scientists at Cambridge University and the Babraham Institute have demonstrated a new technique that will significantly improve scientists' ability to perform epigenetics research and help unlock the door to understanding how cells develop and function. Epigenetics is a branch of genetics that studies modifications to the DNA which affect gene activity. The research, published today (April 26) in the journal Science, has important implications for stem cell research and the development of regenerative medicines. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-technique-epigenetics.html Genetics Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:00:10 EST news254665466 The same mechanism that stabilises the DNA in the cell nucleus is also important for the structure and function of vertebrate muscle cells. This has been established by RUB-researchers led by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Linke (Institute of Physiology) in cooperation with American and German colleagues. An enzyme attaches a methyl group to the protein Hsp90, which then forms a complex with the muscle protein titin. When the researchers disrupted this protein network through genetic manipulation in zebrafish the muscle structure partly disintegrated. The scientists have thus shown that methylation also plays a significant role outside the nucleus. They published their results in Genes and Development. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-protein-networks-stabilize-muscle-fibers.html Genetics Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:55:02 EST news246545676 Scientists have known for some time that individual organisms are far more than the sum of their gene sequences. So-called epigenetic variations encompass a diverse array of chemical modifications to DNA that leave the core nucleotide sequence unchanged, but can nevertheless exert powerful effects on gene expression behavior. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-unraveling-genomic-brain.html Cancer Mon, 08 Aug 2011 04:50:01 EST news231997354 Stem cell researchers at UCLA have generated the first genome-wide mapping of a DNA modification called 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in embryonic stem cells, and discovered that it is predominantly found in genes that are turned on, or active. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-scientists-molecule-human-embryonic-stem.html Genetics Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:36:41 EST news230484987 Using human kidney cells and brain tissue from adult mice, Johns Hopkins scientists have uncovered the sequence of steps that makes normally stable DNA undergo the crucial chemical changes implicated in cancers, psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. The process may also be involved in learning and memory, the researchers say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-hopkins-team-dna.html Medical research Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:36:29 EST news222006975