Published in Nature Microbiology, a study in mice finds that the microbial basis for urinary tract infections can include localized epigenetic alterations that make additional infections more likely.
A newly discovered ribosomal DNA (rDNA) clock can be used to accurately determine an individual's chronological and biological age, according to research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The ribosomal clock ...
Feb 14, 2019
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Memory T cells earn their name by embodying the memory of the immune system - they help the body remember what infections or vaccines someone has been exposed to. But to become memory T cells, the cells go backwards in time, ...
Dec 13, 2017
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From time to time, living cells will accidently make an extra copy of a gene during the normal replication process. Throughout the history of life, evolution has molded some of these seemingly superfluous genes into a source ...
Apr 7, 2014
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Key details of the way nerve cells in the brain remember pleasure are revealed in a study by University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers published today in the journal Nature Neuroscience. New details of the molecular ...
Aug 25, 2013
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Changes in the epigenome, including chemical modifications of DNA, can act as an extra layer of information in the genome, and are thought to play a role in learning and memory, as well as in age-related cognitive decline. ...
Jul 4, 2013
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(Medical Xpress)—Bisphenol A (BPA) is a common chemical found in household plastics. Previous studies on rodents show that BPA exposure is associated with problems with brain and behavioral development. There is evidence ...
Using the latest gene sequencing tools to examine so-called epigenetic influences on the DNA makeup of colon cancer, a Johns Hopkins team says its results suggest cancer treatment might eventually be more tolerable and successful ...
Jun 26, 2011
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Pregnancy may carry a cost, reports a new study from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The research, carried out among 1,735 young people in the Philippines, shows that women who reported having been ...
Apr 8, 2024
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E-cigarette users with a limited smoking history experience similar DNA changes to specific cheek cells as smokers, finds a new study led by researchers at UCL (University College London) and University of Innsbruck.
Mar 19, 2024
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DNA methylation is a type of chemical modification of DNA that can be inherited and subsequently removed without changing the original DNA sequence. As such, it is part of the epigenetic code and is also the best characterized epigenetic mechanism. Because methylation is a common capability of all viruses for self non-self identification, the epigenetic code could be a persistent remnant of ancient viral infection events.
DNA methylation involves the addition of a methyl group to DNA — for example, to the number 5 carbon of the cytosine pyrimidine ring — in this case with the specific effect of reducing gene expression. DNA methylation at the 5 position of cytosine has been found in every vertebrate examined. In adult somatic tissues, DNA methylation typically occurs in a CpG dinucleotide context; non-CpG methylation is prevalent in embryonic stem cells.
In plants, cytosines are methylated both symmetrically (CpG or CpNpG) and asymmetrically (CpNpNp), where N can be any nucleotide but guanine.
Research has suggested that long term memory storage in humans may be regulated by DNA methylation.
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