Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Giorgia Bolognesi, Maria Giulia Bacalini, Chiara Pirazzini, Paolo Garagnani, Cristina Giuliani
Summary: This review examines the impact of different environmental toxicants on human evolution. Research has shown that exposure to toxins leads to adaptive genetic changes, with epigenetic remodeling and DNA methylation variation being proposed as molecular mechanisms for medium-term adaptation. The high impact of such exposure on human biology, including genetic and epigenetic diversity, mutation rate, biological fitness, and brain evolution and physiology, is discussed based on scientific literature from clinical and medical studies.
Review
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Haihua Tian, Zhenyu Hu, Chuang Wang
Summary: Aging is a complex health problem associated with a high risk of chronic diseases, with age-related turnover in adipose tissue being a major contributor to metabolic syndromes and shortened lifespan. DNA methylation regulates cellular senescence, metabolic function and inflammation in adipose tissue, suggesting potential for epigenetic therapeutic strategies against aging-related diseases in clinical settings.
Review
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Hao Xie, Xin Liu, Qing Zhou, Teng Huang, Lu Zhang, Jia Gao, Yuhan Wang, Yanjun Liu, Tong Yan, Shu Zhang, Cong-Yi Wang
Summary: Aging is a complex health problem associated with various chronic diseases. In adipose tissue, age-related changes result in metabolic dysfunction, inflammation, and cellular senescence. DNA methylation plays a role in regulating metabolic function and the beiging process in adipocytes. Understanding the impact of DNAm on adipose aging is important for developing epigenetic therapeutic strategies in clinical settings.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Yitong Ma, Mark W. Budde, Junqin Zhu, Michael B. Elowitz
Summary: Methylation of cytosines in CG dinucleotides (CpGs) within promoters leads to gene silencing in mammals. Recent research has shown that the recruitment of methyltransferases (DNMTs) at specific loci can effectively silence gene expression. The distribution of CpGs within the target promoter plays a crucial role in DNA methylation-based silencing. This study found a strong correlation between silencing rate and CpG content, providing insights into the regulatory link between CpG content and gene silencing rate.
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Zhiguang Ping, Zhaoyan Guo, Ming Lu, Yanzi Chen, Li Liu
Summary: The methylation level of the CIDEB gene promoter in abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue and omental adipose tissue may be associated with overweight or obesity in adults. However, there were no statistical differences in the methylation levels of the 16 CpG sites in the CIDEB gene promoter sequence between the normal-weight group and overweight/obesity group.
Article
Biology
Ayala Tovy, Jaime M. Reyes, Linda Zhang, Yung-Hsin Huang, Carina Rosas, Alexes C. Daquinag, Anna Guzman, Raghav Ramabadran, Chun-Wei Chen, Tianpeng Gu, Sinjini Gupta, Laura Ortinau, Dongsu Park, Aaron R. Cox, Rachel E. Rau, Sean M. Hartig, Mikhail G. Kolonin, Margaret A. Goodell
Summary: DNMT3A plays a crucial role in the differentiation of embryonic and hematopoietic stem cells. Heterozygous mutations in DNMT3A lead to Tatton-Brown-Rahman syndrome, characterized by obesity and excessive height. This study shows that DNMT3A affects feeding behavior and adipocyte progenitor differentiation, contributing to the development of inflammatory obesity.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Victor M. Del Castillo Falconi, Karla Torres-Arciga, Genaro Matus-Ortega, Jose Diaz-Chavez, Luis A. Herrera
Summary: DNA methylation is a conserved epigenetic mark used by living beings. DNMTs family, including DNMT1, DNMT2, and DNMT3, plays important roles in DNA methylation process. DNMTs are conserved in various organisms and their duplication or deletion can affect their structure and cellular function. The regulatory mechanisms of DNMTs expression are associated with diverse cell phenotypes and transcription deregulation in diseases. This work focuses on the biology, functions, and inhibitory mechanisms of DNMTs, and discusses different approaches and their importance in biological, clinical, and industrial research.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Krzysztof Kozniewski, Michal Wasowski, Marta Izabela Jonas, Wojciech Lisik, Maurycy Jonas, Artur Binda, Pawel Jaworski, Wieslaw Tarnowski, Bartlomiej Noszczyk, Monika Puzianowska-Kuznicka, Alina Kurylowicz
Summary: Obesity-related downregulation of ER mRNA levels in adipose tissue might be associated with miRNA interference.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Zengfa Dou, Xiaoke Ma
Summary: This study introduces an algorithm based on non-negative matrix factorization (Ep-jNMF) for discovering epigenetic modules in co-expression and co-methylation networks, which are more accurate and biologically meaningful, capable of predicting cancer subtypes.
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Robert F. Hillary, Daniel L. McCartney, Allan F. McRae, Archie Campbell, Rosie M. Walker, Caroline Hayward, Steve Horvath, David J. Porteous, Kathryn L. Evans, Riccardo E. Marioni
Summary: Reducing array content can lower costs, but attention must be given to the biological and distribution properties of CpG probes to avoid limiting prediction metrics.
CLINICAL EPIGENETICS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Olivia Carlund, Anna Norberg, Pia Osterman, Mattias Landfors, Sofie Degerman, Magnus Hultdin
Summary: Telomere Biology Disorders (TBDs) are characterized by mutations in telomere-related genes, leading to short telomeres and premature aging. Epigenetic alterations, such as DNA methylation (DNAm), may play a role in the pathogenesis of TBDs. In a study of 35 TBD cases, DNAm alterations were observed, particularly in those with extremely short telomeres. The identified differentially methylated (DM) CpG sites may serve as markers of short telomeres and potentially contribute to disease progression.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yinglu Li, Xiao Chen, Chao Lu
Summary: Methylation of CpG dinucleotides and histone residues plays a crucial role in genome regulation; there is a strong correlation between DNA and histone methylation; complex molecular crosstalk exists between DNA and histone methylation.
Article
Cell Biology
Adeline Divoux, Edina Erdos, Katie Whytock, Timothy F. Osborne, Steven R. Smith
Summary: The study found that the gluteofemoral adipose tissue of PCOS patients showed lower expression of genes related to lipid accumulation and angiogenesis compared to abdominal adipose tissue, with an increase in preadipocyte number in both depots. RNA-seq pathway analysis demonstrated that ASCs derived from PCOS are pro-inflammatory in abdominal depot and exhibit a hypoxic signature in gluteofemoral depot, with lower expression of adipogenic genes. Additionally, a higher CpG methylation level was found in PCOS compared to control exclusively in gluteofemoral ASCs.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Matthew R. Rytel, Rondi Butler, Melissa Eliot, Joseph M. Braun, E. Andres Houseman, Karl T. Kelsey
Summary: This study investigated the impact of Agent Orange exposure on DNA methylation in Vietnam War veterans. The findings suggested limited evidence of significant methylation changes in adipose tissue and whole blood, with only marginal significant alterations identified. Specific loci in genes such as SLC9A3 in adipose tissue and PTPRN2 and SMO in whole blood should be considered in future exposure analyses.
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Jiwon Lim, Yerim Heo, Sun Shim Choi
Summary: DNAm is important for regulating cellular activities, and this study investigated its alterations in obesity. Using methylome and transcriptome data, differentially methylated probes (DMPs) were identified between adipocytes and preadipocytes, as well as between obese and lean adipocytes. The study also examined the impact of hyper and hypomethylation on gene expression changes. Interestingly, greater DNAm alterations were observed during adipocyte differentiation under lean conditions compared to obese conditions. Overall, complex methylation changes affected adipogenesis-related genes, leading to differences in gene expression between lean and obese adipocytes.