Article
Environmental Sciences
Nichole Nidey, Katherine Bowers, Lili Ding, Hong Ji, Robert T. Ammerman, Kimberly Yolton, E. Melinda Mahabee-Gittens, Alonzo T. Folger
Summary: This study investigated the effects of in-utero exposure to maternal smoking on DNA methylation of AVPR1a gene in infants. The findings suggest that infants with in-utero exposure to maternal smoking have reduced DNA methylation at AVPR1a CpG sites.
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Nasrullah, Abrar Hussain, Sagheer Ahmed, Mahmood Rasool, Abdul Jabbar Shah
Summary: DNA methylation is a process of adding methyl groups to the DNA molecule, which can alter the function of DNA. The importance and role of DNA methylation vary across different organisms, with mammals showing a strong relationship between DNA methylation and diseases such as cancer and placental development.
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.
Article
Biology
Lisa Maenner, Tilman Schell, Panagiotis Provataris, Martin Haase, Carola Greve
Summary: Mollusca is the second largest and most diverse phylum in the animal kingdom, exhibiting a variety of DNA methylation patterns across its classes. While substantial levels of DNA methylation are generally present in molluscs, certain groups show reductions in levels, and some classes lack components of the DNMT toolkit.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mansour H. Almatarneh, Ghada G. Kayed, Sanaa S. Al Abbad, Zainab H. A. Alsunaidi, Mohammed S. Al-Sheraideh, Yuming Zhao
Summary: DNA methylation is an important epigenetic mark that regulates gene expression. This study investigated the mechanistic details of the formation of 5-methylcytosine and identified the roles of active site residues and water molecules in the reaction. The results showed that the reaction follows a concerted mechanism involving the participation of water molecules, and alanine and arginine have significant catalytic effects on the process.
ARABIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Oliver Kaut, Ina Schmitt, Fabian Stahl, Holger Froehlich, Per Hoffmann, Frank J. Gonzalez, Ullrich Wuellner
Summary: This study identified a small number of dysmethylated genes in the brains of Parkinson's disease patients, including the hypomethylation of CYP2E1, which was associated with increased protein levels. Furthermore, a group of genes associated with oxidative stress showed brain-specific changes.
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Adam Li, Zane Koch, Trey Ideker
Summary: Numerous studies have shown that epigenetic age is associated with various factors and can be computed based on DNA methylation patterns. The focus of research needs to shift from accurate age prediction to understanding the links between the epigenome and aging mechanisms. Current research areas include epigenetic clocks and investigation of the epigenome to build a mechanistic theory of aging and inform clinical practice.
JOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Review
Immunology
Alison J. Sinclair
Summary: DNA methylation at CpG motifs plays a key role in gene regulation, with hypermethylation generally leading to decreased gene expression. In EBV infection, the viral genome becomes hypermethylated at CpG motifs, impacting viral gene expression. DNA methyl transferase enzymes are crucial in the process of DNA methylation and can be targeted for therapeutic interventions in EBV-associated cancer.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Carlos A. Garcia-Prieto, Damiana Alvarez-Errico, Eva Musulen, Alberto Bueno-Costa, Berta N. Vazquez, Alejandro Vaquero, Manel Esteller
Summary: Mouse has been extensively used as a model organism for studying biological pathways and drug effects. However, the knowledge about the mouse epigenome, particularly DNA methylation, is limited. In this study, a newly developed DNA methylation microarray was validated for profiling the mouse genome. The microarray provided reliable results, detected methylation changes, and accurately classified different mouse tissues and organs.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Aleix Noguera-Castells, Carlos A. Garcia-Prieto, Damiana Alvarez-Errico, Manel Esteller
Summary: DNA methylation, a well-studied epigenetic mark, plays a critical role in gene regulation and is altered in cancer and other diseases. The newly developed 900K EPIC v2 microarray provides significant improvements in coverage and includes additional probes for DNA cis-regulatory regions. Validation studies demonstrate the reproducibility and versatility of this updated tool for studying the DNA methylome.
Review
Oncology
Mykhailo Krolevets, Vincent ten Cate, Juergen H. Prochaska, Andreas Schulz, Steffen Rapp, Stefan Tenzer, Miguel A. Andrade-Navarro, Steve Horvath, Christof Niehrs, Philipp S. Wild
Summary: This review provides a comprehensive overview of the significant relationship between DNA methylation and CVD. A database is compiled, which includes CpG methylation sites, genes, and pathways that may play a critical role in the development of CVD.
CLINICAL EPIGENETICS
(2023)
Review
Cell Biology
James A. Cain, Bertille Montibus, Rebecca J. Oakey
Summary: The mammalian genome is generally lacking in CG dinucleotides, except for CpG islands (CGIs) found in protected regions. CGIs serve as gene regulatory hubs, with a quarter of them located within genes. These intragenic CGIs play a crucial role in gene regulation, influencing transcription activity and transcriptome diversity within genes.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Jing Wei, Jia Cheng, Nicholas J. Waddell, Zi-Jun Wang, Xiaodong Pang, Qing Cao, Aiyi Liu, Javed M. Chitaman, Kristen Abreu, Rahul Singh Jasrotia, Lara J. Duffney, Jinfeng Zhang, David M. Dietz, Jian Feng, Zhen Yan
Summary: Recent evidence indicates that chronic stress can lead to aberrant gene transcription through epigenetic mechanisms involving DNA methylation and DNMTs. Specifically, stress-induced reduction of Dnmt3a in the prefrontal cortex may contribute to synaptic dysfunction and behavioral abnormalities, affecting pathways related to glutamatergic synapse and cognitive-emotional processes.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Wubin Ding, Diljeet Kaur, Steve Horvath, Wanding Zhou
Summary: Researchers have developed informatics infrastructure and methods for DNA methylation analysis in multiple species, including domesticated animals and laboratory mice. They have created a data-driven analysis pipeline for species inference, genome-specific data preprocessing, and regression modeling. Comparative analysis has revealed the dynamics of epigenome evolution in different genomic territories and tissue types, and specific methylation differences related to mouse strain phenotypes have been identified. These methods expand epigenome research to a wide range of species by streamlining DNA methylation array analysis for undesigned genomes.
BRIEFINGS IN BIOINFORMATICS
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
Eric Poisel, Lea Zillich, Fabian Streit, Josef Frank, Marion M. Friske, Jerome C. Foo, Naguib Mechawar, Gustavo Turecki, Anita C. Hansson, Markus M. Noethen, Marcella Rietschel, Rainer Spanagel, Stephanie H. Witt
Summary: This study investigates epigenome-wide DNA methylation signatures in the human brain tissue of individuals with cocaine use disorder (CUD). The results show differential methylation associated with neurotransmission and neuroplasticity in CUD, supporting the impact of cocaine on brain circuits. Further research integrating epigenetic signatures with transcriptomic and proteomic data is needed.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY
(2023)