Archive for February, 2008
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Cutting Edge: TGF-{beta}-Induced Expression of Foxp3 in T cells Is Mediated through Inactivation of ERK.
Monday, February 25th, 2008Luo X, Zhang Q, Liu V, Xia Z, Pothoven KL, Lee CJ Immunol (Mar 2008)
The peripheral induction of T regulatory cells can be accomplished by TGF-beta through an epigenetic regulation leading to the expression of Foxp3. However, the exact mechanism of such a TGF-beta-mediated action remains unclear. In the current study, we found that TGF-beta treatment of CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells during [...]
Epigenetic regulation of telomerase in retinoid-induced differentiation of human leukemia cells.
Monday, February 25th, 2008Love WK, Berletch JB, Andrews LG, Tollefsbol TOInt J Oncol (Mar 2008)
Changes in the promoter methylation of hTERT, the gene that encodes telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein responsible for replacing telomeric repeats, have been demonstrated in differentiating cells where hTERT is inhibited, suggesting epigenetic regulation of hTERT. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) induces differentiation in human leukemia cells and has had significant [...]
Lyl1 interacts with CREB1 and alters expression of CREB1 target genes.
Monday, February 25th, 2008San-Marina S, Han Y, Suarez Saiz F, Trus MR, Minden MDBiochim Biophys Acta (Mar 2008)
The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor family contains key regulators of cellular proliferation and differentiation as well as the suspected oncoproteins Tal1 and Lyl1. Tal1 and Lyl1 are aberrantly over-expressed in leukemia as a result of chromosomal translocations, or other genetic or epigenetic events. Protein-protein and protein-DNA [...]
Epigenetic analysis of the human alpha- and beta-globin gene clusters.
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Fathallah H, Portnoy G, Atweh GFBlood Cells Mol Dis ()
K562 erythroleukemia cells have been widely used as a model for the study of globin gene regulation. A number of agents have been shown to activate or suppress globin gene expression in these cells. However, the molecular effects of these agents on the epigenetic configuration of the alpha- and [...]
Effects of early cigarette smoke exposure on early immune development and respiratory disease.
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Prescott SLPaediatr Respir Rev (Mar 2008)
Exposure to tobacco constituents during early development remains a common but avoidable toxic exposure, which has been clearly linked with decreased lung growth and subsequent wheezing illness. There is also now emerging evidence that tobacco smoke can influence early immune function. This includes alterations in cytokine production by the fetoplacental unit, [...]
Lyl1 interacts with CREB1 and alters expression of CREB1 target genes.
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008San-Marina S, Han Y, Suarez Saiz F, Trus MR, Minden MDBiochim Biophys Acta (Mar 2008)
The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor family contains key regulators of cellular proliferation and differentiation as well as the suspected oncoproteins Tal1 and Lyl1. Tal1 and Lyl1 are aberrantly over-expressed in leukemia as a result of chromosomal translocations, or other genetic or epigenetic events. Protein-protein and protein-DNA [...]
Global DNA methylation is influenced by smoking behaviour.
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Hillemacher T, Frieling H, Moskau S, Muschler MA, Semmler A, Kornhuber J, Klockgether T, Bleich S, Linnebank MEur Neuropsychopharmacol (Apr 2008)
The level of epigenetic DNA methylation is an important factor in the pathogenesis of various human diseases. As smoking may influence DNA methylation, we investigated the effect of smoking habits on global DNA methylation in 298 genomic DNA samples (73 fathers, 69 mothers and [...]
Offspring of Women Exposed In Utero to Diethylstilbestrol (DES): A Preliminary Report of Benign and Malignant Pathology in the Third Generation.
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Titus-Ernstoff L, Troisi R, Hatch EE, Hyer M, Wise LA, Palmer JR, Kaufman R, Adam E, Noller K, Herbst AL, Strohsnitter W, Cole BF, Hartge P, Hoover RNEpidemiology (Mar 2008)
BACKGROUND:: Animal studies suggest that prenatal exposure to the synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) causes epigenetic changes that may be transmitted to the next generation. Specifically, these studies show an elevated incidence of reproductive tumors in the female offspring of prenatally-exposed [...]
Epigenetic memory loss in aging oligodendrocytes in the corpus callosum.
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Shen S, Liu A, Li J, Wolubah C, Casaccia-Bonnefil PNeurobiol Aging (Mar 2008)
In this study, we address the hypothesis that aging modifies the intrinsic properties of oligodendrocytes, the myelin-forming cells of the brain. According to our model, an “epigenetic memory” is stored in the chromatin of the oligodendrocyte lineage cells and is responsible for the maintenance of a mature phenotype, [...]
DNA methyltransferase 3B (DNMT3B) mutations in ICF syndrome lead to altered epigenetic modifications and aberrant expression of genes regulating development, neurogenesis and immune function.
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Jin B, Tao Q, Peng J, Soo HM, Wu W, Ying J, Fields CR, Delmas AL, Liu X, Qiu J, Robertson KDHum Mol Genet (Mar 2008)
Genome-wide DNA methylation patterns are established and maintained by the coordinated action of three DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), DNMT1, DNMT3A and DNMT3B. DNMT3B hypomorphic germline mutations are responsible for two-thirds of immunodeficiency, centromere instability, facial anomalies (ICF) syndrome cases, a rare recessive [...]
Poorly differentiated colorectal adenocarcinomas show higher rates of microsatellite instability and promoter methylation of p16 and hMLH1: A study matched for T classification and tumor location.
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Kazama Y, Watanabe T, Kanazawa T, Tanaka J, Tanaka T, Nagawa HJ Surg Oncol (Mar 2008)
BACKGROUND: Extensive genetic and epigenetic analysis of poorly differentiated colorectal adenocarcinomas (Por) has been difficult, as the number of cases is too small. METHODS: We investigated genetic and epigenetic alterations of 53 cases of Por and 53 cases of well-differentiated colorectal adenocarcinomas (WD) to clarify their [...]
Non-coding RNAs in imprinted gene clusters.
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Royo H, Cavaill JBiol Cell (Mar 2008)
Imprinted ncRNA (non-coding RNA) genes represent a family of untranslated transcripts that are mono-allelically expressed in a parent-of-origin manner (their expression is restricted to either the maternal or the paternal allele). Although the expression of a few long imprinted ncRNAs act as cis-acting silencers in the epigenetic regulation of chromatin at [...]
The Friedreich ataxia GAA repeat expansion mutation induces comparable epigenetic changes in human and transgenic mouse brain and heart tissues.
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Al-Mahdawi S, Pinto RM, Ismail O, Varshney D, Lymperi S, Sandi C, Trabzuni D, Pook MHum Mol Genet (Mar 2008)
Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is caused by a homozygous GAA repeat expansion mutation within intron 1 of the FXN gene, leading to reduced expression of frataxin protein. Evidence suggests that the mutation may induce epigenetic changes and heterochromatin formation, thereby impeding gene transcription. In particular, [...]
Identification of cellular proteins that maintain retroviral epigenetic silencing: evidence for an antiviral response.
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Poleshko A, Palagin I, Zhang R, Boimel P, Castagna C, Adams PD, Skalka AM, Katz RAJ Virol (Mar 2008)
Integrated retroviral DNA is subject to epigenetic gene silencing, resulting in loss of expression of viral genes as well as reporter or therapeutic genes transduced by retroviral vectors. Possible mediators of such silencing include the histone deacetylase (HDAC) family of cellular proteins. We previously isolated [...]
Recruitment of Drosophila Polycomb-group proteins by Polycomblike, a component of a novel protein complex in larvae.
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Savla U, Benes J, Zhang J, Jones RSDevelopment (Mar 2008)
Polycomb-group (PcG) proteins are highly conserved epigenetic transcriptional repressors that play central roles in numerous examples of developmental gene regulation. Four PcG repressor complexes have been purified from Drosophila embryos: PRC1, PRC2, Pcl-PRC2 and PhoRC. Previous studies described a hierarchical recruitment pathway of PcG proteins at the bxd Polycomb Response [...]
