Ever get that feeling that you forgot something? Well maybe you did, but it doesn't have to be recent epigenetics research if you scope out our headlines each week.

eBook: CRISPR & Gene Editing 2024

CRISPR/Cas-mediated gene editing represents a straightforward and accurate process; however, the widespread therapeutic application of this technology still requires the precise characterization of both on- and off-target activity. In this eBook, we highlight a recent group of publications and methods using this powerful technique!

Children Prenatally Exposed to Cannabis Have Altered DNA Methylation

As more states legalize and decriminalize cannabis , more questions are being raised about its effects, especially on pregnancy. Now, a clear-thinking team sees through the haze and shows that maternal cannabis use during pregnancy is associated with epigenome-wide differential DNA methylation in the blood of exposed children, especially in genes involved in neurodevelopment.   Studies have shown that cannabis use can increase the risk of adverse health outcomes and accelerate epigenetic aging  for those who partake. As a step toward clearing the air about pregnancy, Amy Osborne’s lab  (University of Canterbury) performed epigenome-wide association studies  on two longitudinal studies using DNA methylation arrays (450K and EPIC) to profile blood.   The intrepid teams looked at the data for epigenomic effects of prenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) for the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) children throughout many timepoints in their lifetimes compared to controls. Here’s what they found:

• TUBB2B, associated with the development of the cortex, is the top differentially methylated CpG in PCE children at birth
• The top one in 7 year-olds was LZTS2, which is linked to major depressive disorder
• At 15 years, the top hit was in WAC, which is associated with severe intellectual disability
• Some of the differentially methylated CpGs were shared among age groups
• Gene ontology analysis showed that many differentially methylated genes were involved in neurodevelopment, neurotransmission, and regulation of neural pathways

Epigenetic Two-factor Authentication Secures Male Fertility from the Insider Threat of Transposons

Two-factor authentication  represents a modern approach to securing our digital lives from outside threats; however, research now suggests that this concept may not be so modern. A new study now reveals that male germ cells employ a piRNA -mediated epigenetic “two-factor authentication” strategy to secure the precisely timed DNA methylation -induced silencing of insider threats that impact male fertility  – transposons !

Metformin Keeps Aging Primate Epigenomes “In Form”

Those of us feeling the all too familiar effects of time may look to cut back on certain “excesses” and keep fit (in both body and mind) to maintain a healthy aging  process. Now, a team of fitness enthusiasts has revealed that long-term treatment with the diabetes drug metformin  maintains an aging population of monkeys “in form,” including at the epigenetic level!

scEpiAge Brings Single-cell Resolution to Epigenetic Clock Heterogeneity

DNA methylation-based epigen e tic clock  construction has generally relied on bulk datasets representing findings from thousands or millions of cells, and now, a new single-cell epigenetic clock  age predictor known as scEpiAge may help to resolve the impact of heterogeneity. Can improved resolution offer more profound insight into the aging process?

Amyloids Could Solve the ‘Missing Heritability’ Mystery

Science is full of mysteries just waiting to be solved. One of these mysteries is the “missing heritability”  problem—it turns out that some traits seem hereditary, yet cannot be traced back to nucleic acids or even known epigenetic modifications. Now, a talented team studying C. elegans  has spotted protein clumps called amyloids  that could be the missing piece of the heritability puzzle.   Amyloids that propagate themselves (e.g. prions ) are pathogenic, but some amyloid aggregates of native-state proteins are required for normal functions, such as forming memories and regulating hormones. These clumps were thought to be cleared out early in development, but the team from the lab of W. Brent Derry  (University of Toronto, Hospital for Sick Children) put on their Sherlock Holmes caps and saw that some amyloids were inherited in worms. Here’s what they found:

• Deleting genes coding for AN1 zinc finger domain proteins results in less-fertile hermaphrodites in successive generations, and sometimes these worms don’t reproduce
• Mutant hermaphrodite worms can reproduce when crossed to wild-type males
• Double mutant hermaphrodites cannot make sperm, and double mutant males make oocytes instead of sperm

LEARNING CENTER

New to the field and want to get up to speed quick? Take a dive into the Learning Center which contains tons of epigenetics background information, profiles of key epigenetic readers, writers, and erasers, plus a useful an ever expanding compilation of useful tools and databases. Check out these highlighted articles: 

Key Epigenetic Players : Check out our overview of the key epigenetic modifications that play a big role in gene regulation, development, and disease, as well as the proteins that are responsible for reading, writing, and erasing the epigenome.

Epigenetics Tools and Databases : Tools, where would humankind be without them? The EpiGenie team decided to search out and compile a list of the best tools and databases that epigenetics researchers can’t live without.

  

UPCOMING CONFERENCES

ASBMB – The Interplay Between Epigenetic Regulation and Genome Stability  | 21 OCT 2024

5th Danube Conference on Epigenetics  | 28 OCT 2024

ASHG 2024  | 05 NOV 2024

EMBL: DNA replication, from basic biology to disease  | 05 NOV 2024

Australasian Epigenetics Alliance (AEpiA) 2024  | 02 DEC 2024

Click here  to see more upcoming conferences

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