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Epigenomes 2020 Dec 1;4(4). Epub 2020 Oct 1.

Department of Biochemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.

Differential DNA methylation is characteristic of gene regulatory regions, such as enhancers, which mostly constitute low or intermediate CpG content in their DNA sequence. Consequently, quantification of changes in DNA methylation at these sites is challenging. Given that DNA methylation across most of the mammalian genome is maintained, the use of genome-wide bisulfite sequencing to measure fractional changes in DNA methylation at specific sites is an overexertion which is both expensive and cumbersome. Read More

NPJ Genom Med 2021 Feb 11;6(1):11. Epub 2021 Feb 11.

Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.

The 5-methylcytosines (5mC) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL). However, the role of 5-hydroxymethylcytosines (5hmC) that are generated from 5mC through active demethylation, in lymphomagenesis is unknown. We profiled genome-wide 5hmC in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from 73 newly diagnosed patients with DLBCL and FL. Read More

Exp Mol Med 2020 12 14;52(12):1936-1947. Epub 2020 Dec 14.

Dipartimento di Medicina di Precisione Università della Campania "L. Vanvitelli", 80138, Naples, Italy.

Lysine-specific histone demethylase 1 (LSD1) represents the first example of an identified nuclear protein with histone demethylase activity. In particular, it plays a special role in the epigenetic regulation of gene expression, as it removes methyl groups from mono- and dimethylated lysine 4 and/or lysine 9 on histone H3 (H3K4me1/2 and H3K9me1/2), behaving as a repressor or activator of gene expression, respectively. Moreover, it has been recently found to demethylate monomethylated and dimethylated lysine 20 in histone H4 and to contribute to the balance of several other methylated lysine residues in histone H3 (i. Read More

Mol Cell Biol 2021 01 25;41(2). Epub 2021 Jan 25.

Department of Biology and Bioinformatics Program, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Growth hormone-activated STAT5b is an essential regulator of sex-differential gene expression in mouse liver; however, its impact on hepatic gene expression and epigenetic responses is poorly understood. Here, we found a substantial, albeit incomplete loss of liver sex bias in hepatocyte-specific STAT5a/STAT5b (collectively, STAT5)-deficient mouse liver. In male liver, many male-biased genes were downregulated in direct association with the loss of STAT5 binding; many female-biased genes, which show low STAT5 binding, were derepressed, indicating an indirect mechanism for repression by STAT5. Read More

BMC Med 2020 10 7;18(1):306. Epub 2020 Oct 7.

Université Grenoble Alpes, Inserm, CNRS, IAB, 38000, Grenoble, France.

Background: Although exposure to cigarette smoking during pregnancy has been associated with alterations of DNA methylation in the cord blood or placental cells, whether such exposure before pregnancy could induce epigenetic alterations in the placenta of former smokers has never been investigated.

Methods: Our approach combined the analysis of placenta epigenomic (ENCODE) data with newly generated DNA methylation data obtained from 568 pregnant women, the largest cohort to date, either actively smoking during their pregnancy or formerly exposed to tobacco smoking.

Results: This strategy resulted in several major findings. Read More