Epigenics

Conyza sumatrensis (Retz.) E. Walker (syn. Erigeron sumatrensis) or commonly known as fleabane, is an annual herbaceous plant native to South America. It/span>was accidentally introduced to Korea in the 1930s and became invasive in natural and managed ecosystems of the country (Kim et al. 2008). Leaf spots on this plant were first observed in March 2013 in Jeju (33°29'45"N; 126°26'26"E), and then in February 2017 in Seoguipo (33°14'30"N; 126°32'58"E), Korea. The severity of the disease was estimated to be greater than 50%...

BACKGROUND: To examine an effect of intravitreally applied antibodies against epidermal growth factor family members, namely epiregulin, epigen and betacellulin, on ocular axial elongation. METHODS: The experimental study included 30 guinea pigs (age:3-4 weeks) which underwent bilateral lens-induced myopization and received three intraocular injections of 20 µg of epiregulin antibody, epigen antibody and betacellulin antibody in weekly intervals into their right eyes, and of phosphate-buffered saline into their left eyes...

BACKGROUND: Hybridization and backcrossing are commonly used in animal and plant breeding to induce heritable variation including epigenetic changes such as paramutation. However, the molecular basis for hybrid-induced epigenetic memory remains elusive. RESULTS: Here, we report that hybridization between the inbred parents B73 and Mo17 induces trans-acting hypermethylation and hypomethylation at thousands of loci; several hundreds (~ 3%) are transmitted through six backcrossing and three selfing generations...

BACKGROUND: The EPIGENE network was created in 2014 by four multidisciplinary teams composed of geneticists, pediatric neurologists and neurologists specialized in epileptology and neurophysiology. The ambition of the network was to harmonize and improve the diagnostic strategy of Mendelian epileptic disorders using next-generation sequencing, in France. Over the years, five additional centers have joined EPIGENE and the network has been working in close collaboration, since 2018, with the French reference center for rare epilepsies (CRéER)...

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer survivors (BCS) often report poor sleep quality and wakefulness throughout the night as the greatest challenges experienced during and posttreatment. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to elucidate characteristics of sleep disturbances and determine potential predictors that affect sleep disturbances in BCS for 2 years postchemotherapy. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of data from the EPIGEN study, which longitudinally examined sociodemographic and cancer-related factors, lifestyle, symptom characteristics, and epigenetic factors at baseline prior to chemotherapy (T1), the midpoint (T2), 6-month (T3), 1-year (T4), and 2-year (T5) time points postchemotherapy...

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia is the age-related loss of muscle mass, strength, and function. Epigenetic processes such as DNA methylation, which integrate both genetic and environmental exposures, have been suggested to contribute to the development of sarcopenia. This study aimed to determine whether differences in the muscle methylome are associated with sarcopenia and its component measures: grip strength, appendicular lean mass index (ALMi), and gait speed. METHODS: Using the Infinium Human MethylationEPIC BeadChip, we measured DNA methylation in vastus lateralis muscle biopsies of 83 male participants (12 with sarcopenia) with a mean (standard deviation) age of 75...

Undifferentiated soft tissue sarcomas (UDSTSs) are a group of mesenchymal tumors that remain a diagnostic challenge because of their morphologic heterogeneity and unclear histologic origin (Peters et al., Mod Pathol 28: 575 [2015]). In this case report, we present the first multiomics molecular signature for a BCOR-CCNB3 sarcoma (BCS) that includes mutation analysis, gene expression, DNA methylation, and micro RNA (miRNA) expression. We identify a paucity of additional mutations in this tumor and detail that there is significant dysregulation of gene expression of epigenetic remodeling agents including key members of the PRC, Sin3A/3b, NuRD, and NcoR/SMRT complexes and the DNA methyltransferases DNMT1, DNMT3a, and DNMT3b...

Sigesbeckia orientalis L., (St Paul's wort) is an annually grown natural herb of Asteraceae with a long therapeutic history for a wide range of inflammation-related diseases in China (Zhong et al. 2019). In June 2020, typical symptoms of powdery mildew were observed on 30% of wild S. orientalis plants grown along the roadsides and gardens in Minjiang University, Fuzhou, China. Circular to irregular white powdery fungal colonies were observed on both surfaces of the leaves and young stems, causing necrosis and premature senescence...

Large international consortia examining the genomic architecture of the epilepsies focus on large diagnostic subgroupings such as "all focal epilepsy" and "all genetic generalized epilepsy". In addition, phenotypic data are generally entered into these large discovery databases in a unidirectional manner at one point in time only. However, there are many smaller phenotypic subgroupings in epilepsy, many of which may have unique genomic risk factors. Such a subgrouping or "microphenotype" may be defined as an uncommon or rare phenotype that is well recognized by epileptologists and the epilepsy community, and which may or may not be formally recognized within the International League Against Epilepsy classification system...

Natural killer (NK) cells were isolated from human umbilical cord blood from a healthy newborn and reprogrammed by episomal vectors carrying reprograming factors L-MYC, LIN28, OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, EBNA-1, and shRNA against p53 delivered using nucleofection. The obtained MUSIi013-A human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line highly expressed pluripotency markers, had the capacity to differentiate into derivatives of the three germ layers, while retained a normal karyotype. This cell line may be a useful tool to study epigenic memory that may predispose hiPSCs to enhanced NK differentiation...

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BACKGROUND: The normal cardiac rhythm is generated in the sinoatrial node (SAN). Changes in ionic currents of the SAN may cause sinus arrhythmia. CXXC finger protein 1 (Cfp1) is an epigenetic regulator that is involved in transcriptional regulation of multiple genes. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore whether Cfp1 controls SAN function through regulation of ion channel-related genes. METHODS: Electrophysiological study, patch clamp recording, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, optical mapping, chromatin immunoprecipitation, and immunofluorescence staining were performed to evaluate the function of SAN and underlying mechanism on Cfp1 heterozygous knockout (Cfp1+/- ) mice...

Cuphea hyssopifolia (Mexican heather) is a popular evergreen perennial shrub used for ornamental and medicinal purposes. Due to its high ornamental value, it is often used as a ground cover in parks and gardens in China. During February and March 2019 & 2020, powdery mildew was observed on C. hyssopifolia in the districts of Minhou and Jinshan of Fuzhou, China. Disease incidence was 70% but of low severity with only a few older leaves showing yellowing and wilting. Sparse irregular patches of white superficial powdery mildew observed on both sides of mature and young leaves...

Severe and often fatal opportunistic fungal infections arise frequently following mucosal damage caused by trauma or cytotoxic chemotherapy. Interaction of fungal pathogens with epithelial cells that comprise mucosae is a key early event associated with invasion, and, therefore, enhancing epithelial defense mechanisms may mitigate infection. Here, we establish a model of mold and yeast infection mediated by inducible epithelial cell loss in larval zebrafish. Epithelial cell loss by extrusion promotes exposure of laminin associated with increased fungal attachment, invasion, and larval lethality, whereas fungi defective in adherence or filamentation have reduced virulence...

In 2019, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention provided vital statistics related to drug overdoses in the United State1. They concluded that in the USA the number of deaths at almost 72,000 was due to 66.6% of opioid overdoses. In fact, the rate is alarming and increasing yearly. To make 2021 even more scary is the daunting effect on increased drug usage due to COVID 19 as a pandemic, albeit the new vaccines. Specifically, in 2020, the death rate from opioid overdoses rose to 13% nationally and in some sates 30%...

Living beings are autopoietic systems with highly context-dependent structural dynamics and interactions, that determine whether a disturbance in the genotype or environment will lead or not to phenotypic change. The concept of epigenesis entails how a change in the phenotype may not correspond to a change in the structure of an earlier developmental stage, including the genome. Disturbances of embryonic structure may fail to change the phenotype, as in regulated development, or when different genotypes are associated to a single phenotype...

Measurements of the long-lived 81 Kr and 36 Cl radioisotopes in groundwater from the Negev Desert (Israel) were used to assess the 36 Cl/Cl input ratios and Cl- contents for paleorecharge into the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer (NSA). The reconstructed Cl- content of the recharge flux was on the order of 300-400 mg/L. An initial 36 Cl/Cl ratio of 50 × 10-15 was assessed for the groundwater replenishment in the Negev Desert since the late Pleistocene, in agreement with the 36 Cl/Cl ratios in recent local rainwater...

Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), a type-I transmembrane protein with intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity, is activated by peptide growth factors such as EGF, epigen, amphiregulin, etc. EGFR plays a vital role in regulating cell growth, migration, and differentiation in various tissue-specific cancers. It has been reported to be overexpressed in lung, head, and neck, colon, brain, pancreatic, and breast cancer that triggers tumor progression and drug resistance. EGFR overexpression alters the signaling pathway and induces cell division, invasion, and cell survival...

Collective metastasis is defined as the cohesive migration and metastasis of multicellular tumor cell clusters. Disrupting various cell adhesion genes markedly reduces cluster formation and colonization efficiency, yet the downstream signals transmitted by clustering remain largely unknown. Here, we use mouse and human breast cancer models to identify a collective signal generated by tumor cell clusters supporting metastatic colonization. We show that tumor cell clusters produce the growth factor epigen and concentrate it within nanolumina-intercellular compartments sealed by cell-cell junctions and lined with microvilli-like protrusions...

Cell plasticity, also known as lineage plasticity is defined as the ability of a cell to reprogram and change its phenotype identity. Cell plasticity is context dependent and occurs during the development of an embryo, tissue regeneration, wound healing. However when deregulated and aberrant it also contributes to cancer initiation, progression, metastases and resistance to therapies. Tumors cells exhibit varying forms of cell plasticity in each stage of the disease to evade normal regulation as would have occurred in normal cell division and homeostasis...