This week's features include: a clinic that doesn't know the difference between epigenetics and genetics; lessons about aging from Dolly the sheep; and does epigenetics
interfere with gene editing?
What that indicates, Gingeras says, is that the long RNA molecules are being copied from near the front of a gene, where
they interfere with the gene's production until they are reduced to smaller pieces.
Most of those mutations are probably benign, but some may alter a protein's structure and function, or
interfere with gene activity, leading to disease.
To find out more about how RNAi works, a team led by biochemist Scott Hammond of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York picked double - stranded RNA known to
interfere with a gene involved in promoting cell division.
If these sites happen to be regulatory elements of other genes, noncognate binding not only depletes TF molecules, but could also actively
interfere with gene regulation.
This special RNA type can
interfere with the genes that lead to browning — a mechanism is called RNA interference.
In tests on human breast cancer cells and in special immunodeficient mice with tissue grafts, the scientists found that both agents
interfered with genes involved with breast cancer cell growth, resulting in more cancer cells.
However, the researchers found that a variation of ECR47 associated with ADHD disrupted ECR47's ability to bind an important neurodevelopmental transcription factor, YY1 — an indication that the risk variant
interferes with gene transcription.
Studies show that piperine, a naturally occurring chemical compound in black pepper, can
interfere with the genes that control the generation of fat cells.
Not exact matches
The researchers identified several reasons for this: The new
gene constructs
interfere with the plant's own
gene for producing growth hormones, and the additional
gene constructs were not, as intended, active solely in the kernels, but also in the leaves.
They combined spherical nucleic acids (SNAs, which are nanoscale globular forms of RNA)
with a common commercial moisturizer to create a way to topically knock down a
gene known to
interfere with wound healing.
Over-the-counter moisturizers fortified
with specialized nanoparticles can regulate
genes that
interfere with wound healing.
Normally, any mutation that
interfered with reproduction would be quickly weeded out of the
gene pool.
Studying three groups of flies, the scientists
interfered with their ability to remember by disabling a different critical memory
gene in each group.
Exposure to everyday pathogens generates an immune response that could
interfere with CRISPR - based
gene - editing treatment
The bits, called short
interfering RNA, then associate
with other enzymes to form a large complex that can silence certain
genes and render the virus harmless.
«The
gene has been cloned, and we know it
interferes with the production of toxic amyloid fragments,» says Ralph Nixon, a professor of psychiatry and cell biology at New York University School of Medicine and a past chair of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Council of the Alzheimer's Association.
One of many researchers lending support to the cause is genome scientist and Nobelist John Sulston of the University of Manchester, U.K., who warns that «
gene patents can have a chilling impact on research, obstruct the development of new genetic tests, and
interfere with medical care.»
siRNAs are very small molecules that carry genetic information to cells, but unlike DNA that can turn
genes on, siRNA
interferes with the production of particular proteins and can turn cancer
genes off.
The researchers speculate that double inheritance of
genes that
interfere with production of sperm or ova may have been to blame.
Mutations in the
genes interfere with these repairs.
This mutation makes the
gene more active so patients
with FSHD express a protein, named DUX4, which
interferes in an unknown way
with muscle maintenance.
The new study — published October 18, 2016 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry — combined genetic analysis of more than 9,000 human psychiatric patients
with brain imaging, electrophysiology, and pharmacological experiments in mutant mice to suggest that mutations in the
gene DIXDC1 may act as a general risk factor for psychiatric disease by
interfering with the way the brain regulates connections between neurons.
In order to gain a better understanding of this process, the researchers used an animal model, which allowed them to
interfere with the lipid metabolism, and to knock out the
gene responsible for the relevant enzyme, adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL).
The analysis suggested that a protein produced by a
gene called Olig2, which is only expressed in the neural progenitors that create motor neurons, promotes motor neuron formation by
interfering with the activity of several members of another
gene family — the Hes
genes.
A number of these trials represent completely novel classes of therapy, such as employing fragments of RNA that
interfere with problem
genes or developing vaccines meant to quell drug addiction.
«We found that UBQLN4
gene variant
interferes with a pathway involved in breaking down a certain protein called beta catenin, and the resulting accumulation of this protein leads to defects in the motor neuron structure.
A study by Dr. Wendy Chung has identified six new mutations in a
gene called KCNK3 that can
interfere with the function of potassium channels and lead to pulmonary hypertension.
The team eliminated three of the four known starch synthases by inserting backward copies of the
genes for each one into the potato genome, which, through an unknown mechanism,
interferes with the translation of the nearby normal
gene.
When there is a mutation in one or both of the PTEN
genes, it
interferes with the protein's enzymatic activity and, as a result inhibits its tumor suppressing ability.
To test their theory, the researchers investigated what would happen to fetal mouse brains if they
interfered with Trnp1 expression using synthetic sequences of genetic material that silenced the
gene, a technique called RNA interference.
Some of this RNA consists of short pieces that
interfere with the production of
genes, but the rest is more mysterious.
Sure enough, the CILP protein produced by the mutated
gene interfered with the growth of the matrix, the team reports online 1 May in Nature Genetics.
The mutated
genes also
interfered with how the brain's layers and halves relate to one another, a phenomenon confirmed by previous imaging studies of the autistic brain.
After induction of interferon - stimulated
genes (ISGs), the ubiquitin - specific protease USP18 docks to the receptor complex via STAT2, thus
interfering with receptor dimerization and STAT phosphorylation.
SiRNA is a segment of RNA that when delivered into a cell
interferes with expression of a specific mutated
gene, leading to cell death.
A specific type of brain activity important for memory replay is disrupted in mice
with the E4 version of the apolipoprotein E (apoE4)
gene, which may
interfere with memory formation.
We also show that inhibition of mTOR
with rapamycin, as well as silencing mTOR
gene product expression using mTOR - specific small
interfering RNA, decreased phosphorylation of mTOR signaling proteins and induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in ALK + ALCL cells.
We
interfere with histone modification marks in vivo, both genome - wide (mutant analysis) and
gene - specifically (local disruption of chromatin structure), and analyze the effect on transcription and pluripotency.
Problems
with another
gene, which codes for catechol - O - methyl transferase (COMT), could
interfere with the metabolism of dopamine, increase the risk of schizophrenia and affect the frequency of manic cycles in bipolar disease.
Ideally, the researchers found that the best targets were
genes or proteins primarily expressed in one specific tissue, so the drug treats the disease at its core, without
interfering with other, healthy tissues or organs, and thus causes fewer side - effects.
This is in accordance
with previous reports that decitabine and 5 - azacytidine produce a marked synergistic effect in combination
with suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid and romidepsin in T - lymphoma cell lines by modulating cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.26, 27 As a mechanism of action, KMT2D mutations of B - lymphoma cells promote malignant outgrowth by perturbing methylation of H3K4 that affect the JAK - STAT, Toll - like receptor, or B - cell receptor pathway.28, 29 Here our study indicated that dual treatment
with chidamide and decitabine enhanced the interaction of KMT2D
with the transcription factor PU.1, thereby inactivating the H3K4me - associated signaling pathway MAPK, which is constitutively activated in T - cell lymphoma.13, 30,31 The transcription factor PU.1 is involved in the development of all hematopoietic lineages32 and regulates lymphoid cell growth and transformation.33 Aberrant PU.1 expression promotes acute myeloid leukemia and is related to the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma via the MAPK pathway.34, 35 On the other hand, PU.1 is also shown to interact
with chromatin remodeler and DNA methyltransferease to control hematopoiesis and suppress leukemia.36 Our data thus suggested that the combined action of chidamide and decitabine may
interfere with the differentiation and / or viability of PTCL - NOS through a PU.1 - dependent
gene expression program.
When the goal is to block the expression of
genes with molecules of siRNA (small
interfering RNA), the synthetic DNA can be designed
with a section complementary to the RNA so that the RNA will loosely attach to it.
Although much experimentation is still needed, some scientists believe one version of the
gene may prevent the overgrowth of stomach bacteria that can
interfere with B12 absorption.
Thus the modest changes in
gene expression that accompany basal level PrEn expression
interfere with the capacity of these cells to actively contribute to blastocysts.
Women who were on the pill in this study chose the t - shirts
with genes that were very similar to their own, suggesting that the pill
interferes with a woman's ability to choose her most compatible mate.
The fats in the diet not only
interfere with insulin but also seems to adversely effect the
genes that drive our mitochondria which burn the sugars.
I recently found out I have a
gene that
interferes with my ability to metabolize excess estrogen.
Researchers identified a new location where the vitamin - D receptor appears to bind directly to DNA and activate a
gene known as MKP - 1,
interfering with the inflammatory cascade promoted by long - term stress and a highly refined, processed food diet.
Once inside the cell, it can
interfere with bacterial cell signal transduction and
gene transcription processes.