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H3K36me2
H3K36me2 is an epigenetic modification to the DNA packaging protein Histone H3. It is a mark that indicates the di- methylation at the 36th lysine residue of the histone H3 protein. There are diverse modifications at H3K36 and have many important biological processes. H3K36 has different acetylation and methylation states with no similarity to each other. Nomenclature H3K36me2 indicates dimethylation of lysine 36 on histone H3 protein subunit: Lysine methylation : This diagram shows the progressive methylation of a lysine residue. The di-methylation (third from left) denotes the methylation present in H3K36me2. Understanding histone modifications The genomic DNA of eukaryotic cells is wrapped around special protein molecules known as Histones. The complexes formed by the looping of the DNA are known as chromatin. The basic structural unit of chromatin is the nucleosome: this consists of the core octamer of histones (H2A, H2B, H3 and H4) as well as a linker histone and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Histone Code
The histone code is a hypothesis that the transcription of genetic information encoded in DNA is in part regulated by chemical modifications (known as ''histone marks'') to histone proteins, primarily on their unstructured ends. Together with similar modifications such as DNA methylation it is part of the epigenetic code. Histones associate with DNA to form nucleosomes, which themselves bundle to form chromatin fibers, which in turn make up the more familiar chromosome. Histones are globular proteins with a flexible N-terminus (taken to be the tail) that protrudes from the nucleosome. Many of the histone tail modifications correlate very well to chromatin structure and both histone modification state and chromatin structure correlate well to gene expression levels. The critical concept of the histone code hypothesis is that the histone modifications serve to recruit other proteins by specific recognition of the modified histone via protein domains specialized for such purposes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epigenetic
In biology, epigenetics is the study of stable phenotypic changes (known as ''marks'') that do not involve alterations in the DNA sequence. The Greek prefix '' epi-'' ( "over, outside of, around") in ''epigenetics'' implies features that are "on top of" or "in addition to" the traditional genetic basis for inheritance. Epigenetics most often involves changes that affect the regulation of gene expression, but the term can also be used to describe any heritable phenotypic change. Such effects on cellular and physiological phenotypic traits may result from external or environmental factors, or be part of normal development. The term also refers to the mechanism of changes: functionally relevant alterations to the genome that do not involve mutation of the nucleotide sequence. Examples of mechanisms that produce such changes are DNA methylation and histone modification, each of which alters how genes are expressed without altering the underlying DNA sequence. Gene expression can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
H3K27me3
H3K27me3 is an epigenetic modification to the DNA packaging protein Histone H3. It is a mark that indicates the tri-methylation of lysine 27 on histone H3 protein. This tri-methylation is associated with the Downregulation and upregulation, downregulation of nearby genes via the formation of Heterochromatin, heterochromatic regions. Nomenclature H3K27me3 indicates Methylation, trimethylation of lysine 27 on histone H3 protein subunit: Lysine methylation This diagram shows the progressive methylation of a lysine residue. The tri-methylation denotes the methylation present in H3K27me3. Understanding histone modifications The genomic DNA of eukaryotic cells is wrapped around special protein molecules known as Histones. The complexes formed by the looping of the DNA are known as Chromatin. The basic structural unit of chromatin is the Nucleosome: this consists of the core octamer of histones (H2A, H2B, H3 and H4) as well as a linker histone and about 180 base pairs of DNA. Thes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Methyllysine
Methyllysine is derivative of the amino acid residue lysine where the sidechain ammonium group has been methylated one or more times. Such methylated lysines play an important role in epigenetics; the methylation of specific lysines of certain histones in a nucleosome alters the binding of the surrounding DNA to those histones, which in turn affects the expression of genes on that DNA. The binding is affected because the effective radius of the positive charge is increased (methyl groups are larger than the hydrogen atoms they replace), reducing the strongest potential electrostatic attraction with the negatively charged DNA. It is thought that the methylation of lysine (and arginine) on histone tails does not directly affect their binding to DNA. Rather, such methyl marks recruit other proteins that modulate chromatin structure. In Protein Data Bank The Protein Data Bank (PDB) is a database for the three-dimensional structural data of large biological molecules, such as pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Histone Methyltransferase
Histone methyltransferases (HMT) are histone-modifying enzymes (e.g., histone-lysine N-methyltransferases and histone-arginine N-methyltransferases), that catalyze the transfer of one, two, or three methyl groups to lysine and arginine residues of histone proteins. The attachment of methyl groups occurs predominantly at specific lysine or arginine residues on histones H3 and H4. Two major types of histone methyltranferases exist, lysine-specific (which can be SET (Su(var)3-9, Enhancer of Zeste, Trithorax) domain containing or non-SET domain containing) and arginine-specific. In both types of histone methyltransferases, S-Adenosyl methionine (SAM) serves as a cofactor and methyl donor group. The genomic DNA of eukaryotes associates with histones to form chromatin. The level of chromatin compaction depends heavily on histone methylation and other post-translational modifications of histones. Histone methylation is a principal epigenetic modification of chromatin that determines ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Histone Methylation
Histone methylation is a process by which methyl groups are transferred to amino acids of histone proteins that make up nucleosomes, which the DNA double helix wraps around to form chromosomes. Methylation of histones can either increase or decrease transcription of genes, depending on which amino acids in the histones are methylated, and how many methyl groups are attached. Methylation events that weaken chemical attractions between histone tails and DNA increase transcription because they enable the DNA to uncoil from nucleosomes so that transcription factor proteins and RNA polymerase can access the DNA. This process is critical for the regulation of gene expression that allows different cells to express different genes. Function Histone methylation, as a mechanism for modifying chromatin structure is associated with stimulation of neural pathways known to be important for formation of long-term memories and learning. Animal models have shown methylation and other epigenetic re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tn5 Transposon
A transposase is any of a class of enzymes capable of binding to the end of a transposon and catalysing its movement to another part of a genome, typically by a cut-and-paste mechanism or a replicative mechanism, in a process known as transposition. The word "transposase" was first coined by the individuals who cloned the enzyme required for transposition of the Tn3 transposon. The existence of transposons was postulated in the late 1940s by Barbara McClintock, who was studying the inheritance of maize, but the actual molecular basis for transposition was described by later groups. McClintock discovered that some segments of chromosomes changed their position, jumping between different loci or from one chromosome to another. The repositioning of these transposons (which coded for color) allowed other genes for pigment to be expressed. Transposition in maize causes changes in color; however, in other organisms, such as bacteria, it can cause antibiotic resistance. Transposition is al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ATAC-seq
ATAC-seq (Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin using sequencing) is a technique used in molecular biology to assess genome-wide chromatin accessibility. In 2013, the technique was first described as an alternative advanced method for MNase-seq, FAIRE-Seq and DNase-Seq. ATAC-seq is a faster and more sensitive analysis of the epigenome than DNase-seq or MNase-seq. Description ATAC-seq identifies accessible DNA regions by probing open chromatin with hyperactive mutant Tn5 Transposase that inserts sequencing adapters into open regions of the genome. While naturally occurring transposases have a low level of activity, ATAC-seq employs the mutated hyperactive transposase. In a process called "tagmentation", Tn5 transposase cleaves and tags double-stranded DNA with sequencing adaptors. The tagged DNA fragments are then purified, PCR-amplified, and sequenced using next-generation sequencing. Sequencing reads can then be used to infer regions of increased accessibility as well as to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MNase-seq
MNase-seq, short for micrococcal nuclease digestion with deep sequencing, is a molecular biological technique that was first pioneered in 2006 to measure nucleosome occupancy in the ''C. elegans'' genome, and was subsequently applied to the human genome in 2008. Though, the term ‘MNase-seq’ had not been coined until a year later, in 2009. Briefly, this technique relies on the use of the non-specific endo-exonuclease micrococcal nuclease, an enzyme derived from the bacteria ''Staphylococcus aureus'', to bind and cleave protein-unbound regions of DNA on chromatin. DNA bound to histones or other chromatin-bound proteins (e.g. transcription factors) may remain undigested. The uncut DNA is then purified from the proteins and sequenced through one or more of the various Next-Generation sequencing methods.'' MNase-seq is one of four classes of methods used for assessing the status of the epigenome through analysis of chromatin accessibility. The other three techniques are DNase-se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
In Vivo
Studies that are ''in vivo'' (Latin for "within the living"; often not italicized in English) are those in which the effects of various biological entities are tested on whole, living organisms or cells, usually animals, including humans, and plants, as opposed to a tissue extract or dead organism. This is not to be confused with experiments done ''in vitro'' ("within the glass"), i.e., in a laboratory environment using test tubes, Petri dishes, etc. Examples of investigations ''in vivo'' include: the pathogenesis of disease by comparing the effects of bacterial infection with the effects of purified bacterial toxins; the development of non-antibiotics, antiviral drugs, and new drugs generally; and new surgical procedures. Consequently, animal testing and clinical trials are major elements of ''in vivo'' research. ''In vivo'' testing is often employed over ''in vitro'' because it is better suited for observing the overall effects of an experiment on a living subject. In dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chromatin Immunoprecipitation
Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific genomic regions, such as transcription factors on promoters or other DNA binding sites, and possibly define cistromes. ChIP also aims to determine the specific location in the genome that various histone modifications are associated with, indicating the target of the histone modifiers. ChIP is crucial for the advancements in the field of epigenomics and learning more about epigenetic phenomena. Briefly, the conventional method is as follows: # DNA and associated proteins on chromatin in living cells or tissues are crosslinked (this step is omitted in Native ChIP). # The DNA-protein complexes (chromatin-protein) are then sheared into ~500 bp DNA fragments by sonication or nuclease digestion. # Cross-linked DNA fragments associated with the prot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
H3K9me3
H3K9me3 is an epigenetic modification to the DNA packaging protein Histone H3. It is a mark that indicates the tri-methylation at the 9th lysine residue of the histone H3 protein and is often associated with heterochromatin. Nomenclature H3K9me3 indicates trimethylation of lysine 9 on histone H3 protein subunit: Lysine Methylation This diagram shows the progressive methylation of a lysine residue. The tri-methylation denotes the methylation present in H3K9me3 . Understanding histone modifications The genomic DNA of eukaryotic cells is wrapped around special protein molecules known as Histones. The complexes formed by the looping of the DNA are known as chromatin. The basic structural unit of chromatin is the nucleosome: this consists of the core octamer of histones (H2A, H2B, H3 and H4) as well as a linker histone and about 180 base pairs of DNA. These core histones are rich in lysine and arginine residues. The carboxyl (C) terminal end of these histones contribute to hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
