Two DNA bases, 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC), marks of epigenetic modification, are recognized in immobilized DNA strands and distinguished from G, A, T and C by nanopore current recording. Therefore, if further aspects of nanopore sequencing can be addressed, the approach will provide a means to locate epigenetic modifications in unamplified genomic DNA.

Infertility is a complex pathophysiological condition. It may caused by specific or multiple physical and physiological factors, including abnormalities in homeostasis, hormonal imbalances and genetic alterations. In recent times various studies implicated that, aberrant epigenetic mechanisms are associated with reproductive infertility. There might be transgenerational effects associated with ...

The association between Wnt genes and neural tube defects (NTDs) is recognized, however, it remains to be fully elucidated. Our previous study demonstrated that epigenetic mechanisms are affected in human NTDs. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate whether Wnt2b and Wnt7b are susceptible to abnormal epigenetic modification in NTDs, using chromatin immunoprecipitation assays to evaluate...

Chapter Outline Introduction 371 Epigenetics and Behavioral Biology 374 Epigenotypes Versus Epiphenotypes (Molecular vs. Molar Epigenetics) 375 The Epigenotype or Molecular Epigenetics 375 The Epiphenotype or Molar Epigenetics 376 Context-Dependent vs. Germline-Dependent Epigenetic Modifications 376 Context-Dependent Epigenetic Modification 377 Germline-Dependent Epigenetic Modification 378 Tra...

Modification of cytosine-guanine dinucleotides (CpGs) is a key part of mammalian epigenetic regulation and helps shape cellular identity. Tet enzymes catalyze stepwise oxidation of 5-methylcytosine (mC) in CpGs to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC), or onward to 5-formylcytosine (fC) or 5-carboxylcytosine (caC). The multiple mC oxidation products, while intricately linked, are postulated to play ind...

The action of phytohormones in plants requires the spatiotemporal regulation of their accumulation and responses at various levels. Recent studies reveal an emerging relationship between the function of phytohormones and epigenetic modifications. In particular, evidence suggests that auxin biosynthesis, transport, and signal transduction is modulated by microRNAs and epigenetic factors such as ...

Recent advances in epigenetics have made a tremendous impact on our knowledge of biological phenomena and the environmental stressors on complex diseases. Understanding the mechanism of epigenetic reprogramming during the occurrence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) is important for advanced studies and clinical therapy. In this article, we review the discovery of novel epigenetic mechanisms assoc...

Asthma is a complex, heterogeneous and chronic airway inflammatory disease with different clinical phenotypes caused by diverse triggers and pathophysiological mechanisms. Asthma heritability has been established in many genetic studies but it is evident that only genetic elements are not responsible for the development of asthma. Increasing rate of asthma incidence during past decades has impl...

Cancer is a disease that results from both genetic and epigenetic changes. In recent decades, a number of people have investigated the disparities in gene expression resulting from variable DNA methylation alteration and chromatin structure modification in response to the environment. Especially, colon cancer is a great model system for investigating the epigenetic mechanism for aberrant gene e...

The role of an adverse in utero environment in the programming of chronic kidney disease in the adult offspring is increasingly recognized. The cellular and molecular mechanisms linking the in utero environment and future disease susceptibility remain unknown. Maternal smoking is a common modifiable adverse in utero exposure, potentially associated with both mitochondrial dysfunction and epigen...