A fluorescence-based cellular assay system was established to identify potential epigenetic modulator ligands. This assay method is to detect the de-repression of an EGFP reporter in cancer cells by the treatment of HDAC (histone deacetylase) or DNMT (DNA methyltransferase) inhibitor. Using this system, we conducted a preliminary screening of in-house natural product library containing extracts...

The kinetic properties of an adenine DNA methyltransferase involved in cell cycle regulation of Caulobacter crescentus have been elucidated by using defined unmethylated or hemimethylated DNA (DNAHM) substrates. Catalytic efficiency is significantly enhanced with a DNAHM substrate. Biphasic kinetic behavior during methyl incorporation is observed when unmethylated or DNAHM substrates are used, ...

OBJECTIVES Anxiety is associated with elevated levels of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) and an increased risk for diseases with an inflammatory aetiology. In cancer, higher levels of IL-6 have been associated with increased expression of the epigenetic enzymes DNMT1 and Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 (EZH2). However, the relationship between IL-6 and DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) ...

Androgen receptor (AR) plays a critical role during the development and progression of prostate cancer in which microRNA miR-375 is overexpressed and correlated with tumor progression. Although DNA methylation is a key mechanism for the repression of gene expression, the relationship between AR and the expression or the hypermethylation of miR-375 is unknown. In this study, we found that AR-pos...

A clear understanding is developing concerning the importance of epigenetic-related molecular mechanisms in transcription-dependent long-term memory formation. Chromatin modification, in particular histone acetylation, is associated with transcriptional activation, and acetylation of histone 3 (H3) occurs in Area CA1 of the hippocampus following contextual fear conditioning training. Conversely...

DNA methylation plays a key role in invertebrate acquisition and extinction memory. Honey bees have excellent olfactory learning, but the role of DNA methylation in memory formation has, to date, only been studied in Apis mellifera. We inhibited DNA methylation by inhibiting DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) with zebularine (zeb) and studied the resulting effects upon olfactory acquisition and extin...

The mechanism of epigenetic inheritance following DNA replication may involve dissociation of chromosomal proteins from parental DNA and reassembly on daughter strands in a specific order. Here we investigated the behaviour of different types of chromosomal proteins using newly developed methods that allow assessment of the assembly of proteins during DNA replication. Unexpectedly, most chromat...

Methylation of the five position of cytosine in DNA plays important roles in epigenetic regulation in diverse organisms including humans. The transfer of methyl groups from the cofactor S-adenosyl-L-methionine is carried out by methyltransferase enzymes. Using the paradigm bacterial methyltransferase M.HhaI we demonstrate, in a chemically unperturbed system, the first direct real-time analysis ...

Chromatin can adopt a decondensed state linked to gene transcription (euchromatin) and a condensed state linked to transcriptional repression (heterochromatin). These states are controlled by epigenetic modulators that are active on either the DNA or the histones and are tightly associated to each other. Methylation of both DNA and histones is involved in either the activation or silencing of g...