5-Formylcytidine (f(5)C), a previously discovered natural nucleotide in the mitochondrial tRNA of many species including human, has been recently detected as the oxidative product of 5-methylcytidine (m(5)C) through 5-hydroxymethylcytidine (hm(5)C) in total RNA of mammalian cells. The discovery indicated that these cytosine derivatives in RNA might also play important epigenetic roles similar a...

The thymine analog 5-chlorouridine, first reported in the 1950s as anti-tumor agent, is known as an effective mutagen, clastogen and toxicant as well as an effective inducer of sister-chromatid exchange. Recently, the first microorganism with a chemically different genome was reported; the selected Escherichia coli strain relies on the four building blocks 5-chloro-2'-deoxyuridine (ClU), A, C a...

PURPOSE Aging is believed to affect epigenetic marking of brain DNA with 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and possibly via the 5mC to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) conversion by TET (ten-eleven translocation) enzymes. We investigated the impact of aging on hippocampal DNA 5-hydroxymethylation including in the sequence of aging-susceptible 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) gene. METHODS Hippocampal samples were o...

Serotonin (5-HT) is one of the major monoamines in the brain. It is also found in the retina, a part of the brain, where a subgroup of amacrine cells are considered to be the sole retinal source of 5-HT. The data, obtained so far, about the serotonin receptors’ function are contradictory. Therefore, our aim was to study the distribution of the 5-HT synthesizing neurons and the serotonin recepto...

Hugo: ALOX5 Other names: 5-LO; EC 1.13.11.34; leukotriene A4 synthase; 5LPG; LOG5 Location: 10q11.2 Local order: Genes flanking ALOX5, in centromere to telomere direction on 10q11, are: OR6D1P 10q11.21 olfactory receptor, family 6, subfamily D, member 1 pseudogene. LOC643413 10q11.21 hypothetical protein LOC643413. OR13A1 10q11.21 olfactory receptor, family 13, subfamily A, member 1. ALOX5 10q1...

With fully conclusive findings about the toxicity of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) still up in the air, research on biomedical applications of CNTs is pushing full steam ahead. Adding to the list of potential concerns, a recent nanotoxicology study by a U.S.-Chinese research team looked into the impact of carbon nanotubes on male reproductive health. The translocation and biodistribution of nanoparti...

Oxidation of 5-methylcytosine in DNA by ten-eleven translocation (Tet) family of enzymes has been demonstrated to play a significant role in epigenetic regulation in mammals. We found that Tet enzymes also possess the activity of catalyzing the formation of 5-hydroxymethylcytidine (5-hmrC) in RNA in vitro. In addition, the catalytic domains of all three Tet enzymes as well as full-length Tet3 c...