BACKGROUND DrTx(1-42) (a carboxyl-terminally truncated version of drosotoxin) is a potent and selective blocker of tetrodotoxin-resistant (TTX-R) Na(+) channels in rat dorsal root ganglion neurons with analgesic activity. This purpose is to identify key amino acids which are responsible for both blocking and analgesic effects of DrTx(1-42). METHODS On the basis of previous study, we designed ...

Whereas DNA methylation is essential for genomic imprinting, the importance of histone methylation in the allelic expression of imprinted genes is unclear. Imprinting control regions (ICRs), however, are marked by histone H3-K9 methylation on their DNA-methylated allele. In the placenta, the paternal silencing along the Kcnq1 domain on distal chromosome 7 also correlates with the presence of H3...

A facultative heterochromatin mark, histone H3 lysine 9 dimethylation (H3K9me2), which is mediated by histone methyltransferases G9a/GLP (EHMT2/1), undergoes dramatic rearrangements during myeloid cell differentiation as observed by chromatin imaging. To determine whether these structural transitions also involve genomic repositioning of H3K9me2, we used ChIP-sequencing to map genome-wide topog...

The genetic code converts information from nucleic acid into protein. The genetic code was thought to be immutable, yet many examples in nature indicate that variations to the code provide a selective advantage. We used a sensitive selection system involving suppression of a deleterious allele (tti2-L187P) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to detect mistranslation and identify mechanisms that allow g...

Myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) is a family of transcription factors that regulates many processes, including muscle differentiation. Due to its many target genes, MEF2D requires tight regulation of transcription activity over time and by location. Epigenetic modifiers have been suggested to regulate MEF2-dependent transcription via modifications to histones and MEF2. However, the modulation o...

Obesity has been linked to breast cancer progression but the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. Here we report how leptin, an obesity-associated adipokine, regulates a transcriptional pathway to silence a genetic program of epithelial homeostasis in breast cancer stem-like cells (CSC) that promotes malignant progression. Using genome-wide ChIP-seq and RNA expression profiling, we defined a r...

Jmjd2 H3K9 demethylases cooperate in promoting mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC) identity. However, little is known about their importance at the exit of ESC pluripotency. Here, we reveal that Jmjd2c facilitates this process by stabilising the assembly of mediator-cohesin complexes at lineage-specific enhancers. Functionally, we show that Jmjd2c is required in ESCs to initiate appropriate gene ex...

It is well established that fear memory formation requires de novo gene transcription in the amygdala. We provide evidence that epigenetic mechanisms in the form of histone lysine methylation in the lateral amygdala (LA) are regulated by NMDA receptor (NMDAR) signaling and involved in gene transcription changes necessary for fear memory consolidation. Here we found increases in histone H3 lysin...

LSH, a member of the SNF2 family of chromatin remodeling ATPases encoded by the Hells gene, is essential for normal levels of DNA methylation in the mammalian genome. While the role of LSH in the methylation of repetitive DNA sequences is well characterized, its contribution to the regulation of DNA methylation and the expression of protein-coding genes has not been studied in detail. In this r...

Histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9) methylation is a hallmark of heterochromatin. H3K9 demethylation is crucial in mouse sex determination; The H3K9 demethylase Jmjd1a deficiency leads to increased H3K9 methylation at the Sry locus in embryonic gonads, thereby compromising Sry expression and causing male-to-female sex reversal. We hypothesized that the H3K9 methylation level at the Sry locus is finely t...